Put Away Your Shoes While Keeping Them Like New

Admit it! Shoes are your weakness but you don’t know what to do with them anymore. You’ve tried everything but they’re spilling out of their boxes or bags everywhere in your home. Today, we want to go over how to put away your shoes effectively. But just as a heads up, you’ll have to be willing to make some sacrifices.

Learning from mistakes

Stop ruining your shoes. First, let’s go over the most common mistakes.

• Cleaning them first. Never store dirty shoes. Before you put them away, wipe away any dirt or marks with a rag and don’t overlook the heels and soles. Check out these tips for cleaning your shoes properly.
• Consistent organization. We recommend using one kind of box to organize your shoes. Standardizing your shoe organizer will make it easier to put them away.
• Where should you keep them? You shouldn’t put your shoes away just anywhere. Be careful because damp can cause them irreversible damage. They need a clean, dry space to stay like new.

Natural selection

If you want to organize your shoes efficiently, first take a good look at all the pairs you have. You’ll probably have to let go of a few.

Gather all you have; grab all the pairs you use and throw out the ones you haven’t used in the past year. But hang on to those you have for special occasions like parties or snow boots.

You can let go, remember you don’t use them anymore. You have to make space for new pairs.

Make an organization plan

Now that you’ve sorted through your shoes, count how many you’re left with and analyze the space you have to organize them. Remember that every pair will take up around 21 cm of space.

There are many ways to organize and we’ve touched upon them in previous posts. Regardless of which method you choose, today we really want to focus on keeping your shoes in good condition by storing them away carefully.

Whether you go with shelves, a DIY shoe rack or a store bought one, make sure you think about how much space each pair will need. For example, hanging boots is the best way to organize them.

Ideas for efficiently organizing your shoes

Your home entrance is one of the best places to store your shoes because it’s where you take them off. If all your shoes don’t fit there, just leave the ones you use most frequently in the entrance.

You can also place a shoe rack in transit areas, like your hallway, under the staircase, or under your bed as well.

If you’re short on space, drawers are also a great idea for organizing footwear. They work especially well if you use compartments to keep them in place and to make the most of the space you have.

Additional tricks for storing shoes away

• If you use boxes to organize your shoes, try taking pictures of all of them and sticking them on their corresponding boxes. The pictures will help you see what’s in each box without having to go through them all.
• Or, if you have a special closet for shoes, use it to store your special occasion shoes. If there’s room, put in your off-season frequent-use pairs and below, the ones you’re using currently.
• If you have a shoe closet, think about all of the different kinds of shoes you might have and leave appropriate spaces for their sizes. Consider setting up an area to hang your boots.
• Use one kind of stackable box. Even better are lidded, transparent versions so you can see what’s inside.
• We’ve already talked about why you should go shoeless at home, so we want to remind you about setting up a shoe rack in your home entrance to keep your home clean and practical.
• For your special pairs of shoes, try storing them in bags before you put them in a box to keep them from getting scratched or dusty. Stuff them with newspaper or put a shoe tree inside to maintain their shape.

These ideas will help you organize your shoes efficiently and keep them like new. You’ll be able to make the most of every inch of your home.