Do you have a love for all things shoes but lack a shoe storage solution? Are you tired of locating & wrangling your kids shoes when it’s time to leave the house? If you are looking for shoe storage ideas for your closet or entryway then I have some great tips to share!

Closet Shoe Storage:

Before figuring out a solution to store your shoes, it is important to do an assessment of your shoe collection and determine if there is an opportunity to declutter shoes. To do this I recommend gathering all of your shoes from around the house and then sorting your shoes into categories. Shoes can be sorted into categories based on seasons (winter vs summer shoes) or type of shoe (boots, athletic, sandals, etc.). Then assess the condition of the shoes in each category, determine whether or not you have worn the pair of shoes in the last year, and if any shoes are very similar to each other. Try to let go of any shoes that are either never or rarely worn (donate or sell these) and discard shoes that have holes/are heavily scuffed/lacking tread etc. After this process you are left with shoes you like and wear which will help making finding a storage solution for shoes even easier. Here are a few ideas to then store your shoe collection in your closet:

Use the Floor

The closet floor is a forgotten about option for shoe storage. I like to use these XL Weave bins from Target on closet floors, using a bin for each category of shoes (i.e. athletic shoes, sandals, etc.). Using bins on the floor corrals shoes so nothing gets pushed back into the deep dark corners of a closet.

Stack Shoes

Go vertical with your shoes! These stacking shoe bins from Container Store can be used either on the floor of your closet or stacked on a upper shelf in your closet. It allows you to easily see shoes and the bin opens from the front so you don’t need to pull a Jenga move when selecting the shoes you want.

If you have extra shelving in your closet to spare, I also love to use shelf risers for shoes like these white wire ones or fancier acrylic ones both from Container Store. A shelf riser allows you to double the storage space on a shelf by stacking the shoes.

Hang Shoes

Another option if you have the space is to hang shoes from your closet rod using a shoe organizer like this one. I’ve found that these work best for smaller/thinner shoes like sandals. If your clothing rod space is at a premium, you could also use the back of a closet door but this might be trial and error to find an option that will work over the width of your door and also be strong enough to hold your shoes.

Re-Purpose Furniture

Have an armoire you aren’t using? A solution I came up with for a client was to re-purpose a armoire into a “shoe closet” using shelf risers to double the height on some of the shelfs. Another shoe storage hack I did for a client was repurposing a bookshelf into a shoe storage shelf.

Entryway/Hallway Shoe Storage:

In addition to finding a solution for shoe storage in closets, we often have a chaotic mess of shoes strewn about our entryway or hallway. Life is busy and the reality is sometimes you just need a quick and functional solution to get out the door easier (or be able to hide things quickly). Here are some tips for storing shoes in an entryway or hallway:

Frequently used shoes only

My biggest tip here I share with clients is to only store shoes in your entryway that are used daily for the current season and to also set a limit on quantity of shoes that can be stored in the space. For the space I have in my house, that means only four shoes per family member and consists of gym shoes and like flip/flops (take out the trash quick type shoes). Your entryway isn’t your storage solution for all shoes in your house. Try to find space in your bedroom closet, a linen closet, or even your basement for off season shoes.

Assign a basket/shelf

Another way to bring some order to hallway shoe storage is to “assign a home” per family member. This might mean each family member has a designated shelf on a shoe rack or a basket under a table (more on this in a bit). Getting all your family members on board with this plan helps pass responsibility on to your kids and spouse to locate & put away their shoes.

Reduce visual clutter

Shoes instantly add visual clutter to a space. So if possible hide shoes in baskets under an entryway table (assigning a basket for each family member). Make sure baskets are large enough to hold several pairs of shoes otherwise it won’t help to reduce visual clutter. Or tuck them away in stools that double as storage like these Poppin Seats from Container Store (bonus that kids can sit on when putting on their shoes). Also check out IKEA shoe storage options if you have space for additional furniture like this IKEA shoe storage cabinet. These work best if you have a small quantity of shoes.

I hope these tips have helped give you ideas for shoe storage in your closet or entryway!