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For Aden Wang, every gap in his San Francisco loft is an opportunity for creative storage solutions—including the sliver of space between his stacked washer-dryer and the wall. The product designer and his wife Vivid Wu used to store all their cleaning supplies in their guest bedroom, which was less than convenient. So, Wang started eyeing up the narrow nook in their laundry closet where their broomsticks hung. “The bottom area was completely wasted, making it an inefficient use of space,” he says. What he really needed, he realized, was a pegboard.
Wang spent a while searching for the right system, only to find that the perfect thing was hiding out at IKEA all along. The Swedish retailer’s Skådis product was the exact width he was looking for. The problem was it was too short for what he was envisioning storing on it. His simple fix: combine two of them.
Ahead, the small-space dweller and content creator shares his genius laundry closet hack.
The Materials
• 1 pair of soft close drawer slides
• Wing nuts (#10-24)
• Screws (#10-24 X 3/4 8)
• Washers (#10)
• Wall anchors (that can hold up to 50 pounds)
• Mending plates or Skådis connectors
Step 1: Bring the Pegboards Together
To turn the Skådis pegboards into a single plank, Wang screwed two mending plates to the backs of the boards, overlapping their gap. While IKEA actually sells connectors for this very purpose, he bought something a little sturdier and made out of metal for the job.
Step 2: Make It Accessible with a Sliding Track
After screwing a pair of soft close drawer tracks on to the back sides of the pegboards, Wang identified where to mount their counterparts on the wall using a laser level for precise drilling. Because the gap was so tight, he swapped out his regular electric drill head for an angle attachment. Once they were secured with anchors and screws, he was able to slide the pegboards right on.
“Installing the pegboard slider was tricky, especially aligning the two sliders perfectly to ensure smooth movement,” Wang says. His first attempt failed because he mounted the track a little too high, making it impossible to slot the pegboard into the bottom rail, so he had to re-drill. “Always use a leveler! It saved me so much trouble by keeping the slider rail perfectly aligned,” he adds.
Step 3: Organize
Finally, he decked it out with IKEA’s Skådis accessories. A handful of $3 hooks hold long and awkward things like his steam cleaner attachments, duster, and Swiffer Sweeper. Wang used some of the larger storage baskets for heavier items like detergent while the nifty clips are great for lightweight rags.
The Result
“It’s a game changer!” Wang says. “I clean my home a lot, so I’m constantly pulling it out to grab my tools.” The only issue he’s had is that some of the larger broomsticks jostle around when he grabs the pegboard since they’re just hanging on hooks. “I need to find a way to keep them from shifting, but it’s not a deal breaker,” he says. The DIYer already has plans to install a third Skådis pegboard so he can squeeze his ironing board in here, too.