Simple Shoe Organization Solutions (for Every Family)!

If your house is anything like mine, there are shoes at EVERY. TURN.

Shoes covered in pink sparkles. Shoes adorned with glittery bows. Shoes disguised as baby animals. Ankle boots. Soccer cleats. Rain boots. Jellies. They’re all here. And they’re ALL. OVER. the place.

Adorable tiny shoes are peeking out from every crevice in our home.

They’re under my car tires, in my cabinets, behind my freezer.

I’ve learned that anywhere they CAN be, they WILL be.

Part of the problem is my level of enforcement of shoe rules (i.e. reminding the girls to take them off before we head inside). But the other part of the problem; the one I’ve created a solution for this week, is that we haven’t had a good place to PUT the shoes. Until now.

Yes, yes. I would really love to have a mudroom with cute, labeled lockers (and one day I just might), but for now, I needed a simple, (relatively inexpensive) way to organize our shoes.

So today, I’m showing you how our family is solving our shoe “situation.” And just maybe it’ll inspire you, too, if you haven’t solved YOUR situation already.

Here’s a look at what was happening:

Rough, right?! Pretty shocking, I know, that we were struggling to find matches ( – sense the sarcasm). This issue was ultimately causing a lot of frustration around leaving the house. It was also extremely difficult to get places on time with all of that shoe-searching happening.

So we did something about it.

The Shelves

We did a little measuring and a little brainstorming, and decided on buying this shelf from IKEA: Trofast Storage Frame – $44.99

I assembled it in about an hour (yes, by MYSELF and I was pretty darn proud of that).

With this piece, you can pick and choose the size and number of bins you want to have. We decided on four small ($2.00 each) and two large ($5.00 each) bins. This way, the big girls could have their own large bins, and then we could use the smaller bins for the baby, mom, dad, and have an extra bin for accessories like hats and gloves. (Side note: the small bins are NOT large enough for multiple pairs of adult shoes).

PERFECT!

The Labels

After the shelves were assembled, I added some labels. THIS article from Better Homes & Gardens has a ton of excellent, printable, (and FREE) labels. I used the “basket labels” on THIS PDF for ours.

And don’t freak out, but a couple of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you take action (i.e. make a purchase) after clicking it, I’ll earn some coffee money, which I promise to drink while creating more helpful content for you. ❤️

I used my handy dandy label-maker to print the names of our family members in the largest font possible with the label maker I have, (which is THIS one, now listed at $179, and I definitely only paid $35 for it, but apparently they don’t make them anymore, explaining the high price tag. It’s vintage, apparently. So, here’s a similar one: Brother P-Touch Label Maker – $34.99 – price updated 12/1/19). In the past, I have tried laminating labels and then using double-sided tape or tiny clothes pins to secure labels to bins, but neither method has proven to be durable enough. So, this time, I tried using packing tape and just taped the labels directly on the bins.

The Finished Product!

It’s already working perfectly for us! Yes, there will still be some digging required, at times, but it is ultimately much better for our family!

What do you guys think?!

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Our Closet Shoe Storage

Lastly, I just wanted to show you the other shoe solution we have that I LOVE. My husband and I weren’t sure how to store our shoes in our bedroom closet, and we were able to find this rack from Amazon, and it has proven to be PERFECT for us and our space.

This is the SONGMICS 10 Tiers Shoe Rack 50 Pairs Non-woven Fabric Shoe Tower Organizer from Amazon – $43.99 (price updated 12/1/19). Yes, it is tall. But that is preferred, because we were really needing to use our vertical space. It has proven to be completely worth the money and has held up extremely well.

So that’s all for today, friends! Hope it helps you on your way to an organized home!!!!

I have about 732 projects I would like to accomplish around the home (anyone else?!), and over the next few months, I’ll be tackling many of them and sharing the results! (Next up: Thanksgiving decor!!!)

Can’t wait to see you all soon!

XO! ❤️

Honestly,

AM ❤️❤️❤️

More About Me: Hi! I’m Ann Marie, a blogging mama of 3 tiny gals, and a wife to a busy Orthopedic Surgeon. You can find me right here for a weekly smattering of inspiration for your motherhood journey, home, marriage (I see you other medical wives!), style, and beauty. You’ll find me most active on Instagram or Facebook for life between blog posts. And I truly can’t wait to see you there, friend. ❤️💋

To connect, shoot me an email at honestlyannmarie@gmail.com ❤️