DIY Shoe Organizer

DIY, Organization, Storage

I recently moved into my new apartment in LA and though it’s far from perfect, it is much bigger and has lots more closet space than my last apartment.  So now that I have a bedroom with a really large closet , I wanted to find an easy way to display and store the shoes that I don’t use all that often. Looking at some cardboard lying around, inspiration struck for creating this DIY shoe organizer: it took only minutes to build and turned the shelf above my closet rod into the perfect shoe display.

Here’s what I used to make them: cardboard – approx. 10″ wide (free), 2 plastic corner guard (4 ft long)  ~$5.00 from any hardware store, 3M adhesive transfer tape (you could also use heavy duty double sided tape).

Here’s the overall design for 4 cubbies:

Step 1: Cut pieces of cardboard to size using heavy duty scissors so you have 2 top pieces that are 10″ wide x 50″ long , and 1 bottom piece that is 10″ wide x 40″ long. These dimensions will give you 4 cubbies that are 10″ x 10″ x 10″.

Step 2: Take the bottom piece and 10″ from both ends, bend the cardboard 90 degrees using a straight edge.

For the top pieces, bend the ends 10″ from the ends, like the bottom piece, and then on one side, bend the cardboard again, 10″ from the previous bend (see diagram below). I chose to leave the cardboard as is but you could also cover it with contact paper for a more finished look.

Step 3: Cut the corner guards into 6 pieces the depth of the cubbies (10″ long in my case) and transfer the adhesive onto the outside edges.

Step 4: Glue the corner guards to the top pieces: glue one corner guard to each end and glue another corner guard to the bottom of the horizontal section so that the edge sticking out has the glue side facing the middle ( see diagram below).

Step 6: Join the bottom piece to the top pieces by pressing the sides of the bottom piece to the corner guards and adding some tape where the 2 top pieces meet to further secure them together.

The shoe cubbies are surprisingly sturdy and I love how you can easily customize the size and even stack them up if you want to. This DIY shoe organizer has given my shoes a proper home in my closet, and I even got to recycle in the process!

4 Comments

  1. Fran

    I love this idea and how you made it look so uniform. I did a similar shoe organizer that I set by the front door, made from boxes as well. You can also paint them and cover with tape to make them waterproof.

    Reply
    • Isabelle

      I agree – painting them is a great way to make them blend in with any decor!

      Reply
  2. Nesty

    This is a great idea! I have a big space between my shelf and the ceiling and I’ve been looking for ways how to maximize it. Maybe I would use the tempered hardwood and furring strips (from your lighted panel project) to create sturdy, extra space on my closet shelves. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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