The Shoe Dilemma

The mess

Okay, when you add up all the pairs of shoes that end up in my front hall everyday it usually ranges from 7 pairs to at least 10 pairs.  My five kids all walk into the house after school and right away their shoes come off. I end up with a pile of scattered shoes by the front door in a matter of seconds.  Add a few friends to the equation and that pile becomes a mountain.  We have a very open house and friends come and go and hang out everyday.  The shoe situation was getting out of hand so I started to brainstorm and came up with a few failed solutions until I found one that worked for us.

SOLUTION #1
This beautiful basket did an okay job but in the end  it was a diving expedition to find your shoes in the rushed morning minutes.  The kids ended up dumping the entire thing to find their shoes, and not all the shoes fit.  However, this would be great for a much smaller family.

SOLUTION #2
I bought this thing imagining a neat line of shoes stacked nicely by the front door.   I wanted something easy and available as soon as you walked in.   Well, it failed big time.  The 'shelves' were on an angle and the shoes constantly slid off.  No one wanted to spend the extra time placing their shoes there neatly and once again there wasn't enough space for all the shoes.  I spent my time lining up all the shoes perfectly everyday only to have my 3 year old grab his shoes and cause an avalanche of the rest of them falling off.  When you have kids in the equation you have to be realistic!

SOLUTION #3
I bought this great bench at Ikea (in the discount 'metzion' corner) and it's worked out really well.  It gives us a place to sit down when we put on our shoes and a spot to put our bags on after school.   It also has available space under it for our shoes.  I started off putting our shoes under it on shoe mats and it basically worked out but....it was an eyesore for me and I wasn't happy.   I went to Homeplace in the Merkaz and found these baskets with a woven pattern that I liked right away. They also come in chocolate brown but they were sold out and I was desperate to get things in place. The baskets are strong, washable and three fit perfectly under the bench.  One basket for my husband's and my shoes, one for the kids Crocs or sandals, and one for their sneakers/school shoes.  It looks neat and the kids just have to throw their shoes in.  We find that it's easy enough to dig out our shoes in this size basket.  This solution was the WINNER!

Nice and neat

Everyone's dress shoes go in their bedroom closet and boots go in the small front hall closet since we hardly use them.  The good thing about these baskets is that if I ever need to move them out of the way temporarily, to vaccuum or if I'm doing an event in living/dining room, they stack perfectly and have handles on each side.  Lastly, if the younger kids still leave their shoes out it is an easy tidy up for me which is always an important factor.

Here are some other solutions...

  This is open in the back for ventilation

The next few are off the web...

Nice but only holds 6 pairs of shoes

This keeps it all out of eyesight

"house to home" You could get this made from formica

This is a piece of furniture!

I like this a lot, You can put your keys and a phone on top

Now here are some pictures of shoe storage solutions from Ikea.  The one in Rishon Letzion is literally a 30 minute car ride away.

'Hemnes' Comes in 3 colors

'Grevback'

Bench with storage-You could paint this

This hangs in the closet

'Stall' Comes in 3 colors and in another shape

 If you've come up with a solution that you're happy with then send me a picture!