Comments on: Make your own shoe rack

By: Deborah Marchant

Deborah Marchant — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:23:02 +0000

I like the space underneath the shoes. It allows for faster and easier ‘swiffering’ or vacuuming – that is, unless bending down and stretching to the floor for exercise is needed.

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:35:57 +0000

Like Jen, I’m not seeing how this would really take up any less space than some regular old shoe shelves that are only as deep as the shoes. Even if it does take less room when the racks are empty, I know that my shoe rack always has a couple pairs on it, as it’s kind of hard to wear all of your shoes at once.

My house just has a set of stackable wicker shoe shelves. They are only as deep as a typical pair of shoes, and it works really well in our tiny, tiny entryway. And, since it is not attached to the wall, we could always pick it up and move it somewhere else if we ever have to for some unforeseen reason.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:42:23 +0000

This is a great idea! If you’re concerned about the toes of the shoes getting squished by their own weight, you could try it this way: make the upper shelf tall enough to accommodate clear plastic shoe boxes. I haven’t really thought this out, but I think it *should* work…

By: Gillian

Gillian — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:10:43 +0000

For people in the snow belt, shoes and boots have to dry. Make a rectangle of 1×2 wood to fit inside the rim of a boot mat. Drill 6 holes along each long side of the rectangle and insert 1/2″ dowels in the holes. Make half the dowels 18″ and half 12″. This rack requires the floor space, but it allows 6 pairs of shoes to air and dry. I’ve used one for about 20 years.

By: sharon

sharon — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:43:12 +0000

I like it. Looks kind of minimalistic likes those invisible book shelves.

By: Jason P

Jason P — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:12:47 +0000

oh hey, i made these a while back from scratch, and i really love them. really easy and fun to make, though it does require some sturdy nail holes, if you use them for as many shoes as i do.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:17:17 +0000

This looks cool, but it probably wouldn’t work in a rental apartment where you don’t want to nail things into the walls. I live alone, and I wanted a shoe rack that would just hold 3-4 pairs of shoes. All the ones I looked at were just too big. I ended up using a couple of stackable racks that are normally used to hold dishes in your kitchen cabinets. They were inexpensive, and just the right size.

By: Ann - One Bag Nation

Ann - One Bag Nation — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:56:58 +0000

We’ve had such a miserable spring, our boots are still on our (rickety) shoe shelf.

The shelf was working fine when our daughter was small, but now that her feet are almost as big as mine, we need a new solution!

I will investigate the solutions mentioned above.

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:53:35 +0000

We used racks from IKEA that are supposed to be kitchen shelves – 5 metal bars running parallel to each other and to the wall. Two stacked one on top of the other. The height of the support provides good spacing from the floor as well as from each other. Holds roughly 4-5 pairs of shoes on each rack. They weren’t very expensive, were premade and ready to go, and while we still see the shoes, it helps us know which ones are there and which ones we need to search for. (Makes me think we need fewer shoes!)

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:05:52 +0000

Before you put up these shoe racks, please check out the range of slimline shoe cabinets at IKEA. Much more attractive, they hold loads more shoes and the shoes are hidden. Key trays etc can also go on the top.

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:02:32 +0000

Is there anything about this that makes it a better solution than just having two shelf boards deep enough to set the shoes on top? I suppose it takes up less space when it’s not being used.

By: Shanel Yang

Shanel Yang — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:30:05 +0000

Thanks, but it looks like the tops of the fronts of the shoes would get damaged over time. Looks cool, though!