DIY Wood Study Wall Organizer

I mentioned earlier this week that it was time we turn a little attention to our oldest son's bedroom.  His room is one I have been working on here and there over the years, without any true finish or "reveal" date in sight.  Being a teenage boy, overall he doesn't seem overly concerned with the decor side of things, he just enjoys having the space.  But one day I noticed he was moving his furniture around, just as I did when I was younger.  And after looking at his room closer, we both acknowledged that there were definite areas that could use a little attention, freshening and finishing.  Especially since he started High School this year and should have a room to reflect this important milestone in his life.  

That said, we have a few things planned for the space; closet organization, a new headboard and a good study situation.

We wanted to streamline his desk area and give him a surface that could easily be free of any supplies or clutter come study time.  After spotting this study organizer at PB Teen, I was inspired to create something similar (for much, much less than $170!).  And Preston loved it so we were all in.

Because we always have 101 projects happening at once, we have a lot of scrap wood waiting to be used in our garage.  In fact, we had all of the supplies on hand for this project, with the exception of some pegs and cork.  I always love when it works out that way!  But for those looking to create something similar, here are the wood pieces we ended up using for the project:

To keep it light weight, we used a piece of 1/4" birch plywood for the main surface area and folder pocket.  We also used a few scrap pieces of 3/4" pine to give us something sturdy to nail to.  I found these pegs at Home Depot and this cork tile at Target.  The entire project ended up being about 33" wide by 18" tall.

To get started, we measured and cut all of our boards to the planned sizes.  Then we constructed the pocket portion of the organizer, by gluing and nailing the face and bottom of the pocket to the thicker 3/4" pine sides.

I placed a bunch of stains on a scrap piece of wood and held the options up in Preston's closet for him to select what he liked best.  He picked Early American by Varathane.

So I stained all of the pieces with a brush and wiped them clean with a dry rag.

Once the stain was dry, we used wood glue to affix the pieces of trim around the face of the plywood board.  We held the trim in place with clamps and let everything cure overnight in the garage.

The next day we were ready to attach the pocket and the cork to the face of the plywood board.  This took a lot of careful measuring, as we would be using wood glue on the front and nailing in from the back with our brad nailer.

To attach the pegs, we pre-drilled the pegs and small holes under the pocket on the front side of the board.  You can see we also cut off the notched bottom of the peg since we were not insetting them into the wood.

Then we used small screws from behind which we were able to screw the pegs to.

The final step was to add a coat of polycrylic for protection and to also give the wood a nice finished look (we use Minwax Water Based Poly).

Of course, I couldn't wait to see the new beautiful wood organizer paired with the gray paneled walls.  And the combination definitely didn't disappoint!

I wanted to surprise him, so I loaded it up quick with a few of his belongings, but I am sure he will give it his personal touch over the next couple of days.

The cork will be the perfect place to pin up photos, memos, homework, whatever is clever really.

While the 2" deep pocket can hold supplies and papers with ease, keeping his desk free for spreading out with his laptop and books.

The pegs were a fun little decorative addition but ended up being a great place to hang a pair of headphones, which he uses while he studies.

I love that the wood tone is warm and masculine, yet the entire piece offers a nice place for him to organize his study items.  Not a bad project created out of scrap wood, pegs and cork!  We invested a total of $15 for this piece, which has me wanting to go out for cheer squad!

I am hoping to keep the momentum going over the next few days with some painting and more building.  Heck, maybe Preston and I can learn to be more confident with power tools together.

Cheers to the weekend everyone!