Easy DIY Ideas: Kitchen Shelf and Pegboard

Bring a little extra storage and organization to your kitchen or breakfast nook with a do-it-yourself bracketed shelf and pegboard.

 

Ornate wood brackets provide cottage character to this simple storage solution. Vintage corbels are ideal for this project, but if you’re short on the old stuff, try this method for distressing new pieces you can find at a home improvement store or online.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 Victorian-style wood brackets
• 1 heart-pine board, desired length and width
• Walnut stain
• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence and Old White
• Paint and foam brushes
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• Tackcloth
• Wood screws
• Drill/driver and bits (optional)

 

Paint both wood shelf brackets (one side at a time) with the walnut stain. Let dry.

 

Repeat steps using Provence paint, let dry thoroughly.

 

Follow with a coat Old White and let dry.

 

Using medium-grit sandpaper, sand off selected areas to reveal paint colors underneath. Wipe clean with a tack cloth.

 

Attach brackets to wall with screws or wall anchors, taking care to make sure they’re level and plumb.

 

Place heart-pine board on top of brackets and screw through a drilled hole in the top edge of each bracket into the board for stability.

 

Tuck a pegboard between your shelf brackets for an ideal spot to hang aprons, potholders, and tea towels. Here’s how to make one with a vintage vibe.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 reclaimed wood board, desired length and width
• Walnut stain
• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence and Old White
• Paint and foam brushes
• Sandpaper
• Tackcloth
• Vintage doorknobs or hooks
• Bolts (match the size to fit doorknobs)
• Drill and bit
• Combination wrench that matches bolt head size

 

For a board that matches your bracketed shelf, follow the same steps for painting the reclaimed wood board as you did for the brackets. If your wood is already covered with a coat of stain, you can skip that step.

 

Space your knobs or hooks on the board and mark the placement when you’re happy with the arrangement. Drill holes in the board at the marks using a bit that corresponds to the size of each bolt. (If you want a flush wall mount and your board is thick enough, you can drill into the wood to countersink the bolt heads.)

 

Attach the knobs and hold while you tighten the bolts with a wrench on the backside of the board.

 

Align the bottom of the board with the bottoms of the shelf brackets. Attach board to wall between the shelf brackets with screws or wall anchors, taking care to make sure it’s level.

 

Our pegboard features three types of vintage doorknobs: a glass doorknob in the center, two brass City of New York Public Schools doorknobs from 1900-1909 on either side and a pair of porcelain doorknobs on each end of the board. Slip towels and aprons over the knobs but for items with smaller loops, like our heart-shape potholders (see how to make them here), use an S-hook to hang from the shank of the knob.

 

© Caruth Studio