Initial thoughts:
- IKEA sells collapsible shoe boxes - could you fit 4 of these on one shelf (2 wide, 2 deep)?
- tilt each shelf upward, add and store shoes 2 wide, 2 deep (you'd have to add 2 bars to each shelf to rest the heels of the shoes on)
- remove the shelves and use the IKEA hanging shoe storage
- convert the shelves to slide-out shelves

I'm not handy myself, so I'm not sure how feasible these options are.

at first glance i thought the thumbnail picture for this post looked like a lobster tank...

anyways, maybe you could use shoeboxes or some other containers that stack on top of each other. then you could take a picture or a polaroid of the shoes and stick it on the front of the box. hmm, i don't know... it's not nearly close enough to 5pm and i'm now distracted by lobsters.

It looks the right depth for 2 shoes. Rather than put pairs next to each other, just put them one in front of the other. That will mean you don't have to pick favorites!

Maybe tilted wire shelving would make it easier to access the ones in the back? I'm thinking the wire shelving with a bar across it in two places to catch the heels of the shoes and hold them in place. Or even just tilt the shelves you have now and put the bars in to catch the heels. 4 pairs per shelf? I have a closet like this that wasn't as deep so I put in the tilted wire shelves floor to ceiling and I love my shoe closet.

If you store a pair of shoes so that one is pointing forward and the other back you can fit more on a shelf. That is generally more true for women's shoes though. I would move tall boots and shoes that you may not use very often to the back row.

Remove the shelves, and insert shelving that can be rolled out (like tthe newer kitchen pantry shelves). You could very easily customize the shelving with Ikea. I have their roll out kitchen pantry shelves (each shelf rolls out, not the entire thing) and I can see that it would very easily work for a shoe closet.

Ha! I totally saw a lobster tank too when I first looked.

I have three words for you: shoe lazy susan. http://ana-white.com/2011/12/brag/lazy-susan-shoes-pic-included It wouldn't be super easy to build if you don't have a lot of experience, but it would capitalize on all that space.

It looks like an ideal shoe closet to me. Could you install tilted shelves? That way, you should be able to fit more shelves in than the current 5 - I think you could squeeze in 7.

I'd take out all the shelves and install a simple Elfa system with white vented shelves custom cut to the width of the closet. The 20" Elfa depth would work, and you could space the shelves in a way that makes more sense. Good luck!

OH. EM. GEE. @crosberg you have just changed my life! MUST. HAVE. SHOE. LAZY. SUSAN!!! This shouldn't make me this happy....

I would try to put platforms that roll out on each shelf so that I could grab from the back without affecting the front.

I've had great luck using clear "over the door" style shoe pockets... you could easily do 4 of them in that closet. One on the back of the door, and then three on the walls - using hammered in nails in each of the holes... that would do storage for 48 pairs of shoes. you'd just have to remove the majority of the shelves, possibly keeping one for boots.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=10207649

I use these IKEA Billy bookcases with doors http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/63688310/

Linen closet, actually.

I would put in the shelves closer together and either store the shoes one in front of the other, or just make the shelves the depth of a pair of shoes. YOu get less storage with the latter, but maybe you don't need it.

Also, storing pairs of shoes so they sit in different directions - heel to toe - saves a lot of space. I didn't believe it until I tried it.

Elfa is on sale (30% off at Container Store, maybe the same elsewhere) for the next week or two. I would sort your shoes by height and then figure out the heights you'll need, and the number of shelves. I think the shoe in front of its mate is brilliant. You will need to figure out the mix of women's and men's shoes on each shelf. You might need vertical dividers to keep things neat - I don't think the ones Elfa sells are for their deepest shelves and they might not be the right option. I don't know if you can slant Elfa shelves.

What I would also do is see if you can fit a behind the door shoe organizer on that little door - you might have enough depth even if you need to cut to get the width to fit. I would fill that up first and then see how much additional shelf space you need.

I have a similar closet (former linen closet) and use clear stacking shoe boxes (Container Store) to create two levels on each shelf. I keep boots on the bottom shelf and rotate seasonal shoes to the shelves I can see/reach easily.

I would suggest removing the shelves all together and replacing it with a floor to ceiling revolving shoe tree.

The dimensions are 12"x12" but you'll need some clearance for spinning the shoes around (heels and all) so it should fit within your space comfortably. This will store 36 pairs of shoes. This will also allow you easy access to the shoes without having to move the pairs in the front (as you would if you went with shelves). You can even put shoes or accessories up higher in that 26" recessed area, as well, because the racks are height adjustable. I would even suggest keeping a lower shelf or two to place the taller boots on the floor, and then place the rotating shoe tree on top of that shelf.

With the extra space in the front of the closet, you could attach a wall-mounted basket system to the door to hold accessories, or more shoes on a rack like this one (This one may not work as you have a narrow door so you may want to shop around).

Stay away from over door shoe racks that have plastic, just get metal ones, plastic ones fall apart easily. Also, you'll want to screw it into the door rather than just hang it, it'll make your shoe rack last longer.

Over door shoe organizers made of canvas or heavy duty vinyls are okay, but they don't hold as many shoes, and please don't get the ones that hold more than a dozen or so pairs. Some claim to be able to hold 25+ pairs of shoes, but the fabric they make them out of usually sags and tears from the weight.

Otherwise, if you plan on keeping the shelves I'd recommend drop-front shoeboxes as a solution, it'll at least give you extra levels to work with, and easy access. Good luck!

Jessman's idea to line up a pair of shoes from front to back instead of side to side is good if it fits them. Otherwise, how about about midway between each shelf, put a shelf that's half the depth from the back wall. So you have a pair of shoes on this half shelf in the back and they are visible and other pairs on the lower shelf. And again, if 2 shoes will fit front to back, you can line them like that on the lower shelf so it fits more shoes and on the half shelf put them side by side.

How do you store boots on those shoe trees??

Actually some of the kitchen/bath drawer pull-out drawer organizers would work (Elfa, Home Depot, Lowes):

http://tinyurl.com/6peh2kw

You can stack two units together, buy the drawers that fit your needs (so you could have a single runner drawer for gloves or scarves, double or triple runner drawers for boots, regular height shoes), and even put it on casters if you need it to be mobile. I've used a couple of these for about 15 years now and keep finding ways, when I move, to reinvent them to be useful (fabric storage, gardening supplies, clothing, art supplies, bases & storage for a desk).

I have two of the really wide ones, stacked, in my bedroom closet. It takes the place of a bedroom dresser & shoe storage so that my small bedroom feels much larger with less furniture in it. I can roll the stack in & out of the closet, so could you if you remove your shelves (and you'd get even more storage in that small closet if you try that), in every case I get more storage space inch-for-inch compared to regular shelving (plus it's portable). The drawers pull out, so I can easily see what's there, and it sure beats those R*bbermaid tubs.

BTW IKEA had/may still have a less expensive version of the Elfa.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51avpJ%2BEVjL.jpg

maybe something like that helps out...