7 Garage Pegboard Ideas for Getting Organized!

Here are seven garage pegboard ideas to help get those piles of tools and hardware out of the corners of the garage where they are collecting dust, and instead up on the walls, ready for your next project.

First, an overview of our steps for organizing your garage pegboards:

Start Right with Heavy Duty Wood or Metal Pegboard Materials

Heavy duty pegboard is the basis for hanging all those heavy tools and getting boxes of hardware off shelves. 

For wood pegboard I went to Lowes to buy the biggest sheets, 48”x96”, of white pegboard I could fit in the truck. 

The 3/16” board thickness and ¼” holes will hold most pegboard hooks and other pegboard accessories. The white coating will go with most garage walls and acts as a nice primer if you decide to paint the pegboard.

Note: If you still have pegboard from the good old days, with the 1/8” holes, you will be a lot happier in the long run if you tear it down and replace it with ¼” hole pegboard. It is cheap and easy to install and allows you to take advantage of the current trend in tools and hangers.

Wrenches and Screwdrivers Sorted with DIY Pegboard Tool Racks

Wood strip with short screws will hang your wrenches nicely on the board. You could also use a series of pegboard hooks to hold them, but why not put some of your power tools to use and create custom set ups.

Heavy Duty Hooks Pegboard Hooks For Large Tools

Dual fork and long single hooks will maximize your vertical space for the rakes, shovels and other yard tools.  A hint: hanging all your tools on the pegboard gets them off the floor and makes it a lot easier to sweep out the dirt that falls off them.

You can also hang midweight power tools from these hooks. Less frequently used tools should hang higher up and out of the way.

How to Hang Heavy Tools with Shelf Brackets

If you are going to put heavy tools on the wall do not use a two single prong long hooks side by side. 

Self-promotion warning: Even the heavy-duty single pegboard hooks we used above for midweight power tools with ¼” holes will bend over time from the weight. You need a second pin, for bottom support, in your hooks to support heavy weight.

Use a pair of heavy-duty shelf hooks, preferably ones designed for ¼” holes, as they will have more strength and even if they dip forward slightly the 90-degree bends will act as a stop for them. 

Be careful when using advertised larger j shaped hooks on which the support bar doesn’t have a 90 bend or “works with 1/8” holes”.  The steel is not strong enough and the weld will snap. 

Put Toolboxes and Smaller Power Tools on Pegboard Shelves

Pegboard shelves are a great way to find a home for your small go-to toolbox, radio, or assortment of spray cans that you use frequently (looking at you WD40). 

As items on these shelves may sit for periods of time in between use there is a tendency, especially in longer DIY style shelves, for the boards to warp and sag.  From our experience, using mdf as the base material and using multiple shelves in a row works better than one very long piece of plywood with only a set of pegboard shelf brackets at the ends.

Pegboard Jars for Small Hardware and Accessories

Pegboard jars hold plastic caps, washers, drafting line powder and all the other bits and pieces that get lost on the shelf and are bought again and again because you can’t find them. Instead, store them in pegboard jars; stop wasting time hunting for everything!

Self-Promotion Warning:  These pegboard jars aren’t the hazy glass baby food jars and brittle caps of yesterday.  This writer was notorious in childhood for dropping the old glass baby food jars on the garage floor and shattering glass everywhere, much to the chagrin of my father. 

Our pegboard jars were designed with modern technology and materials.  They are made of impact resistant PET plastic (the same material used to make sports bottles) and stay crystal clear. Click the video below that shows one of our favorite jar drop tests.

You will be surprised by the amount of hardware our jars can hold. And – these pegboard jars unscrew from the wall so you can take the jar to your workbench.  The cap stays hooked to the pegboard so you know where to put it back.

Note: keep a few empty jars on your wall. When you are repairing something with a lot of parts/screws put them into separate jars and in sequence to make reassembly easier (and not have parts left over).

Getting Bigger Hardware and Smaller Hand Tools Sorted

Pegboard Bins for Bolts and Bulk

Fill bins with larger bolts, screws or hardware that you have in bulk (like that big box full of nuts that is falling apart because you keep opening and closing it to get out your hardware).

Careful how much you load into them if they only have plastic teeth that hold them into the pegboard.  Over time stress on the teeth may break them off.

Put Odd shaped Tools in Wire Pegboard Baskets

These baskets usually come in 3- or 4-piece assortments.  While the smallest basket is limited in what it can hold the larger ones really come through.

That tape measure you use again and again?  Toss it into a plastic pegboard bin and eventually that bin is going to snap off your board. Wire baskets will last forever.

Use larger baskets for rolls of duct tape, masking tape and sandpaper or other thin packaged items.

Make sure your baskets are vinyl coated to prevent corrosion and discoloration on the tools you put in these baskets.

Let’s Get Organizing

We hope these 7 garage pegboard ideas have given you a starting point on getting organized.  Take your time and look for only the  best quality pegboard accessories. 

Whether you are looking for jars, hooks or baskets they all need to be built to last for the projects to come.