As our boys get older, their interests seem to have narrowed to a few main things: Legos, Minecraft, Star Wars, sports, and Nerf guns. Fellow boy moms, does this sound familiar? Last week, I shared our Lego sorting and storing system and now we’re back in their little play lair with another organizational update.
Our oldest is a Nerf fanatic lately, googling the best guns, hacks, and tactics. Many times, he arranges his guns on the floor and says it’s his armory, so we decided to give him the real deal.
To start, Ben measured the angled wall, transferred the measurements to a sheet of 3/4 inch MDF, and cut the sheet. Then, using a T-square, we marked a 4 inch spaced grid.
Put a half-inch Forstner bit in your drill, keep it as vertical as possible, and drill where the grid overlaps. We chose not to drill the holes completely through the panel to give a stopping point to the dowels, rather than getting pushed into the wall. The Forstner bit is helpful because it’s easy to stop when the bit is flush with the top.
The panel is held in place with four screws, directly into the studs behind.
With the panel in place, I set to work painting, including using a small brush to get into every.single.hole. That was a test of my patience, but it made the overall project look much more finished.
Cut two 48 inch long 1/2 inch diameter dowels into 4 inch sticks, then sand the edges smooth. I chose to stain the dowels, as they are a tight fit in the drilled holes and paint could build too thick. Once dry, place the pegs into the holes, arrange the Nerf guns on the board, and surprise your kid(s).
Bigger weapons are held up by two pegs, but the smallest pistols are hung through the trigger on a single dowel. At four inches long, the dowels are deep enough to accommodate two thinner guns or attachments.
To store ammo and safety glasses, I sewed two bins from duck cloth to hang at the bottom.
Each basket is easy to remove, simply hanging by two leather loops.
This system would be easy to add to a bedroom or playroom, too. If the peg board doesn’t go wall to wall, frame around with square trim or strips of 1 by 2 boards to finish it off.
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Oh, you are living my life with the boy toys! Really love this idea for the MANY Nerf guns all over the house and yard. How you can keep the ammo corralled, though, I can’t imagine. Ours is gone almost as soon as it it shot into the backyard. Unfortunately, don’t have the knowledge or skills to do the build. Would Ben like a little working vacay in Arizona?
This is genius and looks amazingly cool! My grandson and his friends are getting a little old for them, but I still have a tall plastic bin full of Nerf guns of all shapes and sizes.
I did everything u said to do & the 1/2” forester bit is not the same size as a 1/2” wooden dowel I’ve tried 2 different kinds thinking 1 may be swollen or just bigger than another but neither work to go into the pre drilled holes . Besides spending time sanding down each of the dowel ends to fit I’m not real sure what else I can do it’s a great concept but more involved than you made it sound.
Hello Tracy,
When using the drill bit, if you gently rotate it from being perpendicular to the sides, it will enlarge the holes ever so slightly.