Do shoes seem to multiply at your house? They sure do here! I’ve tried different methods to contain the amount of shoes that end up in our entryway and coat closet, and just haven’t found one that worked really well, and looked nice too. Here are some of my past efforts:
This worked out ok, until we started leaving more and more shoes here,
and it didn’t give us room for everything else.
Plus, it didn’t have the neat and pretty look I was really going for.
We do keep shoes we rarely wear in our clothes closets,
and our winter boots in the basement, but in the summer,
we are usually swapping between several pairs of flip flops and tennis shoes…
After our recent installation of new tile, and our bathroom redo,
we decided on a new approach for our coat closet.
After taking out the old shelf and hanging bar, we painted the closet,
and the new tile of course extended into here.
Since with all the hooks (on the backs of doors and in the hallway),
we usually ended up hanging our coats and jackets on them,
we thought we could better use the closet space for shelving,
which my hubby bought and installed.
With the track system, you can adjust it over time to suit your needs.
I purchased matching white baskets to use for everything I wanted to put back into the coat closet,
and purged all the shoes that didn’t fit any longer.
At Target, I found these chalkboard stickers to label the baskets.
I gave each one in the family a basket in which to keep a few extra pairs of shoes,
and I also added baskets for winter hats, gloves and scarves, a basket for summer hats
and sunscreen, a basket for my smaller vacuum accessories, and one for cleaning supplies.
The baskets slide out easily, and there is enough clearance overhead for the younger two
to just toss in their shoes.
I added an adhesive hook that works great for my long ceiling fan duster.
Since we’re not using any coats right now, I hung our umbrella on the door.
I love how tidy and uniform my little coat closet looks now,
and I still have room for my vacuum cleaner
and anything else that might end up here!
It’s ok to think outside of the box to make your spaces work best for you and your family!