Organizing Shoes By The Door

The debate over whether shoes are permitted in the home or not is a heated and passionate one that raises good arguments on both sides. Lately, we've been taking our shoes off in an effort to keep the house cleaner. But this has raised another set of issues. Our front door opens right into our living room, so a pile of shoes is a definite eyesore. And then...well..we have a lot of shoes. What to do, what to do? We've rounded up some ideas that might work, depending on your particular challenge.

If you have the wall space, this cabinet from the Container Store doesn't take up a lot of room. Its shallow depth means that it won't take up a lot of floor space if, like us, your front door deposits you directly into your living room.
If, unlike us, you have few shoes (or are better at putting your shoes away, try making this shoe rack.
If you have your own stairway-ed entrance way (and you have an especially fab collection of footwear), you might want to steal a page from Gregory and Emily and display your shoes on the stairs.
If your entrance way is long and narrow, wooden magazine racks can make your shoe collection seem almost like art.
A variation on the magazine rack solution, molding, like picture rails, is another way to organize your shoes. Best, if like us, you've got a lot of high heels.
If your front entrance way includes a particularly deep closet, install a plethora of poles low down and hang up your shoes. It might also be fun to hang them on a coat rack.

Comments (8)

Or how about carry them to where they belong? We keep our snow boots on our front porch & carry the rest of them to our bedroom closets where the rest of the shoes live. I just don't like the look of shoes all over the place, even if somewhat arranged.

posted by tallsarah on January 29th 2010 at 3:21pm
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We have a bench by the door, to sit on while we put on our shoes. We don't leave all of our shoes by the door, just a couple of pairs per person, whatever we wear the most, tucked under the bench. If they start to pile up, we put them away.

posted by aaakid on January 29th 2010 at 6:56pm
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For lots of shoes-by-the-door options, you could see my blog post on this subject.

posted by Jeri Dansky on January 30th 2010 at 3:23am
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I have a wide two shelf bookcase that I put in our entryway. The top shelf has cookbooks because the entry goes straight into the kitchen and a tote for umbrellas and scarves. The bottom shelf is lined with my shoes. It's cheap because you can use a bookcase you already have and it keeps your things clean, organized and off the floor. I also have a pretty bowl on top that is a catch-all for keys and sunglasses.

posted by nikkinnora on January 31st 2010 at 1:28pm
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I agree with nikkinnora, my roommate and I had a bookcase which we painted white and then arranged our shoes by color. I liked being able to show off shoes that I love but don't always get the opportunity to wear. As long as you keep it organized and mud free, it made the collection of shoes an artistic element rather than an eyesore.

posted by pheonix1027 on February 1st 2010 at 2:50am
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I leave them in the closet at the front door, but I spray them with Lysol to disinfect before I put them in the closet.

posted by curlybrown on February 3rd 2010 at 6:13pm
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We've had a "shoes off" policy since we bought our house in 2002. An Ikea (LACK) shelving unit turned sideways, sits in our entryway. We put lockable casters on it to give it a little more height. Also at the door is a basket of unisex satin slippers from Chinatown in assorted sizes--for our guests! The shoes do pile up...I have tons of shoes! So every few weeks I migrate half of them back to the bedroom closet.

posted by daisytagger on February 3rd 2010 at 9:58pm
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daisytagger, I am sure your guests are grateful for the athlete's foot.

posted by ladymantle on February 8th 2010 at 11:50pm
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