Look! Apartment Therapy and Boot Tray Ideas in Time Out

The latest Time Out Chicago has taken a cue from past Apartment Therapy posts -- highlighting the need for helping out our homes during winter's onslaught of messy boots:

We wrote about (and you commented on) ideas for keeping boots out of the house here. Time Out has since picked up on the theme from there, saying,

Full disclosure: We found the following clever solution from a reader comment on apartmenttherapy.com. Channel a spa aesthetic by filling a baking sheet with round stones ($2–$6 at Michaels, 1101 S Canal St, 312-435-1843); the water drips between the cracks, so your shoes steer clear of the resulting runoff.

Anyone giving this a-go this winter? What has been your best boot solution so far? We purchased a bug boot jack on eBay after posting about it (and love it!), but still need a place to put our messy boots other than directly on the entryway floor...and a baking tray with rocks sounds inexpensive and near perfect.

Top photo via Time Out Chicago by Nicole Radja

Bottom photo via Martha Stewart

Comments (3)

I like this idea because my front door scrapes the carpet when opened and there is no room for a rug (the house before I rented it was once all hardwood flooring). I usually have to take my shoes off outside and carry them into the kitchen. I might give this a shot!

posted by islek on January 28th 2009 at 11:46am
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I bought Ikea's $25 propylene rug for my front entryway and so far it is working well -- very thin and flat, can be hosed off (if there is ever a thaw!) Next to that, there is a coatrack/shoe area, where I have two mats (also from Ikea) that are off black, for wiping one's boots; these are in front of two black plastic boot trays (we are a family of two adults and 2 kids). There is also a basket for gloves, hats, etc. I haven't gotten round to filling the boot trays with stones but do plan to do that. So far so good though.

posted by outonalimb_2008 on January 28th 2009 at 1:02pm
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This is also a good idea for potted plants.....

Set potted plants on the stones, then add water to the tray. As the water evaporates, it raises the humidity around the plants a little bit, which makes the plants happier, especially with dry indoor winter air.

posted by ohjodi on January 28th 2009 at 7:30pm
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