Shoe Racks Blog

A True Celebration of Spring Starts with Cleaning out Your Closet

Yesterday was the first day of Spring!  To me, spring means the start of my favorite time of year (the sunny, warm part).  I enjoy fall somewhat and the holidays are fun, but by the time February comes around, I have just about had it with clouds, low sun angles and wearing socks.  Spring cleaning is a time to start fresh, open up the windows and let fresh air in while you go through each room of your house and give it a thorough cleansing.  While cleaning with a sponge, soap and water is imperative, organizing is just as important. 

The places that need organizing most are the places where you tend to “store” things – that is, you put things somewhere that you don’t have to look at them (for the moment, anyway).  This usually starts in the closets, followed by the office and the garage.  Since the garage fortunately is not my problem, and the office is not fun, I always like to start with the closet.  And somewhere in that closet is a shoe rack, begging for attention. 

Here are some tips on how to organize your shoe rack and clean it, if need be. 

• First, sort through your shoes and decide what can stay and what has to go.  If I find a pair of shoes that I neglected to wear through an entire season (sandals in the summer, boots in the winter, etc.) I donate or sell them.  The rest of them I take down in preparation of cleaning the shoe rack.  Even in the closet, shoe racks can get dusty and dirty and, in turn, make your shoes dusty and dirty.  Get a wet cloth and wipe it down, getting inside each corner and crevice.  TIP: Baby wipes work really well on this (and many other) cleaning jobs, as they are thin and thus easy to get into hard to reach places. 
• Now you are ready to put your shoes back on the rack and enjoy another year of shoe wearing!  (Bonus:  If you get rid of a few pairs, then you have space for a few new pairs throughout the year!) 

Here is a helpful article about organizing shoes.

Footlockers are a Traditional and Fun Way to Store Shoes!

What is a footlocker anyway?  (And, let’s clarify from the start, I’m not talking about the athletic shoe mall store here.)  I’ve heard that word, footlocker, my whole life, and generally thought it was a large metal chest.  I feel like usually I have seen these chests in the trunks of the cars of rock bands, and also, for some reason, associate them with magicians. 

Anyway, I also used to sell these in a retail store and I can’t tell you how many different ways people actually use them.  And, truth be told, people did purchase them for their shoes.  But more on that later.  First, a definition of a footlocker:  NOUN: A trunk for storing personal belongings, especially one kept at the foot of a bed, as in a barracks. 

And, with more investigation I have learned that the term footlocker was, originally, a military term.  Soldiers used these boxes at the foot of their bed, hence, a “footlocker”.  Go figure!  I think they originally were very plain, made of plywood, and then as pressed board was developed they turned out that way.  Officers and superiors got deluxe models with metal frames and leather handles, and were allowed to hang pictures in them.  Anyway, I do think this would be a fun way to store shoes in the house, a great alternative to a traditional shoe rack for shoes that are out of season, probably not a good idea for ones you use each day, as that would require a lot of digging. 

Here are some other fun things to do with footlockers (and check out the pink one I found, above!!!) 

• Kids Trunk – Store toys for young kids, and let teens decorate the inside of the box with their favorite posters. 
• Keepsake box – Keep your children’s keepsakes throughout their life – artwork, school papers, blankies and give it back to them when they get married!

Stacking Shoe Racks Provide Customized Shoe Storage

Let’s talk about Modular Shoe Racks.  But, first, a definition of “Modular”:  designating or of units of standardized size, design, construction, etc. that can be arranged or fitted together in a variety of ways.  In the furniture and organizing worlds, modular means that you can customize your storage or furniture in some way.  For furniture, you use modular styles to choose the pieces that you need, for example, on entertainment centers, you might only need certain media storage pieces.  And, in storage and organizing, modular means that you can maximize storage, creating a storage rack as large or small as you need it (always paying attention to certain restrictions such as weight limits and tipability). 

Modular shoe racks can come in many different forms, from specially designed racks that are sold singly, to bins and boxes that aren’t necessarily shoe racks to begin with. 

Here are some great products I’ve found to help you design the right amount of shoe storage for your shoes, some tips on how to use them and where to find them! 

• Stacking Shoe Racks: This is a great option because these shelves are designed to hold shoes, nothing else.  Choose from simple metal and wire shelves, cedar cubes and more.  A natural finished modular stacking shoe rack is a nice choice as it is both decorative and functional.  Another great choice is a plastic starter kit that comes with six cubbies, and then you can purchase more shelves to add in increments of 3 cubbies at a time – these are very affordable, too. 
• Other Bins and Boxes:  Stacking bins are also a great way to create modular shoe storage.  They are very inexpensive and usually sold in singles or sets of three.  The only drawback?  Since these tend to be larger bins, you may have to do some digging to find the right pair. 

And, a fun DIY shoe rack project I found.

Shoe Friendly Suitcases get your favorite Footwear from A to B Safely!

It’s almost spring and you can probably tell that I’ve got the travel bug, that is, when I’m not complaining about mud!  I am currently planning three trips to get me through the rest of the season.  And, I’m always thinking of ways to make travel with shoes easier, cleaner and more possible.  Honestly, the more shoes I can pack with me, the happier everyone is, and I can’t bring my shoe rack with me, now, can I. 

While dress shoes and sandals can be lumped in with the rest of my wardrobe (I literally stuff them in and around the clothes after they are in there to see how many I can fit), for most trips, a pair of walking or hiking shoes is a must have.  But, not only are these types of “athletic” shoes bulky (I could probably fit three pairs of sandals in the same space that they take up), they are also muddy and messy…at least they will be after hiking through the Alps, changing flat tires in the plains states and rock climbing in Colorado.  So, to make things work, I’ve been looking for a suitcase that deals with these problems.  When shoes get really dirty, they can’t go in the suitcase with the clothes, or they will cause stains at the worst time, when I’m away from my tried and true washing machine. 

The Heys USA 3 piece luggage set has some incorporated some great designs to help with this troublesome problem.  These cases have removable wet pockets, great for wet socks and other items, and they even have a separate shoe compartment.  Well it can’t get any easier than that, and this is really nice luggage, too.    It is waterproof, great for adventurous travelers, and it has my favorite new luggage feature:  wheels!  Wheeling your luggage around the airport is a thousand times easier than carrying it on you back and shoulders.

The Ultimate Shoe (and grout) Cleaner:  A Grout Brush

Yes, it turns out that one of the best shoe cleaners around is a grout brush!  But first, here are some other methods for cleaning your shoes. I’ve spoken before about shoe polishes.  This is great for leather shoes, vinyl, suede and patent leather.  But, in keeping with the true spirit of mud week, we are going to talk about another kind of dirty shoe problem:  muddy shoes!  Muddy shoes require much more than shoe polish, first you really have to get the mud off of them. 

One method is the washing machine.  I wouldn’t do this if you either really love your washing machine or really love your shoes.  But if you aren’t completely attached to either one, it actually works pretty well.  Not for boots so much, but tennis shoes can be thrown in the washing machine.  You can expect some damage to the leather and possible washing machine damage, but I’ve done it before with older gym shoes and it turned out fine.  <b>Bonus Tip:</b> Really old shoes can be tossed in the dryer with your down pillows and comforters when you are drying them – this is how to make sure they stay fluffy and dry evenly. 

Another method of washing really muddy shoes is to soak them and hand wash.  Again, don’t do this if you really care about the leather or the quality of your shoes, but for older shoes that you wear out in the mud anyway, this might be a good solution for you. Simply soak them in warm water with a tiny bit of hand washing soap (used for delicates and lingerie) until the mud loosens up.  Then you should be able to finish up with a washcloth removing the rest of the debris. 

For really caked on mud, I have found that a grout brush works really well.  These are much stiffer brushes than a regular dish brush, so they can come up against tough caked mud and still win!  Tie a string through the hole in the brush and then loop it over the end of your shoe rack, especially great for outdoor shoe racks or in the mud room, to remind folks to de-mud their shoes before entering your house! 

Here are some more great shoe cleaning tips I found.

Product of the Week:  A Shoe Rack Specially Designed for the Mud Room

You’ve probably heard me go on and on about mud, muddy shoes, mud on the carpet, etc.  And, yes, you guessed it – I’m a neat freak!  In fact, I am hereby declaring this to be MUD WEEK!  It has been raining buckets where I live on the beautiful Northern Coast of California, and since we live out in the country, buckets of rain eventually just means buckets of mud.  We have mud flowing down the driveway, into the front yard, then around the house and down the backyard and into a creek, where, no doubt, it meets up with its muddy friends! 

If it were up to me, I probably wouldn’t venture outside, but you know kids and mud.  Since they’ve been cooped up for about a month now, there are no more excuses, it’s time to visit the world that exists outside our cozy home.  The question then becomes:  How do we keep the mud outside?  I can’t possibly allow mud on the carpets, especially since we are renters, so I have to think of a way to trap it at the door. 

That’s where this week’s product of the week comes in:  It’s a great new shoe rack designed specifically for mud rooms.  Even if you don’t technically have a mud room, this is still a must have mud control shoe rack that can be kept at the entryway to your front or backdoors.  At the front, it begs visitors to take their shoes off before entering your home, and, at the back, it begs your kids to take off their muddy boots!  A win-win, either way!  There is nothing really that different about this shoe rack except that whoever invented it had the great idea of putting a metal tray on top for muddy shoes.  It’s a nice looking shoe rack, made of solid beech wood and stained an elegant walnut.  When the weather turns better, simply remove the tray and use it as a regular old shoe rack in your closet! 

Now get outside and make some Mud Pies!