So I finally finished decking out the other half of my Instagram-fied basement pegboard. I built a small makeshift shelf that I primed and painted, added a non-electrical music dock (more on that in a second), and even hung a kitchen item as wall art. A lot of you asked what we did with the cutting board we picked up a few months ago from The Shops At Target collection, so here it is: a proud addition to America the Pegboard-iful.
I liked the cutting board as a decorative piece because it’s visually interesting and sawdust-proof, which makes it perfect for a workshop-style area. I’m drawn to maps, shapes, and things that have an architectural feel, so the board’s silhouette reads like art more than kitchenware when it’s mounted on the wall.
The painted blue edge on the cutting board happened to coordinate well with my navy pegboard, so it blended in nicely. Down the road I might paint that edge a contrasting color or add a strip of decorative tape to give it more punch. There are lots of simple ways to tweak it if I decide I want it to pop more against the pegboard.
I briefly considered painting the shape of Virginia onto the board to mark our home state, but our coastline makes that shape quite small and subtle. It would show up better on a canvas or board centered in the middle of the country where state outlines are larger and more dramatic. For now, the unaltered board works well as abstract, map-like wall art.
One of the things I’m most pleased with is my new iPod/iPhone dock, which I purchased from an Etsy seller for about $45. It’s a simple, handmade plywood amplifier — essentially an echo chamber that boosts my phone’s built-in speaker without electricity. I like having music while I saw, drill, and organize; it makes the work feel more fun and celebratory.
Buying a small reward for finishing a long-overdue space felt right. I reworked most of the basement using sweat equity: scrap wood, leftover paint, and pre-existing pegboards. So investing in a handcrafted dock to add function and charm felt like a fitting little treat at the end of the project.
I found this dock while hunting for an affordable, cordless music option that would sit up on the pegboard without a clumsy power cord trailing across my workspace. The dock’s design is clever in its simplicity: no batteries, no charging, no cords — just natural acoustic amplification. It’s not a high-end speaker system, but it looks great, sounds surprisingly good for what it is, and fits perfectly with the handmade, utilitarian vibe of the room.
The seller offered a custom listing so I could specify my phone case type and get a perfectly sized slot carved for my device. I also selected the painted design and colors, which made the piece feel personal and well-matched to the space. It sits on the shelf like it belongs there, and it’s already become part of the room’s personality.
To make the shelf, I simply notched and painted a scrap of wood so it would balance on two pegboard hooks. The notch-and-hang method is fast, sturdy, and reversible, which is perfect for a workshop wall that often needs to be reconfigured.
On the shelf I also placed a white plastic elephant (a prop left over from a book project) and a Warhol-inspired soup can that I use to hold pens. Right now it contains just one pen, but that small container adds color and a touch of whimsy while keeping a useful item within reach.
With these additions, I’ve officially used all of the pegboard space in the basement — at least for now. Small organizational victories like this can feel every bit as satisfying as a big renovation: when a room starts to function well and looks the way you want, that sense of order and ownership is a special kind of house-love. I’m a little obsessed with pegboards, and turning this wall into a blend of function and art has been rewarding.
Has anyone else hung something unexpected on a pegboard or wall lately? For this project I combined a cutting board, a piece of scrap wood, a soup can, and a plastic elephant as my wall display. It’s odd, practical, and personal — and that’s exactly what I wanted.