This weekend, I decided we needed to add some wall detailing to our bedroom hallway “closet.” This is the space that has our Ikea hack built in dresser. The opposite wall was completely bare, and was feeling a little sad to me. I had visions of adding vertical shiplap halfway or so up the wall, and then adding a peg rail for extra organization, but we’ve been so busy tackling other projects around the house, we just hadn’t gotten around to this one.
Of course, the first week of the One Room Challenge probably wasn’t the best time to do this, but a little thing happened when we purchased the beadboard we’re installing in our bathroom renovation…I got inspired. I figured we could use leftover beadboard to trim out the bedroom wall instead of investing in expensive shiplap, and it would probably take less time to do too!
I already had wooden pegs on hand, too, which I’ve been planning to install in our son’s room but also haven’t gotten around to doing. (Anyone else make lots of plans that they never actually do?!)
But I’m honestly not sure which part of this project is better—that it only took us about 36 hours to complete (would be faster if you weren’t doing 654 other things in the same weekend), or that it only cost about $75 in total. So, if you’re looking for a fast and easy way to give a wall some character and add a little storage, this is the project for you.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Beadboard, cut to size (we asked the home improvement store to cut the sheet in half)
- 2 – 1″ x 4″ x 8′ pieces of Poplar wood
- Wooden Pegs
- Liquid nails
- caulk
- Paint (we had some leftover paint on hand)
(You could also include primer, but because the beadboard was primed already, we opted to skip this step and just use a good interior paint)
Directions:
- First, Measure your space. Our wall was 70 ¼” long.
- Next, decide how high you want your peg rail (or rails, I went with a double rail for optimal storage and extra visual interest). Mark your top line.
- Cut two poplar boards to size. After cutting them to 70 1/4”, we mitered the right side at 5/8” to match the size of the door trim.
- Now, use a stud finder to mark where studs are below the bottom piece because it will be your guide for installing the bead board.
- It’s now time to install your top board. Make sure the board is level, and then use trim screws to attach to the wall. Use trim screws because they’re skinnier than wood screws and they’re easier to fill with wood filler.
- Repeat process with second board (if using). These boards are seven inches apart, for reference.
- Now it’s time to cut the beadboard to size. We used one sheet of beadboard in total. When cutting, remember which side you cut from and make sure to work in one direction. Since the beadboard was only 48” wide and our wall was over 70”, it was important to make sure to cut from the same side to ensure the lines matched up once installing. We worked right to left, and used four beadboard pieces in total. Be sure to double check your measurements because your baseboards may not be exactly level (ours were not!).
- Now you’re almost ready to install. Beadboard is made from MDF, which is very smooth, except for the edges. You may have to sand the edges with a medium grit sandpaper to smooth it out.
Installation:
- Apply liquid nails to the back of the board and directly to the wall. Allow a couple of minutes to pass to allow the glue to become tacky before putting the beadboard in place. We then used a couple of finish nails, nailed directly into the studs to help hold the boards in place. The liquid nails will be doing most of the work.
- Full disclosure: we did not do this, but this is what we should have done! We used cabinet screws to hold the beadboard in place while the liquid nails dried and then removed the screws.
- Caulk all of the edges, baseboards, and nail holes to make a smooth finish. Apply wood filler to the poplar boards to cover the nail holes there and sand smooth. (Don’t use wood filler on the MDF because it will take away its smooth finish.)
- Let caulk and wood filler dry. Tape off and get ready to paint!
- You can prime everything first if you want, but we didn’t find it necessary. Two coats of Emerald Trim paint (Sherwin Williams) did the job. The trim work in our bedroom is Accessible Beige in a semi-gloss finish at 75% saturation.
- Paint your pegs! I started off using a regular paint brush, and quickly switched to a small art brush instead. Much easier! I stuck the pegs in Styrofoam to let dry.
- Side note: Our paint tape ended up not resulting in a sharp clean line. But it was an easy fix! We just taped off the trim and repainted the wall white. All better.
Installing the Pegs:
- These screw-in wooden pegs from Amazon claimed to be able to be installed without drilling, but we didn’t want to risk splintering the wood rail, so we pre-drilled holes for each peg.
- Lay out where you want your pegs (I chose to place a peg at every fifth line of the beadboard for 6 pegs on each rail, 12 in total). Tape off each peg-area on your rails. Measure where each peg should go—we measured the first hole in the center of the rail and then used a level to go down the line. We also measured a level vertically to ensure all of the holes lined up. Then we pre-drilled the peg holes.
- Remove tape and screw in pegs!
- Style your pretty new shaker peg rail wall!
I’m still planning on adding some pretty art on the wall above the rail, but I’m so in love with this transformation! It is such an inexpensive and effective way to update your space! This is a great project for an entryway, mudroom, laundry room, hallway, bathroom…honestly, I think peg rails look great just about anywhere!
Questions? Comments? Let me know what you’re thinking below!