Ok so this is one of my very favorite things we have done in a long time. Our master bedroom has a very nice large closet and one thing I have struggled with is organizing my shoes. I have so many… snow boots, flip flops, heels, fall boots, sandals…. I know I should just downsize to like 10 pairs or something but try as I might that isn’t going to happen. Let’s be honest here 😉 . I have four pairs of running shoes alone! So I have been looking at closet organizers and storage bins and all that and I just haven’t found anything that floats my boat. What I wound up doing was putting the off season and infrequently worn shoes into a large underbed storage tub. Then the ones I wear all the time are sort of piled on top of that on the floor of the closet. (I know. Classy is my middle name.)
Let’s just say it was a hot mess of jumbled shoes. So we recently went to Ikea and we were looking for ideas for the closet when I stumbled upon these long floating shelves for $19.99. They come in several colors and two sizes and include all the hardware to mount them right on the wall. They are the perfect size to fit shoes- whoot!!
So we packed two shelves right into the cart and off we went.
These come in different sizes but the one I got was 74 inches long and 10 inches wide. We had to trim it down just a tiny bit to fit inside the closet but my husband had these trimmed and mounted on the wall in probably 20 minutes.
I was thinking I might paint them a fun color but then… well #aintgottimeforthat and the plain birch color is nice and clean looking anyway. These fit roughly 10 pairs of shoes on each shelf. I have two shelves now- so 20 shoes and then I did keep one large tub for storing my ski boots and Uggs and things I don’t wear often.
See how nicely they fit? I had actually been envisioning something just like this to build out of lumber from Lowe’s but honestly for $20 a shelf I thought it was a good value to just get these. They are nice and study and hold a lot of weight. I was thinking they would be perfect to hold your purses too! And here it is again-
And I can’t even tell you how bright and airy this little change has made to my closet. It feels so clean and organized now and the only thing I did was add shoe storage.
And by the way, I consulted some closet organization web sites because making a closet look nice is a task that far exceeded my abilities for these photos ;). Apparently you just need to add a dog to your interior closet photo- so here is Milo! Impressed with the nice closet and ready to help with styling. Um… pretend you don’t notice he is slightly out of focus. hard to get a good shot balancing on top of the bed 😛
Do you have any fantastic ideas for organizing clothes and shoes? I was so happy with this I have another trip planned to grab another shelf for my little girls closet.
You can find lots more easy DIY projects on my pinterest boards!
kimberly sh says
I love milos pic
Charlene says
LOL! He got a lot of treats to sit still and behave that day 😀
Elizabeth says
A trick I learned from good ol’ Martha Stewart – if you put one shoe facing toes in and the matching one facing toes out, you can fit more in there too. 😉
Annye says
I can’t decide which is more exciting to me: Stylish shoe storage or finally (Finally!) seeing a photo of your pound puppy. Yeah, Milo wins! (Sorry, shoes!)
Teresa says
I use a hanging shoe organizer (small cubby slot style about 12″ wide and 5′ tall) in our coat closet to easily store gloves, ear muffs, stocking hats, umbrellas, etc. It works great and easy access.
Annie says
Very meat idea. Our closet is need of some major work too
Charlene says
Ha! Annye he has shown up a few times on the blog and Instagram but not as often as my girls. 🙂
He acts as my supervisor during the day to be sure I am staying on task. Here is he not blurry- most days he is my favorite person 😉
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2013/10/cheap-easy-home-improvement-tip-custom-painted-doorknobs/
Charlene says
Well Martha is a genius so what she says I will do 🙂
Annye says
How did I miss the post about painting doorknobs — especially with such a distinguished foreman (foredog?) involved? Thanks for steering me to it, Charlene!
(One little correction for that post: The part I think you’d meant to reference is called a strike plate. The hinges allow the door to swing; the strike plate is where the door latches.)
cathy says
In all our closets, I put a vinyl runner to cover the carpet. We keep some shoes on this. In our closet,I also added white wire shelving for shoes and boots. In the kids bedrooms, they hang all clothes on hangers, and shoes on floor. Plus a few plastic shoe box drawers for socks, etc. http://www.irisusainc.com/p-449-df-ss.aspx
Tatyana says
Hi Charlene, have you seen Nordstrom sale on TOMS shoes, it looks like you like those 🙂
Charlene says
Tatyana- yes I love Tom’s :). I just bought new ones at Zulily but I was VERY tempted to get the pink ombré ones from Nordstrom 🙂
Dee says
….. and the dog is saying, hhmmmm it does not look like there is enough “meat” on those sandals to chew. Those boots on the right…. yummy! If I sit here real nice and pose, they will never think it is me.
We were “gifted” a Carin terrier under a year old. We were her 3rd family, at the first home she was kept in a butler’s pantry 16 hours a day. They said she ate her last pair of $300.00 shoes, and she had to go. Of course she did this for attention. How would they like to be kept in a butlers pantry. She was an alpha female, but an absolute delight. She never ate shoes at our house, NOT a one.
Renee says
I love this idea! Approx. how much space did you have between each shelf?
Charlene says
Renee,
About 9 inches or so. You might check your shoes though. I live in CA and I have lots of sandals, flip flops and Toms so those are small shoes. If you wear boots or heels a lot you might need more space 🙂
Annabel says
Looks great! Curious as to how you cut them down… how did you get them cut nicely so the laminate did not split or chip along the cut?? Thanks 🙂
Sharon says
Looks fabulous! Ditto on Annabel’s question; I would also need to cut down, and would love if you could tell us more about how your husband did it, as well as which tools he used. Thanks!