I know that the location of your footwear depends entirely on the space that you have at your disposal, but as far as possible try to make it easily accessible and close to a full length mirror. Even if your shoes are downstairs or away from your clothes, cross check your entire outfit before you head out. (Please get a full length mirror if you don’t already have one — I get anxious seeing people balance on top of bath tubs to see their outfits from top to toe).
I have the space to keep all my footwear together (I don’t have loads of shoes), so that’s my preference. I like seeing all shoe options when I get dressed in the morning as opposed to finishing off my outfit downstairs before I leave the house. Although I keep my footwear in one place, this isn’t essential. Some people need to swap out seasonal footwear while others like to keep the footwear that is in heavy rotation by the door while the rest lives elsewhere.
Once you’re got the location, there are several ways to organize the storage:
- Shoe racks: We place all our shoes and booties on rectangular shoe racks for maximum accessibility. My racks are positioned under hanging clothes in our walk-in wardrobe while Greg’s are in the coat closet downstairs. We don’t swap out seasonal footwear or keep more frequently worn shoes elsewhere.
- Built in shoe racks: You can also have permanent shoe racks built into parts of your home or closet.
- Closet floor: I keep mid-calf and knee-high boots in boot shapers on the closet floor.
- Over the door shoe organizer: This is a great closet floor space saving idea and holds ballet flats and sandals especially well.
- Stacking rack: I’ve seen this idea work well in a garage, kitchen or mud room.
- Hanging canvas shoe bag: Another great closet floor space saving idea. Sometimes you can fold knitwear in some of the larger cubby sections.
- Shoe cubby: This type of organization is an excellent idea if you have a wall to spare.
- Clear shoe boxes: I never understood the reason to keep shoes in boxes because they aren’t easily accessible. But the penny dropped a little while ago when I realized that boxes stack neatly when space is at a premium. So using limited space to stack shoe boxes is a better solution than creating untidy piles of shoes. Shoe boxes are also a nice way to keep shoes that don’t come out very often dust-free. Clear boxes make the most sense because you can see the shoes. Boxes that are the same size keep things neat. Shoe drawers are pricey but very practical because you pull out the drawer from the front instead of needing to take out the box and lift off the lid.
- Under-bed shoe organizer: This is an ideal way to store off-season footwear when space is limited.
Effective footwear organization will prevent you from digging around for shoes that end up in several heaps around the house. It also keeps them looking nicer for longer. Finally, it will help to keep your footwear collection top of mind so that you actually wear your shoes and don’t waste money duplicating something that is lurking at the bottom of the pile.