The Source: Pegboards

The case for hanging absolutely everything up on the wall.

It’s an important day here at Treehouse. It’s the day we get to talk about pegboards. Really, I can’t believe I was able to hold out for so long. And here we finally are.

The reason today is the day is that I’ve been asked to bring some zines to this year’s High Season Market in nearby Port Clyde, Maine. Thinking of how to display our little Treehouse zines (while making it look distinct from the real reason I’m there, to sell vintage playclothes), I wondered if there was a way to display booklets/literature/pamphlets/flyers on a pegboard. And lo, a wormhole commenced!

In fact, I have found that you can hang pretty much anything on a pegboard, perfect and elegant modular system that it is. Julia Child was famous for putting her pots and pans on the walls, both in Provence and later in Boston (the Bostonian boards, along with everything else from that kitchen, now live in the Smithsonian; the French one is still where Julia left it). I put some up in a former rental of mine and, when the house was later listed to sell, was thoroughly chuffed to see my landlord had kept them up. (As an aside, I think all rentals should be wallpapered with pegboards. Don’t get mad about tenants making holes in the walls—make the walls entirely of holes!) Endlessly satisfying system, they add a sort of Tool Time twang to the Shaker peg rail and the general philosophy of ‘A place for everything and everything in its place.’

The case for pegboards made, let’s put our admiration aside and set one up. This is The Source, after all.

To start, the foundation of our system: the board itself. Surprising no one who’s been around here for more than ten minutes: I prefer the classic 1-inch separated circular hole, standard issue, Home Depot-available variety of pegboard. There are also metal options—like the one hanging in my local hardware store. There is an IKEA system that seems quite popular and has a litany of non-IKEA accessories available to pair with it. There are even high design versions and many, many plans available for those who want full visual control and to do it all themselves. There is, as ever, a deeply millennial option.

Oh, but the real wormhole, the pegboard portal you step through to maybe never emerge from again, lies in the accessories. You can get your basics covered quickly with multi-hook and -bracket starter sets. To be honest, most pegboard jobs can probably end there—but my goodness, people have had a lot of ideas about what goes on a pegboard since I last checked. You can put your coffee cups (or other things) up on zig-zag shelving or keep your plants up there. There are several nice-looking shelving options, too. You can write messages (I don’t know why! But it is possible!) Here is a mirror you can hang from your pegboard. Even if you have something to organize that you don’t think could ever be hung up on the wall, I have news for you: There are bins, baskets, cups and caddies that will defy your doubts.

I am starting to believe there is nothing a pegboard can’t accommodate.

Readers, friends: Do you also dream of pegboards? What are the other ways I’ve never considered to use them? As ever, you can always leave a comment.

And if you’re in Port Clyde August 11-13, come take a look at my pegboard zine display—now you will know the outsized excitement and enthusiasm I’ll be harboring for it.

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Listings

I’m a little concerned about the mechanics, but this barn is free? And pretty cool. (LINK)

Oh the internet is good to me today. Any takers? (LINK)

Here is a house in Canton, ME on an island with a lighthouse that is $400k. Maybe it should be yours? (LINK)

This one is about as obvious as “pegboards are useful,” but still (also) worth stating: Making your own tortillas! Not that difficult and improves your food by about 1000% percent. (LINK)

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Note

Wow, summer! Not for the faint of heart. For transparency: It’s been utter swirling chaos. And we’ve had to pivot on printers, on July zine content, on just about every well-laid plan we had. But! Now we have an available printer, now we have content to print, now we have a zine that is almost, almost ready to get to you. Thanks, as ever, for your patience.

🤝