What To Do With All Those Shoes
While design and decor are at the top of my favorites list, my most favoritest thing of all in the wide world is organizing. This isn't a passion that slowly developed in me as I grew older and accumulated more stuff with 4 kids. As a young girl, when my parents would take me on a special shopping trip to Target, I'd skip right over the toys and head to the storage and organization aisle. There I would slowly study each bin, bucket and basket and layout the inner workings of my dresser drawers (no joke, I had the most organized rock collection of any 6 year old). Today, I must say that my house is really quite organized. Let me be clear, that doesn't mean that my house isn't a mess at all times, because it is. But everything does have a place if I can keep up with the pace at which things are removed.
One key when organizing anything is how likely I am to actually utilize the system. So when it comes to shoes, putting each pair in a gorgeous, clean, clear shoe box might look fabulous - but ultimately those lids are going to be strewn everywhere and it will end up being more of a hassle than anything. As a closet clean freak, I also like to assess how easy the storage solution is to keep clean. Storing shoes in a wicker or fabric lined basket just creates more of a project when the bins become filled with rocks and mud. And then there's the question of doing a built-in solution vs a store bought solution. In all our wildest dreams, custom shoe storage a la Carrie Bradshaw's Sex and the City closet would be ideal - but isn't always in the budget.
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In my early 1900's Edina home, closet space is adequate at best. Because we know that we want to do a larger remodel of this home down the road, we eliminated the idea of doing anything custom in our closets off the bat. The other advantage to avoiding built-in solutions is the closets remain more flexible and can be adjusted easily as the needs of your family change. So I stuck with my tried and true shoe solutions that have proven to work for my family through each home we've lived in. I'll share more about my solutions for closet shelving in another post.
We don't have a mudroom currently, so we utilize a front hall closet for our shoe storage. You can see it peeking out to the right here:
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These hanging shoe cubbies are my absolute favorite. This particular style is Thomas O'Brien for Target - which should date both them and me being that Thomas O'Brien was discontinued from Target years ago.
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The top is a heavy duty velcro that wraps around your hanging rod and the cubbies are a durable canvas. I have had these cubbies for 8 years and they are still in amazing condition. From home to home, as our closets have changed, I've trimmed off cubbies that hung too low, so they've gradually gotten shorter or 'more customized' to our closets. I've loaded these things up with 2 pairs of shoes per cubby and never had a problem with the velcro coming loose. Each cubby is perfectly sized to fit up to a men's large pair of shoes - or I can fit two pairs of kids shoes easily (size 12 or under). By keeping a boot drying mat on the floor of this closet, I can set shoes there to dry and then move them up to their cubby once they are ready. This keeps the cubbies relatively clean, although I give them a quick vacuum with a hose attachment every two weeks or so. I hope I'm not scaring you off yet with my neurotic ways.
For shoes of mine like heels, seasonal shoes or special occasion shoes, I like to store them in my bedroom closet. For those, I use my favorite shoe boxes from the Container Store. They are really, really clear - not that foggy, filmy clear and stack nicely. Super easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth and are surprisingly sturdy. I adjusted the shelves in my closet to fit 2 boxes per shelf. They come in a variety of sizes to fit men's shoes and tall boots as well and are at a really reasonable price point.
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With 4 kids, I typically have shoes/boots 'in waiting.' Big sister's boots from last year waiting another season until little sis fits in them. I have my in-home shoe store down in the basement storage room. (Here's where things get embarrassing). All it takes is a cloudy day for me to pull out my Polaroid camera and start photographing shoes - picture my husband rolling his eyes at me as I pose kid's boots.
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In our house, it's dad's job to assess and order the kids outdoor winter apparel and be sure we are stocked on mittens, hats, snow pants, boots, etc for the season. As a proponent of non-clutter, I often find myself forgoing winter clothing in the interest of saving space. My husband can't stand this about me (goes without saying that I'm always freezing) so he takes it upon himself to be sure the children are properly equipped. Well guess who's thanking me when he can flip through my catalog of what's in the basement storage room on the shoe front? All my Polaroids labeled with size make knowing what we need a breeze - and stored in those same Container Store shoe bins makes finding them a snap.
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I feel vulnerable after writing this post - like I've exposed my deep, dark, organizational, neurotic, OCD ways - but I'm putting it out there because maybe a piece of it will help minimize the pile you might be tripping on in your entry. Or maybe you already have that mudroom I'm dreaming of - with WIDE doorways, doors on cluttered cabinets and heated tile floors to minimize puddles. I'll share what we've been using as a pseudo-mudroom in the coming weeks. It's not quite as embarrassing as my shoe solutions.
I rounded up a few good options for hanging shoe cubbies that had nice proportions - not too big of cubbies where space goes wasted, but adequate to fit kids up to men's shoes. Go ahead and check them out - I'm loving the idea of the cedar-lined ones to avoid each cubby bending and flexing: