When it comes to vintage kitchens — Julia Child’s kitchen is one of the most famous. And it wasn’t a fancy schmancy designer confection — it was a real kitchen. A cook’s kitchen. One of its most memorable features: Julia Child’s very practical — and very affordable — use of pegboard to keep her pots, pans and utensils close at hand. Quick! Grab the wisk! Can’t burn the beurre blanc!
Pegboard and vintage kitchens work wonderfully together — we spotted a Julia-Child-esque setup in Kristin and Paul’s charming home. Since vintage kitchens sometimes have limited storage space, employing a section of pegboard — which can be found easily and cheaply — provides the perfect way to use vertical wall space for storage. Pegboard takes up much less space than a cabinet, shelf or traditional pot rack, making it ideal for tight or odd shaped areas. It can also be painted any color, allowing it to be matched to surrounding walls or painted an accent color to make a great backdrop to spotlight your collection of vintage pans.
If your kitchen is more mid century modern, but you still like the idea of being able to display your prized pots, perhaps a more minimal wall display, like Doug created in his retro modern kitchen, is more your speed. Here we get the same storage benefit and visual appeal as Julia Child’s pegboard set up, but with a modern twist. An added bonus — pots, pans and colanders are in easy reach. No more digging around in the clattering mess that is your current pot cabinet.
Wendy M. says
We don’t have pegboard in the kitchen, but we have it in almost every other room of our house. Our house was designed so each closet has two pegboard walls and one solid wall. The long wall in our laundry room is all pegboard, as well as a good portion of one garage wall. The original owners were crazy about pegboard!! It is a very practical material.
midmichigan says
Very functional and efficient, indeed. Just reaching and grabbing a utensil or tool is handy. Unfortunately, I’m so messy when in the kitchen; I’d be concerned with wiping it down and all the holes. I’m kind of a power washer and floor drain guy.
Robin, NV says
Seems like in the 80s (late 70s too?) it was popular to have a copper pot rack hanging from the ceiling of kitchens.
My galley kitchen is far too small to hang stuff on the walls or ceiling. It would feel very cluttered if I did. But I do hang my oven mitts from a wall rack that was probably originally used for utensils. It adds a nice little touch of color and makes my kitchen feel homey.
Anne Lacey says
My husband and I installed a pegboard wall in our 1959 ranch kitchen when we remodeled it last fall. It wasn’t part of the original design plan but we were inspired by Julia’s kitchen and even painted it robin’s egg blue. It truly is one of our favorite things about our new kitchen. We have so much more room in the cabinets now for appliances and things we don’t use every day. But for heavy use items like pots, pans, knives, and graters, they are all right there at an arm’s reach. Photos here: http://www.thekitchn.com/before-after-annes-nod-to-midcentury-kitchen-makeover-the-big-reveal-206034
lynda davis says
Very nice kitchen, Anne Lacey. The pegboard does add a retro look to the kitchen. Penny tile is very pretty. Such a nice colorful space!
JKM says
I hung a black grid on the wall of my first apartment’s tiny kitchen to hang all my new, matching Calphalon on and I loved it. It looked good hanging there and did double duty as convenient storage and wall filler since I didn’t have anything else to put on the blank wall. Mine was a fancy version of my grandmother’s low-tech pot hanging solution – nails on the wall inside the hot water heater closet for her cast iron skillets.
lynda davis says
Pot racks with a shelf are nice for saving space. I hung one from Craigslist over my daughter’s window and hung her lovely All Clad pans and lids. I think it looks very nice. I have hung pegboard in the workshop and in the back of my baking cabinet. I hang the measuring cups, the whisk, measuring spoons, the sifter, etc.
pam kueber says
Pot racks, yes!
Missy says
A pot rack with a shelf (installation included) was the single best and most practical gift we’ve received.
Love the idea of pegboard, though, for other areas of the kitchen. Could also be great for kids’ rooms.
Laurie Louise says
Good post and question, Kate. I’m thinking about it and go back and forth–Pros: pots are handy, it would fit the look and feel of our kitchen, it’s a good way to bring color into this all-wood space. Cons: I’m not crazy about the aesthetic. But hey–if it’s good enough for Julia…
Neil says
As for the aesthetic, it’s a simple matter to make it artful, by turning on your eye and judging the beauty and interest of the relationships between colors and shapes and sizes, of gestures and lines and groupings. Play with it; after all, with pegboard it’s just a matter of moving the pegs to make an whole new artwork, or to refresh the landscape when it has started looking tired.
Laurel says
This era of home presents us with so many fun ways to find pride in, resurrect, and love the unusual finishes (if we are lucky!) that others often come along and destroy after purchasing mid century homes.. Our home has 3 different colors of wood paneling paneling, all in great shape, in each of its spacious bedroom. Yet all of our young adult children first moaned, then watched our beaming smiles fade, when they saw that we actually LOVED it because it was different than any new house that we could have bought. For us, its original, and top of the line, and adds charm. To them, its not white wallboard!
I love Kay’s analogy here! Keep what you have and work with it when its tired without changing it permenantly!
Queen of Fifty Cents says
We lived for a few years in a little post-WW2 house in Eugene that had an entire wall of pegboard, and it was FABULOUS. We hung everything we could there – not just pans but any utensil that had a hole in the handle, like measuring cups and spoons. We even drilled holes in the handles of our wooden spoons. It’s so much more efficient to cook when you can see and grab your tools. This was probably the start of my love of open kitchen shelves. I’ve been wanting another pegboard wall ever since…and we lived in that house over 35 years ago! (Egad, how time does fly.)
Steve H says
I have pegboard in the basement workshop. Great for organizing, but I must admit that I’m not always so good about hanging stuff back up where I got it. One thing I have noticed is that the hole sizes in the pegboard sold at many big box home improvement centers is not always very standard. The smaller pegs often fit too loose while the larger ones need to have the holes drilled out a little to get them to fit.
pam kueber says
Ack! So now we need to be on the lookout for — vintage pegboard?!!!
nina462 says
I do not have pegboard in the kitchen – in the garage, for tools yes. But not the kitchen. I have however seen it several times at Estate Sales in this area. Personally, I don’t like my pots & pans out in the open – but would be fine if they were in a pantry on pegboard. I have seen the Julia Child kitchen at the Smithsonian & was amazed at how small the kitchen was 🙂 I loved Julia & her shows –