Genius Shoe Storage Ideas for the Whole Family

Are you drowning in shoes?  We’ve given you tips on conquering your toy storage and organizing a butler’s pantry, the next thing we wanted to focus some attention on are shoe storage ideas. An organized home makes me so happy!

Honestly, even without kids, shoes can get disorganized fast. Once you add kids into the equation – yikes! The shoes can get real messy, real fast, if you don’t have a good shoe storage solution! Today, we’re here to give you lots of great ideas to get those shoes organized.

Shoe Storage Ideas For Every Budget and Family Size

Finding a great shoe storage solution is a must. Today I’m going to share with you how we organize our shoes but I’m also going to share with you various other shoe storage ideas so you can find the best way for your family.

Custom Built Shoe Storage Shelf

This is what Miranda’s family ended up doing for shoe storage at her home. If at all possible, we highly suggest that you actually have a shelf custom-built (like in the photos below). It should last forever and you can have it made for your exact space. It’s a piece of furniture that will really be used every single day!

The shelf she had built is solid oak, well-made, and of the best quality possible. When the woodworker delivered it, he even secured it to the wall so it can’t tip over.

Having a custom-built shelf is not going to be the cheapest way to store your shoes, so if you’re on a strict budget don’t worry, we have more ideas for you!

IKEA Shoe Storage Ideas

I decided to go to IKEA for a lot of my shoe storage needs. So if having a piece made specifically for your needs isn’t possible, check your local stores. IKEA offers a variety of different colors, sizes, and prices. You can also find similar things at Target or Walmart if you don’t have an IKEA close by.

While not as sturdy and long-lasting as a custom-built piece, it’s still a good option. One IKEA shoe storage idea if you have a lot of shoes (like our family with 6 kids) is to purchase a KALLAX unit and bins to put the shoes in.

Shoe Storage in the Living Room

One nice thing about these pieces from IKEA is that the pieces look nice enough that they would work well as living room shoe storage ideas. In fact, we use two of these IKEA pieces as shoe storage in our living room right now.

We have very limited space in our current rental home so we’ve had to store our shoes in a few different places with a few different shoe storage solutions.

The first thing we’ve been using is the 8-block Kallax piece from IKEA. It sits in our living room and serves a dual purpose. At the top, I store our homeschool materials and on the bottom, we have 4 shoe bins.

You can choose from a variety of different bins to store shoes, like baskets, metal bins, canvas bins, or even no bins for things like tall boots.

Shoe Cabinet

We also have an IKEA BISSA shoe cabinet. It only cost about $40 and it’s been great for storing my husband’s shoes. It also looks just fine in the living room which was literally the only other place we had in our home for shoe storage.

This shoe cabinet can hold a total of 8 pairs of my husband’s shoes/boots. If you needed to store children’s shoes or shoes that were thinner like flats or flip-flops, I’m sure you could fit even more pairs in it.

IKEA has a variety of great-looking shoe cabinets. It’s pretty easy to find one that matches your decor. I feel like their team of interior designers does an amazing job!

Use a Closet Organizer For Small Spaces

Lastly, we have this 25-Unit ClosetMaid organizer that works so well for shoes. I have it sitting in my laundry room which is also our side-entry door (the one we use most often). My oldest daughter and I store our shoes here and each member of the family usually stores one pair here as well (the ones they wear most often for easy access).

It can hold 25 pairs of shoes – more or less, depending on if they are small children’s shoes or adult shoes. If your storage space is quite small, this is the way to go!

Hire a Professional Organizer

If you’ve got a big budget, consider hiring a professional organizer. They can help you figure out a great solution for your specific space and shoe collection.

No money for a professional organizer? I get it! I wouldn’t have that kind of extra money either so instead, I just follow professional organizers on Instagram and Pinterest for helpful hints and ideas. They can really help you learn to maximize your floor space and closet space.

Storing Wet and/or Muddy Shoes and Boots

My kids all love their rubber rain boots! For some of my boys, that seems to be what they want to wear the most, even when it’s dry. When it’s wet though, we have a designated spot for them: outside by the door when it’s warm or inside on a boot tray when it’s cold out.

You definitely don’t want to mix dirty, wet boots or shoes in with the clean, dry boots and shoes so make sure you have a designated spot figured out for these situations and that your children know what to do too.

Store Shoes in the Garage

Go ahead and move those shoes to the garage!  If you’ve got room out there, the garage is a great place to keep shoes so they don’t pile up by the front door! The custom-built shelf pictured above is located in Miranda’s garage and she says it has worked out very well for them over the years. It’s the perfect place if you don’t want to have to look at shoes or don’t have enough room inside the home.

Use Baskets For Shoe Storage

While it may work for everyone, if you have a shoe shelf, consider adding baskets to some of the cubby spaces as well.  This is a huge help for things like sandals and flip-flops since they typically don’t take up much room.  So being able to place several pairs of Chacos together in a basket helps keep the shelves looking nice and neat.

Hang Shoes Behind Doors

This is probably the most affordable option if you’re looking for a way to store your shoes. You can usually purchase these organizers for $15 or less. Depending on how well you take care of them, they can last for quite a while. I have used these at different times for my kids with good success. I always placed their nicer shoes (like church shoes) that I didn’t want to get dirty or lost in the higher positions, out of reach of my kids.

Tips for Shoe Storage Ideas for Kids

Shoe storage for adults is one thing, shoe storage for kids is another. Here are some tips to make shoe storage for your kids as easy as possible.

Practice Good Shoe Control  

While I’d love to say the answer is limiting everyone to just one pair of shoes, that’s just not practical, especially for someone like Miranda’s family since they live on their family dairy farm.  They all own barn boots, barn sandals, and barn shoes, just for barn work. That doesn’t even account for the other shoes they were when they aren’t working. 

You’ll have to determine what a reasonable number of shoes are for every member of your family and then stick to it.

Does your child really need four good pairs of sneakers?  Probably not.  So before heading out and buying more shoes, make sure the kids (or yourself) actually need them.  But also keep in mind that if shoes are getting tight, you definitely want to rotate out and get a new pair. 

Healthy foot development is important which means you also don’t want to wait until their feet hurt before replacing them with the next size up.

Rotate Out For Out of Season and Sizes

 Winter gear is so bulky, including winter boots. So, store those big boots with the rest of your winter gear during the warmer months when you won’t need them. If there is less footwear out and about, it will be easier for your kids to keep the ones they have put away and organized.

If you save shoes that one child has outgrown to pass down to younger siblings, just make sure you store them away so they don’t get mixed in with the shoes your children currently wear.

Make It Easy For Them

Give each child a specific place or cubby for their footwear.  Depending on what size shoes they are wearing, older kids may need more cubbies.  But each family member has a designated space for storing his or her shoes.

When they are younger, I make sure that the storage solution is very easy and simple for them. I like pull-out bins for little ones or even open shelves. Make sure it’s at a location where they can put their shoes away (and get them out) without help.