Hi there!

So… yea… we’ve had a bit of a problem brewing over here. What’s the problem? Well, the problem is shoes. Sneakers. Footwear.

Ohh. Ehm. Gee. So. Many. Shoes.

There might have been a few warning signs. There was that time a hall closet became a dedicated shoe closet. Then there was that time when the UPS guy commented about how I “like shoes.” First of all, how does he know!? All he sees are the brown shipping boxes! Ok fine, I get it, it's not that subtle, but still. And then there’s the issue of how do I explain to him that it’s not actually all me, it’s also the hubs? The art of footwear acquisition is an equal opportunity affair, people!

He's got J’s for days over here and it needed to be gotten under control. It was becoming like a perilous game of Jenga except with shoe boxes. I felt like it was only a matter of time before I found the hubs trapped under an avalanche of shoe boxes. Something had to be done.

Lucky for him, I pretty much love organizing. After some measurements and doodling different configurations, I had a plan. And it called for a little trip to one of my favorite places - The Mother Ship of All Things Organizing. Or as most people refer to it, The Container Store. It’s basically an OCD’s paradise. I may or may not hear little angel choirs sing when I enter. I plead the fifth. And I digress.

The Answer Was Clear

The solution called for these clear drop front shoe boxes from The Container Store. They come in 2 sizes, and the larger one is a great size for mens shoes. There are all sorts of shoe storage "solutions" out in the marketplace but they're basically all geared towards women and truly very few are suitable for the typical mens' size shoe.

The item was back ordered for a little while, so as soon as they came back into stock I jumped on it and utilized The Container Store's shop online and pickup in-store feature. This was my first time using the feature with them and I mainly wanted to guarantee that the items were mine and that I wouldn’t be making a wasted trip. As a bonus, it turned out to be a totally awesome and seamless experience. You just pull in to the designated parking spot, text or call that you’re there and they bring it all out to you within minutes. And they’ll help you pack it in your car if you need. How super is that? This isn’t a sponsored post or an ad or anything like that, I just think that awesome customer service deserves a shoutout. I'm a fan of any business that tries to make their customers' lives just a little bit easier.

Anyways, here’s my order all ready for me.

And then I had a happy OCD moment when it fit in the car perfectly.

The Scope of the Problem. I Mean, Project.

Back home, here’s what we started with. It’s pretty tidy so some of you may ask what the problem is. For starters, there's clearly a common thread here so a lot of the boxes are basically identical. I had made those photo labels to help identify the contents. But then there was the fact that getting something from the bottom of the stack was still a pain so he ended up basically not wearing any of those. By the way, are you starting to grasp the magnitude of the situation here? And this is only one side of his closet.

Here we are all ready to go.

Don’t mind the chaos, it always gets worse before it gets better. I have no idea what's going on with that random sock. Please don't judge me.

By the way - out of the entire order not a single shoebox was cracked or scratched. I had ordered a few extra thinking that inevitably one would have a chipped corner or something but no, not a single one! Isn’t that kind of amazing?

Practical Considerations

An important consideration when you have a sizable collection is that things must be in plain sight. Because if you don’t see it you won’t wear it. After considering other options such as shelves or racks, I had landed on these as the solution because the reality when you have so many is that it could be a while between wearings, so everything needs to be protected from dust. And in this household, also a lurking cat that likes to curl up on shoes - and groom himself. Ever try removing cat fur from primeknit? Life Tip: It's not easy.

Perhaps the most important factor about a successful organization system though is that it must be sustainable. Not in the planet-friendly way (although that’d be great too) but in the sense that it must be realistic - something that can be easily maintained and kept up with. No matter how pretty it is, if it’s a pain in the neck to put something away, guess what, you won’t. Because life is busy and let’s be honest, we’re all a little lazy.

So here’s the end result.

From a practical standpoint, everything is visible but protected, and everything is also easily accessible - even the ones all the way at the bottom that were previously getting no love.

For me, I like that it worked out that there isn’t any wasted dead space so it’s got a nice custom fit to the space. It can be a little tricky with off-the-shelf options to get the fit just right but here the "columns" span wall-to-wall with just an inch or so to spare, and the height is just about perfect too. At the same time, it was a pretty quick and easy system to put into place and the bins can easily be wiped if needed or even replaced if one should crack or otherwise get damaged.

Another thing that I like is that this system brings a nice uniformity to the space so it's visually tidy as well.

The hubs is a happy customer too - he even got a matching rug.

There’s really no saving me now!

Until next time!