Do you have one of these shoe piles somewhere in your home? Maybe in your kids' room or right next to your main door? How unpleasant is it to see it on a daily basis? If you are like me it would drive you crazy! Walking through the door and tripping over shoes is not on my list of "Fun Things to do". Shoes are one of those things a Professional Organizer encounter on a daily basis, and sometimes it is literally a pile of them!! Maybe due to the nature of the job we deal mostly with those that have an abundance of belongings or have limited storage space, but the fact remains that both men and women have lots and lots of shoes and most often not enough place to store them, especially once they get rid of the original box. Oftentimes it’s high end shoes and I find them piled up and dusty at the bottom of the closet, causing them to lose some (if not all) of their original value, if one intends to resell, as many do, on sites like TheRealReal. Even if one has no plan on reselling them, a pair of high end shoes that is not well kept will not look great. So we are called in to try and resolve the issue of too many shoes and no place to put them. I have clients that like to display their shoes, it is sort of a collection, and the same goes for bags. I have other clients who view shoes as something to keep their feet warm and protected...lol… No matter what, shoes should have a proper home where they reside when not in use and where you can find them when you need them. So we will now discuss a couple of options to store or display your shoes.
Depending on your budget and the size of your closet you may even choose towers with slanted shelves to better display your pretties. If you only have a Reach in Closet you will need a stand alone tower somewhere in the vicinity of your closet. This type of storage will keep your shoes visible, accessible and will not devalue them.
There are a gazillion of choices, stackable, wood, fabric, even adjustable in length to fit your space and budget. Just measure the space and consider the type of shoes you have and how many before you chose what to buy. Shoe Racks are a good option also when placed near the main entrance for shoes that are often used, and you don’t necessarily want to keep in the closet. – SHOE CABINETS Mostly used in entryways/hallways and there are many options as cabinets go, in part it will depend on the size of space and your décor preference. For all budgets as well and you can see above. For very narrow entryways/hallways Ikea has plenty of thin and attractive shoe cabinets in all price ranges. Your most often used shoes can find a home here, especially if you don't have a coat closet where you can place a rack or cubbies for shoes. – SHOE BENCH If you have the space by your main entrance you can place a Shoe Bench near the door area for most used shoes, it will add some seating as well. Over the bench you can place hooks for coats and jackets used often, or to hang your most often used purses. – OVER THE DOOR SHOES ORGANIZERS If you have lots of sandals or flats, those are easily accommodated in an Over the Door shoe organizer, and again there are many choices here, but the downside of them is they will not accommodate most winter shoes, since the pockets are kind of small, they will fit kids and women shoes but NOT most men shoes either. The quality is also important as some will break quickly, I don’t recommend those with plastic pockets, fabric like material is best for longevity. If you have it in your budget the Container Store has a similar Organizer wish sideways pockets that accommodates slightly larger shoes and will probably fit some MEN shoes. Keep in mind NOT all doors have the space between door and frame to accommodate over the door hanging. I have encountered many such doors. – HANGING SHOE ORGANIZERS I often use these in standard Reach In closets, those with just the 1 hanging rod and shelf above. You can hang them on the rod either via a hook or Velcro straps and come in various width, the thinner ones will fit a pair of women shoes in each compartment but will only fit 1 SHOE if thicker. For thicker shoes, ½ boots, heels or men shoes you will need the wider type. It all depends on how much available space you have on your hanging rod. These type of Organizers will not retain their shape well if too much weight is placed on them, so keep that in mind. They can be placed in the Coat Closet for quicker access or in the Bedroom Closet for less used shoes. – UNDER THE BED Some clients’ space is extremely limited so we resort to storing things under bed, especially out of season shoes. You can store them in their own box or place them in long under-bed storage boxes, some even come with wheels to easily pull them out. – SHOE SHELVES Most often I have general shelves to place shoes on, the problem is that often they are 12 to 14 inches apart and by placing shoes on shelves without a box inevitably wastes space, unless I have extra shelves to add. To make an example consider a space of 12” between 2 shelves, if I place a pair of shoes in their box I can sit another pair without box on top fitting 2 pairs in the same space instead of one. If the space is 14” I can place the pair in the box plus 2 pairs on top of it if I use shoe stackers like “Slotz”. Alternatively I can place 2 boxes plus 1 pair shoes, depending on size of box. In this manner I can use vertical space to accommodate more. As you can see in the picture below you place smaller shoes below and higher/bigger shoes above the stackers. Note that thick/tall shoes will most likely not fit underneath. This is why I believe in not discarding shoe boxes, unless dirty or damaged. Just keep the prettier ones and use for whatever shoes you want, it doesn’t have to be what came in the box. You can label them if you like. If you discard the box your only other option is to purchase shoe boxes, and there are definitely plenty options online, but why buy more stuff when you already had the box the shoes came in? – NOTE ON FLIP FLOPS AND SANDALS Flip Flops and other very flat shoes are super thin and I often store them in a box, preferably a clear plastic one so the client can see what the content is, if I place them in a shoe box I attach a label to identify the content. Flip flops/sandals season is rather short so when not in use is best to store multiples standing up on their side in a box to save space. If you live in warm climate where they are used year around place them on over the door organizers, 1 pair will fit in a pocket. Alternatively you can place them standing up in a bin by the door. ALWAYS inventory your shoes before you decide what storage option is best for you. I can’t count how many times I have seen the wrong type of storage because people just purchased something that looked great but did not fit their needs. When thinking about Shoe Organization consider that 1 pair of women shoes need about 7-8” of space (width) and 6-7” of height. Boots and heels will need more. Men shoes will need 9” of space (width) at least per pair, some thicker ones may need more. Height wise 7-8” will fit most sneakers. In conclusion it pays to make sense of your shoes, and find the right fit for you based on the amount and type of shoes you have, taking into consideration your décor and space available. Remember that investing a little time in inventory and research will save you some frustration if the product is not going to work and will have to be returned.
In general I avoid following advice from those "Hacks" that in theory looks good but in reality never work or cost more time and money than just purchasing a product. Happy Organizing |
AuthorHello, my name is Vicky and I am a Professional Organizer in NYC. I am passionate about anything related to organizing and most of all I fully believe in the benefits of it. Archives
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