Shoe Racks Blog

From O-T-D Shoe Rack to Toy Storage Rack

You are now looking at my absolute favorite shoe rack ever.  These over the door shoe racks are easy to find and can be used for pretty much everything.  I have two of them in my house right now, and have had them for years.  The first one I use in downstairs in the coat closet for shoes. 

The second one pays its way as the best toy organizer I have ever found.  It hangs on the back of the kids’ door!  Here is how to get the most out of your organizer:

As an Over the Door Toy Organizer:

In the kids room, an over the door shoe rack is great for toys.  Kids need a toy storage solution that is simple enough for them to use.  This organizer is almost as easy as throwing their toys into a bin, but since they are hidden behind the door you don’t have to worry about looking at them spilling out of a basket.  The pockets aren’t big enough for large toys, obviously, but they are great for small items (think My Little Pony and all her little accessories). 

If you are overrun with stuffed animals, you can easily put the smaller ones in here.  As you can see in the picture, the OTD shoe rack that I have has 24 sections.  If you look more closely, though, you will see that each large pocket actually has another small pocket attached to the front of it, making it a 48 pocket organizer.  Here is another similar one with 24 larger pockets. 

Another benefit to these over the door racks is that you can use them for years – you will never NOT have a use for them.  Once kids get older, they can organize their own shoes, socks, hair clips and more in here.  And, when they move out of the house, they can either take it with them to the dorms, or leave it for you. 

Some other uses for these multi-purpose racks:

Bathroom:  For toiletries, hair accessories, shaving tools

Garage:  For Lightweight tools, hardware and cleaners

Closet:  Shoes, Scarves, Belts, Socks and Accessories

It turns out that people have been celebrating St. Nicholas day, December 6 each year, a long time before Santa Claus came around. On St. Nicholas day people around the world, mostly in Europe, honor this saint from long ago. I know, what does this have to do with shoe racks?

Not exactly much, but it has everything to do with shoes! Stories of the original St. Nick tell of a generous man who gave to the poor - he even gave away his inheritance from his parents to those who were in need. He would put coins, nuts and more in the shoes of the needy and that is where the tradition of children putting their shoes out on St. Nicholas eve came about.

My parents always celebrated with us this holiday and taught us about the “real Santa Claus”. Every year we would put our shoes out and in the morning there would be nuts, a tangerine, rice and flour plus a small present for each of us – it’s a fun, magical tradition and it made us feel special to know about this other, more authentic Santa Claus that existed long ago.

You can read here the history of this special saint and see how he inspired our modern day Santa. Hint: it mostly has to do with everyone’s favorite Christmas poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas – (Remember, “I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick”)

And to everyone, no matter what your religion, I want to wish you all a Happy Holiday Season!

Mud Season

Winter will be here soon, and with it, snow, rain and, more than likely, MUD.  In my house, I seem to be the only one who understands the concept of taking your shoes off inside. 

My kids track dirt and mud in from the backyard and my husband from the front yard.  Since my kids are too young to read, a reminder sign won’t work, and I’m not sure my husband would notice it anyway.  So, instead I have found ways to arm myself with some tools to keep mud outside (or at least contained right inside the door). 

My Mud Bid

1.  A shoe rack at the door: 
–If mud and snow are your main concerns, pick a shoe rack that has solid shelves so that dirt won’t fall through (which would defeat its purpose).  Also, pick one that is easy to clean - plastic is best because you can literally hose it off outside or in the bathtub.  If you can’t get plastic, a laminated particle board style would be the next best choice because you can easily wipe them with a wet cloth.

2.  Plastic Bin – For Serious Mud Control: 
We live in out in the country, so in the rainy season we can have major clumps of mud on our shoes.  I keep a cheap-o plastic bin right inside the door because it’s easy enough that anyone, even young kids can handle using it.  The added bonus is that when I’m ready to wash the shoes I can just pick up the bin and take it to the sink without dropping dirt all over the place.

3.  Soccer Mom Secret (and hockey moms, football moms, etc)…–
I played a lot of soccer growing up, as did my three sisters.  For my mom, this meant a great deal of proud moments but also a lot of muddy cleats to deal with.  Her solution was a shoe bag that we could throw our muddy cleats into after practice and before we set foot in the house.  Bonus: they also keep unpleasant smells contained -