Adequate and attractive shoe storage is a problem in many homes. Footwear in a household really adds up once the little ones start wearing shoes. Cathy sent us pictures of the nook in her hallway that served as shoe storage. The visual clutter of all those pairs of shoes on the shoe rack was distracting. Check out the terrific job Cathy did making this an attractive, functional spot in her home:
What a difference, wouldn't you agree? The IKEA Hemnes cabinet is a hero. It hides all the shoe clutter neatly behind neat drawers and it's shallow profile takes up little space but provides a nifty little surface to serve as a landing strip. Cathy accessorized everything beautifully (we love her son's artwork). And as an added touch, she used number decals to customize the Hemnes. Great job, Cathy! For more details about the transformation, check out Cathy's blog Picket Fence Design.
(Images: Cathy Lee)
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
Party Recipe: Creamy Crawfish Dip
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
that's amazing! i think the light is the best part.
lol, ditto what trishdom said. I have one of those Hemnes shoe cabinets, and they do not hold all the shoes pictured in the first photo--which means that family members are going to have to be more selective about which shoes they keep in the landing strip, which is hard to enforce (hard for me to stick to, even...).
Lovely transformation, though, and the decals are an excellent touch.
Love it. I have a similar 3-compartment shoe cabinet, though honestly I still have shoe clutter anyway because it doesn't fit boots and because my husband "can't find" his shoes when they're out of sight.
The lamp really makes a WORLD of difference
krikkit... you cracked me up w/the 'cant find em if its out of sight' that's a universal truth! and i think this transformation is GREAT, our landing strip is similarly cluttered. it gets better in the summer when it's flip flops not boots doing the cluttering
All you need at your house to motivate everyone to put their shoes away is a 9-month-old who crawls around searching for shoes to gnaw on. It's grosses us out to see her doing that, so EVERYONE puts their shoes away. Now if she would only stay that age!
mdoell we have a similar motivation! My cat loves to chew shoelaces - leave your shoes out and you may not be able to tie them next time! Somehow everyone in my family manages to put their shoes into the storage containers in our front hall!
There are seven sets of human feet in this house. I have yet to find a shoe cabinet that can accomodate all of our footwear. I've pared down as best I can, but even so we have about 18 pairs of shoes in our coat area at any given moment - and that's when the kids are at school, wearing other pairs. I have been very seriously considering making the kids all wear Chuck Taylors, all the time. They flatten so nicely and look cute with dresses, you know?
Thanks for all the comments everyone! It is true, we can't keep ALL of our shoes here. My husband keeps his shoes in the garage. I keep most of my shoes on the top (except for boots which are stored in the closet) and the kids keep their shoes on the bottom. Amazingly, my kids really do a great job putting their shoes in the cabinet right when they come in the door. It's become a habit now. Good luck with all your organization!
Wait! I don't see this Hemnes cabinet on the Ikea website and it would be perfect for my space as well. Can you please be more specific about the model? THANK YOU!!!
@stg23. It's the 2 compartment Hemnes Shoe Cabinet for $129. Here's a link.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20169559
Hope this helps.