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Small Space Living: The 5 Rules to Always-Organized Wall Hooks

Adrienne Breaux
Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director
Adrienne loves architecture, design, cats, science fiction, and watching "Star Trek." In the past 10 years she's called home: a van, a former downtown store in small town Texas, and a studio apartment rumored to have once been owned by Willie Nelson. She currently lives in her colorful, maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat.
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updated Jul 16, 2020
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(Image credit: Alvhem)

Wall hooks and pegboards are incredibly handy organizational tools for home, especially small homes where space is at a premium. But while they make previously unused wall space functional and allow you quick access to daily items, they can be magnets for mess if not kept in check. How do you keep an area full of hanging items looking tidy and attractive? Follow these five rules.

1. Have a good idea of what you want to hang
This isn’t always possible if you’re not entirely sure what you’re envisioning your pegboard or wall hook area to handle, but it’s a good idea to have somewhat of an idea. Knowing what you’d like your hooks and pegs to hold will let you know how many hooks or pegs you need, how sturdy they need to be and how far apart you’ll need to place them. And allow you to impose early rules on what can hang there. Photo above from Alvhem.

2.
Start with an orderly installation
You don’t have to line your wall hooks or pegboard pegs all in a row to keep that area clean and tidy, but being mindful of your hook and peg placement is a good way to kick-start a more organized practice. The less random your hook placement, the more orderly you’re kick starting that area.


3.
Don’t hang too low

Heavy coats and long scarves pooling on the floor can sometimes seem romantically styled, but in most real-world applications look messy, not to mention are dust and dirt magnets. And watch what you place
under your wall hooks, too. The example in this post’s top image looks alright, but anymore things piled under those hooks and it could get messy quick.


4.
Watch your layering You need to have a rule of how many things you can layer on each hook. Left unchecked, and you might find yourself trying to drape a winter coat on an already perilous stack of 10 hanging jackets. If you do find yourself layering more and more, add more hooks for more storage.


5. Regularly prune
Every few weeks take a gander at your wall hook or peg board area. Are there items there that don’t belong that just got stuck up there? Are there items you thought you’d need quick access to but haven’t touched since hanging? It’s okay that your wall hooks or pegboards are ever-changing things, just keep purging items from them on a regular basis.

More wall hook and pegboard inspiration: