Ikea hack: How to create a mobile pegboard storage unit from the Raskog cart and Skadis pegboard

Over the past two years or so my sewing room has turned into a bit of a mess. I am not a very tidy person by nature and the mess started to annoy even me. Now that I am using my room again on a much more regular basis (hurray!) things needed to change so I can make the most out of my limited sewing time. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how to optimize the room and I have now found a solution for two of my main problems:

  • Not having a set storage space for all those things that are used on a daily basis such as rulers, scissors, rotary cutters and pins. As a result I kept moving them from cutting table, to sewing table, to ironing board, to the floor and back to the cutting table, etc.. and often couldn’t find something that I desperately needed.
  • I tend to work on several things at the same time and I don’t want to stuff these works in progress into a cabinet because I may forget about them if I don’t see them lying around, but at the same time it’s not ideal to keep moving piles of unfinished projects around the room.
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Tadaa! Sometimes, even I am amazed at the things my mind comes up with.

From looking at a lot of sewing room pictures there are two things that are being used by a lot of people that seemed to have potential as a solution for my problems. The Ikea Raskog utility cart and pegboards. The Raskog looked useful since it can be moved around and it would be great as a temporary storage unit for works in progress, but it would not change the storage issue I have with my large quilting rulers, these are 60 cm long, while the cart is only 35×45 cm. Pegboards look really useful for storing rulers, but the one thing my sewing room lacks is empty wall space. Really, the only decent amount of wall space that I have is already in use by my design wall, and no way am I sacrificing that for a pegboard.

So, I had carts and pegboards on my mind and was thinking how it would be great to be able to hang my rulers from the Raskog cart since it’s 72 cm high. I then saw that the Ikea Skadis pegboard has a connector accessory that enables you to attach it to a table top instead of a wall and I realized that it might very well be possible to use this to attach the pegboard to the smaller side of the Raskog cart which would solve both problems in one go. My husband’s initial reaction when I told him that I planned to attach the pegboards I had bought to the cart that I was still assembling was “Whaaaaaaaat?!?”, but hey, I was right, it totally works and it is really easy!

So, today I have a tutorial so you can make your own mobile pegboard storage unit for your sewing room (or any other hobby I suppose) by combining two Ikea products, the Raskog utility cart and Skadis pegboard!

Materials

I’ve added the Ikea product numbers so you can easily find them on the Ikea website of your own country, links are to the US website since I expect most people that found this blog are able to read English.

  1. 1x Ikea Raskog ultility cart (white: 203.829.32, beige: 202.718.92, black: 903.339.76 or dark blue: 304.017.89)
  2. 2x Ikea Skadis pegboard 36×56 cm or 14 1/4×22’’ (white: 503.208.05 or wood: 703.471.73)
  3. 2x Ikea Skadis connector (2/pack, so you have 4 in total) (white: 103.207.89 or black: 703.207.91)
  4. 1x Ikea Fixa stick on floor protector set (241.556.00)
  5. 2x (white) tie wrap (I used ridiculously long ones, but 25 cm/10” is probably long enough)
  6. 4x screws/bolts, size M4, 10-12 mm length is probably ideal.
  7. Ikea Skadis accessories of your choice. On my pegboard I used:

Method

Step 1: Assemble your Raskog trolley according to Ikea’s instructions.

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Step 1: I decided to use the white cart with the white pegboard to make it appear that these 2 products really belong together.

Step 2: Stick a large circle of the Fixa floor protector set on each of the 4 Skadis connectors. There are 4 large circles in a pack so that works out great (we still had a pack at home with only 3 of the large circles left so I used some of the smaller ones on one of the connectors, this also worked). The connectors are made of metal and so is the Raskog cart. The felt protectors prevent scratching and also make it a bit easier to attach the connectors firmly.

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Step 2

Step 3: Attach the connectors to the pegboards, in the pegboard use the holes in the 4th column from the sides and on the connectors use the lower set of holes. Otherwise use the Ikea instructions.

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Step 3 and 4: The left picture shows the side that will be facing the cart. The right picture shows the side that will be facing out.

Step 4: Each pegboard comes with 2 plastic spacer units that are normally used to make sure the pegboard hangs some distance from the wall. These are now used to make sure the pegboards end up in a good vertical position and an equal distance away from the cart baskets. The spacers should be attached to the same side as the part of the connectors that sticks out (see pictures). The screws that came with the pegboards have already been used to attach the connectors so this is where you need the 4 extra screws or bolts. They should end up positioned in the 9th column so that the top one touches the middle basket and the lower one the lower basket (and not the bolts that were used to attach the baskets to the cart). On both sides I attached the top one in the 9th hole from the bottom, but the lower one is in the 1st hole on one side and in the 3rd hole on the other side. Apparently my bottom basket ended up a bit lopsided even though I am pretty sure I followed the assembly instructions correctly. Simply try out what fits best before you firmly screw on your spacers.

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Step 4: The plastic spacer and on the left the screw that it came with that you already used to attach the connector and on the right the bolt that I used instead. It’s much shorter than the original but this is fine.

Step 5: Attach the pegboards to the cart, this works best if you lay the cart on the floor so that the pegboard is horizontal. The spacers should end up exactly in the middle of the cart, you can use the bolts that were used to attach the baskets as a guide. Screw the connectors lightly to the cart. Test whether you can swivel both wheels of the cart. If you can’t, your pegboard is not centred correctly and you should reposition it. If you are happy with the placement, screw the connectors on tightly.

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Step 5 Please note how I positioned the white plastic part of the screw so that there is enough space for the wheel to swivel.

Step 6: Use the tie wraps to attach the pegboard to the cart just above the second spacer unit. Position the closure so that it doesn’t get in the way when you put things in the basket and cut off the extra bit. Neglecting to add the tie wrap will result in a pegboard that topples forward as you hang things from it because the connectors were made to attach things to something square like a table and not to something round like this cart. With the tie wrap attached, the whole thing becomes really sturdy and everything will stay in place perfectly.

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Step 6

Step 7: Attach your chosen accessories to the pegboard and fill it up with tools, notions and projects.

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Step 7

Step 8: Enjoy a better organized sewing experience!

 Some things to keep in mind

It is possible that not all of the Ikea products that I used are available in your country. I saw, for example, that in the US the Raskog cart does not come in white so you may have to use a different colour.

The Skadis pegboard has oblong shaped holes while most pegboards I’ve seen have round holes. As a result you may not be able to attach other accessories than the Ikea ones to this pegboard. Since the pegboards are not very large this did not really seem like a big problem to me since Ikea has several useful accessories, but you should realize this in case you have something very specific in mind.

Adding the pegboards does change the dimensions of the Raskog cart. The width doesn’t change that much, it goes from 35 to 36 cm, but the length increases quite a bit, depending on what you attach to it. If you only attach hooks and clips it changes from 45 to around 53 cm, if you add containers to both sides like I did, it goes easily up to 68 cm. It is, of course, possible to only add a pegboard to one side or to only use the containers on one side and hooks on the other side which limits the increase in length.

On my cart I am now using the storage bag and roll holder to store my rulers. After assembling the whole thing I realized that the long rulers could also hang from the pegboard if a hook is placed in the middle column of the pegboard so the bottom of the ruler doesn’t touch the wheels of the cart. However, the holes in my rulers do not work with the white hooks that I have because they’re not deep enough. Ikea also has black hooks that are a bit differently shaped (703.216.39), I think these may work with my Omnigrid rulers, but I currently don’t have these hooks so I am not entirely certain. I’ll probably pick them up next time I’m at Ikea but that will take some time since we don’t live next door. Edit August 4, 2018: I did try the black hooks and they work with the holes in the Omnigrid rulers (see picture below). However, the 24×6 inch ruler is too long and touches the floor, for now I am sticking with the storage bag and roll holder solution since I use this ruler all the time.

180804_Skadis

I hung the 12.5×12.5 inch and 60×15 cm rulers from the black hook and this works. The bottom of the 60×15 cm ruler is still a couple of milimeters away from the floor.

I advise against using the shelf accessory since things are bound to topple off when you move the cart around…

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So, are you dashing off to Ikea to make your own mobile pegboard storage unit? If you do, I’d love to see a picture of your unit in use!

June 30, 2018

Emmely Treffers

About Emmely

I am a sewing enthusiast from the Netherlands. I live in the Leiden area with my husband and two daughters and I am currently working as a senior researcher in molecular virology. With my quilting patterns and sewing blog I want to infect as many people as possible with my love for sewing.

read more

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51 Comments

  1. katechiconi

    I’d be spending a lot more time and money in Ikea if the nearest one wasn’t a three day drive away… I made my own storage solution to hang on the wall over my cutting table, a big sheet of MDF, mounted on battens, with holes drilled in it to take pegs. From the pegs I hang rulers, scissors, cutters, tools, templates, plastic baskets, etc. Whatever the format you end up with, an organised storage area can be a huge game-changer!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Luckily, for us the nearest one is less than 30 minutes away, but we still don’t go that often. If I had the wall space I would probably have gone for something wall mounted as well, but I only have windows and roof.
      I already find it’s great to have less clutter on my sewing table. I’ve also rearranged my tables to create space for some additional cabinets for storing smaller stuff but I still need to pick those out. It’s fun to plan these things, especially if your quirky ideas do work out!

      Reply
  2. tierneycreates

    Very cool! I have that cart, well one just like it, in a pewter/silver like color. What a great IKEA hack!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Thank you! I am so pleased with how my cart turned out!

      Reply
  3. dezertsuz

    I probably would dash off if the closest Ikea weren’t about 220 miles south of me. =) This is amazing, and well explained. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Thank you! I suppose we have a lot more Ikea stores in Europe. The Netherlands alone already have 13 so we’re always sort of close to one.

      Reply
    • Lorraine salter

      Hi you can order on line and they deliver I hve loads of drawers from ther and table tops with legs you can have them cut to whatever size you want my sewing room is a mixup of loads of craft things but I’m trying to get organised so hope you found this helpful
      Lorraine

      Reply
    • Emmely

      Thank you! I’ve been using the caet for a while now and it is extremely useful. Ikea is so great for these kinds of projects.

      Reply
  4. Tamara

    Thanks for the idea! I am going to try to hang some showerboard on the side of my cart for a dry erase board for homeschooling.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Good luck! I’m sure that will work if you drill some holes through it so you can attach it with e.g. tie wraps or string!

      Reply
  5. Elliott Andrew

    What a great idea! How thick is the actual skadis pegboard? I am trying to improvise my own version somewhat.
    Thanks for your help

    Reply
    • Emmely

      I’d say it’s a bit more than 1/8 of an inch or around 4 mm. Good luck with your project!

      Reply
  6. 36berkeley

    Hello Emmely,
    Thank you for all the time and detail you put into this. I live far from Ikea but online ordering has finally arrived, so I am going to make a sewing organiser too. I am trying to choose from white like yours, or mint green with brown pegboards and grey gadgets.
    Sarah

    Reply
    • Emmely

      It’s so great that it’s now possible to order online from Ikea. Whichever colour palette you choose in the end I’m sure you’ll love using the cart. Thank you for letting me know you are using this tutorial! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Danielle

    Hi! I’m wondering if the Skadis baskets would hang along the sides of the Raskog cart, or is the rim too thick for the hooks on them? I look forward to your reply. The cart looks amazing. Great job and thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Hi Danielle, I gave it a try and you can hang the containers and storage bags from the rim. It seems to work quite well actually so it is a way to add even more storage space to the cart. The containers do not hang completely level though because they also have small things sticking out from the bottom through which they also connect with the pegboard. It’s only a little off though and I don’t think it’s an issue. If you hang too many things on the long side of the cart it may also become more difficult to reach what’s stored in the cart itself so I wouldn’t overdo the number of containers hanging from that side. Good luck!

      Reply
  8. Mary

    I love this idea. If you don’t have an Ikea close to you or you don’t want to order online you can find similar carts in home improvement stores & occasionally other stores. You can also find small sizes of regular pegboard in the home improvement stores. They don’t have quite as many accessories to choose from, but they do have some that should work. Examples: different peg hooks, baskets, etc. If you have a drill you can buy regular items in other departments to use also & use the ties (we call them zip ties here in the U.S.) If you do craft/art fairs & have a truck to use this might work for that also as either a bagging station or for displays depending on what you make & sell. Your idea would even work in a small kitchen or bath. Oh the possibilities.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      I completely agree, you can totally make something similar using other starting materials! It sounds like your head is already spinning with some good ideas. Good luck!

      Reply
  9. Michelle, USA

    Thank you for such a great tutorial! You gave clear directions and I very much appreciate when you added an explanation on why you suggest a person should or should not do something. I am a systems thinker and need to understand the impact of a decision so I can move forward. You took a lot of time to share this great idea with us. This was kind and generous! I think I’ll look into this for my rulers and some other tools. Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Thank you! I had fun creating this tutorial and am glad you find it useful. Good luck making your own!

      Reply
  10. Susan Wyckoff

    Your cart adaptations are fabulous and yes I plan to run to IKEA the first chance I get! I used to have to drive 2 1/2 hours to the nearest store but now I’m really fortunate in that IKEA built a store 20 minutes from my home!
    Your instructions are so clear and detailed that I don’t foresee any problems putting mine together. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and including pictures.
    I can’t wait to get started!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      You are welcome! And good luck assembling your cart!

      Reply
  11. Becky Matakas

    This is so awesome! Hoping to create one this weekend using your excellent instructions!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      And for me it is awesome to know that people are using my tutorial! Good luck!

      Reply
  12. Gill

    Just moved my sewing room (I was in a cupboard really) into the spare bedroom ( so no more sleepover visitors – shame!) and although a bigger room, my husband wasn’t keen on me putting up lots of shelves, so after seeing your hack we made a trip to Ikea. Got my boards, trolley etc. as well has the wooden chopping board top now available to fit trolley. My goodness with your hack, what a difference this has made, space for lots of essential bits and pieces, hanging space for rulers, mobile, tidy, useful and great looking. What a wonderful hack – you have made a quilter very happy and a husband pleased as such a little financial outlay! Go girl, keep having brainwaves like this and share them!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      I am so happy you are finding this hack so useful! A dedicated sewing space makes such a difference. I had not yet seen that cutting board addition for the trolley but that looks like an interesting addition. I am going to check it out next time I am at Ikea.

      Reply
  13. Beverly

    What an awesome idea!! I’ve been trying to figure out how to better utilize my Raskog. I have had a pegboard for a couple years and don’t have the wall space to do what I want, but using the Raskog and your plan solves 2 of my challenges. Thank you so much for sharing your solutions. I’m lucky to have ikea 15 minutes from me. I’ll be heading their for the supplies you listed.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Good luck making your own cart! I’m still super happy with mine.

      Reply
  14. Saga

    I have the RASKOG cart and decided to repurpose it from its current purpose into sewing accessories holder.
    Trying to figure out how to do it best, I stumbled over your idea on Pinterest.
    Perfect! A solution to exactly those awkwardly long tools, rulers, bendable sewing light, tube turner. So much doing this.
    Only I, sigh, was just at IKEA this weekend, but it is not too far away from me.
    Thank you for the idea and the very good tutorial.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Thank you! The supplies will still be there next time you visit Ikea, or perhaps you can order them online?

      Reply
  15. Alison

    Thanks so much for your tutorial. I was desperate for a pegboard but as I’m renting I knew I couldn’t attach one to a wall. Your idea ticked all the boxes – a perfect storage solution! I didn’t use the connectors or spacers, and simply cable-tied the pegboards directly onto the cart and I couldn’t be happier. I feel supremely organised – thanks to you!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Great that my idea inspired you to find a solution that works for you!

      Reply
  16. Nadine

    Thank you for your great hack! Just love it and had to go to IKEA right away 🙂
    I attached the upper basket upside down so I can place my Big Shot on it as well…and bought some magnetic Grundtal boxes (can get these in Switzerland) to store all the tiny loose things.
    It’s just perfect!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      I had to look up what a Big Shot is, sounds like an interesting tool. It’s so great to hear how people adapt this hack to fit their own needs. Thank you for letting me know!

      Reply
  17. Christina

    Awesome hack…Thank you! I own 5 of these carts (2) black (2) turquoise (1) grey. They are so useful and this will provide much more usage in my craft room. I literally live 10 mins from an IKEA and I pop in sometimes 3 days/wk. I found the 2 black ones in the As is Clearance section for $15 dollars each!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      That is a really good deal! Good luck attaching the pegboards, I am sure you’ll find them useful!

      Reply
  18. Clare McFadden

    Hi Emmely, thank you so much for your fantastic tutorial. I have had to move out of my craft room during the corona virus crisis so that my husband can use it to work in. I get it back at weekends. I have been wheeling my Raskog trolley and my cutting machine to the kitchen and using the kitchen table but I always forget something. We have followed your tutorial and my Raskog trolley now takes so much more than it did before. I’m using this weekend to load it up with all the things I think I’ll need and the next week I’ll hopefully be more productive. Did you know that there is a Facebook group called Pimp My Raskog which shows all sorts of ways that people have changed or added to their trolleys? None as good as yours though! Thanks again.
    Clare

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Hi Clare, so glad you found the tutorial useful! I hadn’t heard about the Facebook group, but I am not on Facebook. Good luck crafting next week!
      Best, Emmely

      Reply
  19. balkontuintje

    Hi Emmely, your way of moving stuff around the room and the floor sounds very familiar… I was chased out of my sewing room when my baby was born, but now we’re planning on moving to a bigger house. I’m going to have a sewing / craft room again, yay! But I plan on doing things differently this time and your cart is a great start! I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

    Dankjewel! Cheers, Anita

    Reply
    • Emmely

      A dedicated sewing space makes such a difference! And I am happy to report that I am no longer moving stuff around the room and can always locate my rulers and rotary cutters thanks to my cart. Good luck making yours!

      Reply
  20. Bridie Drain

    Thanks for the brill idea Emmely. I had a cart and a little used large ikea pegboard I discovered that the board is painted MDF and cuts easily with a jigsaw.i cut 2 the breadth of the trolly and hung it on the top tray using 2 ikea small pegboard hooks and they hold it well. I might sand it down and paint it mint green to match my cart.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      I love how you managed to use the idea to adapt it to work with what you already had on hand!

      Reply
  21. Pat Hayes

    I have customized the same RASKOG cart for sewing & quilting rulers without buying the Skadis pegboard. I just got heavy duty magnetic hooks from big box store & attached to top tier & have all my rulers hanging from the ends of cart as well as sides if needed.

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Yes, that would work as well. I do like to keep the sides free though to easily access what is stored inside the cart.

      Reply
  22. Sara Calestagne

    Hi! I love your idea and I wish to make one like this, but I wonder if it will work with only one pegboard instead of two? Or do you think from your experience that it would be too heavy on one side and it absolutely needs another pegboard on the other side to balance everything out and keep it sturdy? Thanks for your insights!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Hi Sara, the cart is super sturdy and I think it should work just fine with a single pegboard!

      Reply
  23. Val C

    Super happy with my trolley and boards – instead of using the spacers I used 2 of skadis button hooks (205.198.88) no extra screws needed then!
    I found out this out accidentally when adding my accessories to the right side so I could get my head around which direction I needed to fix the connectors 😁
    Such a great idea – thank you

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Good to hear that the tutorial worked out for you! I am still really happy with my own cart. Those button hooks did not yet exist when I made my own cart, sounds like a clever solution!

      Reply
  24. Philip Laureano

    Nice hack, and thanks for the idea!

    The only problem that I had with it is that the connectors were preventing the trolley wheels from rotating. Other than that, everything else was fine. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Emmely

      Did you put the connectors far away enough from the wheels and turn the screw the way I show in the tutorial to prevent this from happening? It’s been 5 years since I made my own trolley (It’s still going strong!) and I don’t know if Ikea made any changes to the connectors since then which would make it more difficult to make this hack work.
      I am glad you found the tutorial useful!

      Reply

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