Best way to organize shoes?

[Lady-Penelope]

I have about 200 pairs of shoes that I'd like to organize. What's the best way you can suggest?

Thanks!

Not sure where to post my question, so would appreciate help from the moderators.

 

[MichelleYue]

Well, I certainly do not have 200 pairs of shoes, but if I did, I would have a separate shoes closet. The closet would be entirely shoe shelves (somewhat slanted). Then I would divide them by types (boots, wedges, pumps, flats, athletic) and then by color. I would also have a special section for my all-time favorites and most valuable.

 

[Zarina]

I have also around 200 pairs, but I don't use all of them. Those I don't use frequently I have stored at my parent's place. The others are stored in some special shoe cupboards and I also have some of them in the bottom of my wardrobe.

 

[luckyme]

good question, Lady-Penelope. since the shoe family does seem to keep growing (and know one ever moves out)...what I do is have two seasonal closets. I keep all the out of season shoes in the original boxes and stack them in a spare room I've designated as my second closet in the categories of style; tall boots, ankle boots, flats, etc.. the shoes I'm rotating in for wear go in the bedroom closet which is a large walk in (that helps matters, if you can arrange that) the guys usually understand their lack of space once they see you in the shoes. 5 or 6 wood shelves are stacked with my favorites in rotation and the rest reside on the floor in 2 rows with the ones in the back elevated so I can see them. I keep the "special wear" shoes in boxes on top of the closet so I can easily find them for the occasion.

I know some very organized women on this board take photos of the shoes and tape on the fronts of the boxes for easy recognition.

 

[Lady-Penelope]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. I'd love to see pictures, if anyone has some. The reason I've reached a point where I have to do something about my shoes is that I just have too many that are sitting in boxes in the backs of closets and I don't see them for a year or two at a stretch sometimes!

 

[fashionista-ta]

I have many fewer than 200 thank goodness ... mine are in stackable clear plastic men's shoeboxes (from the Container Store) along part of my bedroom wall. You could expand this solution along an entire wall though, and stack them as high as you can reach

The reason for the men's boxes is to accomodate heels and short boots (the only kind I wear).

I consider the shoes decorative

 

[luckyme]

ta-ta, great call, they can be decorative. you just reminded me that I have a bookcase full of my old cowboy boots lined up on the shelves throughout the books.

 

[Lady-Penelope]

What a great idea, fashionista-ta. I'll look into that!! Mine definitely collect dust unless they're boxed.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Thanks, girls Btw, I have 3 vertical rows, with one extra box in the middle row for kind of a pyramid effect. This wasn't intentional, just the number of boxes I ended up with Sometimes I set my highest heels on top till I have a minute to arrange them in the boxes. (Shorter heels, or heels with straps, can just go right in the box upright, side by side.) This is even more decorative

Btw, in case you haven't seen these, the front of the box pulls out like a drawer, and they have ridges top & bottom so they lock into each other.

What I like about having them out rather than in a closet is you can take a few steps back & see all your shoes at a glance when deciding what to wear. If I kept them in the closet, I'd have to be peering underneath my clothes to see them, unless I assigned them their own closet ...

 

[Lady-Penelope]

I have many fewer than 200 thank goodness ...

I read this quickly and understood that you had "many more than 200, thank goodness", and I thought, wow!

 

[pavement]

I have about ten that I haven't figured out what to do with, so maybe I can't help. But perhaps ridding of a few would help. I like to keep a small collection of things, so that they're easier to manage.

 

[Lady-Penelope]

Certainly high time for a rehaul of my shoe collection! I'd love to get rid of most of them but they're too new to throw away and I don't have enough time to put them up on Ebay...

 

[pavement]

they're too new to throw away

I hate that. I have a couple pairs I'd love to throw out... I just can't bear it.

 

[octopi]

Certainly high time for a rehaul of my shoe collection! I'd love to get rid of most of them but they're too new to throw away and I don't have enough time to put them up on Ebay...

maybe you could even just throw all the shoes you don't want together, and sell it as a lot on ebay. if you don't really care too much how much money you get for them then i think it might work because people always get really crazy when they see that they can have A BUNCH of things as opposed to just one. know what i mean? hopefully you do

 

[fashionista-ta]

containerstore.com

Don't ask me why I was trying to describe my boxes rather than just post a picture The women's shoes shown on the left could be upright in the men's box shown on the R. Banish the plastic ceiling



Penelope, my suggestion would be to find a way to donate them to people who really need them.