Last spring, I stood in my bedroom in one sock. The other shoe was somewhere in my wardrobe. I dug through a heap of heels, flats, and sneakers. Ten minutes later, I found it under a boot. I was late, and I was annoyed. My wardrobe was only 4 feet (122 cm) wide, so a…
Last winter, I came home with two grocery bags and a dripping umbrella. My foot caught a sneaker. The eggs flew. So did I. Our front door opened into a hallway barely four feet wide, and shoes had taken over every inch. I spent the next few weeks testing fixes. Some flopped. Five held up….
Last winter, I counted twelve pairs of shoes by my front door. Boots leaned on sneakers. One sandal hid under the mat. I tripped over a pair while carrying groceries. My entry is only five feet wide, so I couldn’t add much. I needed storage that fit and hid the mess. I tried seven setups…
Last April, I opened my front door and stepped into a soggy sneaker. Rain had blown in overnight. My shoes sat in a heap, and every pair was soaked. I carried the wet pile inside, and mud followed me down the hall. That morning, I decided to fix my porch for good. Over the next…
Last fall, I came home with two grocery bags and a toddler on my hip. My foot caught a muddy boot. The bags hit the floor. An egg carton cracked open. I stood there, surrounded by shoes, and wanted to cry. My rental has a narrow back door and no mudroom. Two kids and one…
Last winter, I stood in my hallway holding one boot and no place to put it. Shoes were stacked by the stairs like a small mountain. Right above that mess sat a dark, empty nook. I had walked past it for years. Every morning, I stepped over the pile and ignored the answer sitting right…
One morning, I tripped over a pile of shoes and nearly took out the coat rack. My entryway is tiny. There is no closet by the door. Shoes just landed wherever they landed. I stood there holding one shoe and a lot of frustration. Sound familiar? I had a Kallax shelf sitting in the corner….
Last spring, I opened my hall closet and a tower of shoe boxes slid onto my feet. I had kept them for years. Just in case. Meanwhile, my craft table looked like a glitter bomb had gone off. Markers sat in a mug. Glue sticks rolled under the couch. Then it hit me. The storage…
For a year, our shoes lived in a heap behind the door. I bought a fancy cabinet once. It had no room for muddy sneakers, and the doors always stuck. So I picked up a saw and some drawer slides instead. My first drawer was crooked. My second one glided like a dream. Now the…
Our first shoe cabinet was too deep. It stuck out into the hallway, and I bumped my hip on it every day. The doors also swung right into the front door. I tried three cabinets before I learned the secret. Measure the depth and the door swing first. Now our cabinet fits, the doors open,…
For months, I sat on the stairs to put on my shoes. My kids sat on the floor. The shoes piled up around us like a small mountain. One morning I measured the wall by the door and found room for a bench. I wanted one that held shoes, fit our tight space, and worked…
Every afternoon, our front door looked like a shoe yard sale. One day I tripped over a sneaker and nearly dropped the groceries. I wanted the shoes gone, but I didn’t want one more job for myself. So I looked for storage that hid the mess and let the kids do the work. A curtain,…