When our teenage son decided to create a reading area in his bedroom of our new home, we came up with the idea of turning around a bookshelf and putting pegboard on the back side to create a teen boy’s room reading nook & pegboard storage.
This is a quick and easy idea that came together in just a few hours and organized most of his puzzles, gear, and gadgets all in one location.
You can adapt this idea for most any kid’s bedroom.
Items Used:
- Tall Bookshelf
- Short Bookshelf
- Video game chair
- Pegboard
- Pegboard starter hooks set
- Wall protection foam
- Wall anchor for tall bookshelf
- plywood for pegboard frame — see link below
Why Pegboard is Awesome
I first started reading about the joys of pegboard when I was scouring Pinterest for ideas for our new mudroom area. Pegboard is not just for the garage wall these days! Check out some of the ideas I pinned here. People use pegboard for pantries, kitchens, craft rooms, and their home office.
We decided to turn around a bookshelf in my son’s room and cover the back with pegboard. This way he would have a small hidden reading nook, and the pegboard would not mount directly on the wall of his room.
You can mount pegboard onto a wall (with a frame — more on that below). We didn’t want this because first, we just moved into our house and we are shy about putting tons of holes into our nice clean walls, and second his ceiling is majorly slanted, so he doesn’t have much flat wall space.
A couple important tips when using pegboard:
- Pegboard must be mounted on a frame. Do not mount pegboard directly to a flat surface or you won’t be able to get the hooks into the board. Here is a link to a simple tutorial on how to make a pegboard frame.
- Pegboard can be spray painted or stenciled for a totally different look.
- Check out some of the creative ways people use buckets and baskets on hooks. There are many ways you can hang things from a pegboard, not just the typical hooks that come with it.
Our son is a self-professed geek and needs space for all his gadgets and gear. This also gives him a chance to display his Tae-Kwon Do gear, and his tools are even handy for helping me with my house projects.
(Side note: A starter tool kit was one of the best gifts we gave our then-13 year old for Christmas. Our girls each got one also.)

The pegboard is perfect for organizing all my son’s gadgets and gear.
A couple important notes about the bookshelf:
- A bookshelf not against a wall will be more tippy, especially on carpet or if your floors are uneven. (Our house is 100+ years old — there’s not a single even floor or wall.) Be sure to bolt the bookshelf to the wall. This is not as difficult as it sounds. Here is a link to purchase safety furniture mounts and wood shims to help the shelf sit more level.
- Consider bookshelf foam edging if the bookshelf will sit against the wall or ceiling, so it doesn’t take off the paint. We used this along the top where the bookshelf meets the slanted ceiling.

Now my son has a wonderful reading nook, plus plenty of storage for all his books, puzzles, and games.
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