Boot season is upon us and in the near future there's sure to be slushy and wet shoes coming into our home. Don't bother with expensive shoe mats or drying racks — all you need is a simple kitchen staple and possibly a little bit of nature.
A simple baking sheet is all you need to keep a handle on the muddy, wet and snow filled shoes that come into your home. The photo above comes from the every stylish home of Ryan and Emerson from Emerson Made. You've probably seen their super amazing pantry floating around, but their entire home is simply splendid.
Their entryway keeps their farm boots and even if you aren't so into feeding chickens and making sure the cows have water in the morning, their simple storage method is an easy one for anyone to replicate at home. A baking sheet of this nature is less than $20 and can easily be washed when it gets dirty.
To take things a step further, you could line the tray with rocks or pebbles to allow the water to drain down, keeping the shoe up out of the run off. It's a great look and an easy solution to an all too common problem going into the Fall and Winter months.
How do you keep your shoes from tracking mud and snow into your space? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Shoes On or Off in the Home?
Image: Emerson Made
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Great idea! But I wonder about the staging of the shot. A rifle? Really??
You can get boot mats around here (Minnesota) for about $2 at the hardware store. Typically, with all the snow and snow-combating sand and salt we get, shoes and boots are left in the entryway until dry.
It's a cute idea, but based on the sheer volume of snow, not exactly practical for where I live.
Forget the boot mat, just shoot those soggy shoes full of holes?
Another tip: Store your gun barrel-down to prevent oil from potentially clogging the works.
@ simone4- If they live on a farm, I bet the rifle is not "staged", they probably use it! Not only is it beautiful, but it's nice to see something that helps many of us hunt & provide food for our families as part of the home.
Ha! I love the gun in the picture near the ladies coat! Reminds me of the scene in Mad Men when she shoots the neighbors birds!
No one who really uses a rifle would leave it so carelessly placed. This photo is fodder for the 'Catalog Living' website. "Despite Elaine's protests, Gary insisted on hunting next years' coat skins."
@ angie_marie - do you HAVE TO hunt to feed your family, or do you CHOOSE TO hunt to feed your family? I somehow have a hard time believing that this particular family would starve if they were not to hunt.
I also don't quite see the beauty you seem to see in a weapon used to kill.
Regardless, I like the idea of the tray and the photo in general (apart from the rifle).
If you put a cookie rack in the pan, the water will drip down and actually let the shoes dry. Unless you like to let your shoes sit in water. It's way easier to clean than a bunch of pebbles, too.
Putting shoes and boots on newspaper helps remove the toxins from the soles of your shoes/boots.
Yes, let's use a $20.00 cookie sheet instead of an $8.00 boot tray. Makes perfect sense.
ha. I knew when I saw that picture there'd be a bunch of comments about the gun. Some of us actually use them! On critters.
KaBoomBOX & bodicegoddess - I can get used baking sheets which clean up just fine from a local restaurant supply salvage store for $2... which makes it far more economical.
About the gun, if you head over and take a look at the photographs of their farm and the photos they take of themselves to promote the products they sell, the gun (aside from living on a farm) will suddenly make perfect sense.
Go to your local dollar store or dollar tree - you can get a baking sheet for under $5 easily.
Chuckling at the city-slickers' comments here re the rifle..
Never a dull moment here =]
Is it really safe to have a rifle sitting around like that in a family home with children around?
The website!!! Hahahaha!
simone4- I *choose* to hunt and raise the majority of my food. I *choose* not to support factory farms or the poor working conditions of migrant farm workers. I *choose* to know what happens to my food, control it, and touch it with my own hands.
The Gun. The Gun. The Gun! I grew up in South Jersey (New Jersey) and we kept our guns behind the TV which was caddy-corner in the small living room. The bullets were stored on top of the television. NOBODY every played with the gun. It had it's purpose which was hunting/providing food. Teach the kids to respect the gun and there shouldn't be a problem, no matter where you store it.
What a great place to keep your gun. There it is, ready to take along whenever you may need it.
God, I PRAY that whoever wears that leopard skin coat with the red flower on it accessorizes it with the gun. You can never have too many statement pieces.
A rubber boot mat is good enough for me. Wipes off just as well as a metal tray, and holds way more shoes.
That rifle takes me back to my grandparents' farmhouse...I have about five pictures of myself, one a year, standing next to the rifle (to mark my growth?). Ah, Grandma.
That tray would be way too small for our big winter boots, here in Alberta. We use a big rubber mat in our house.
When we first moved here we were kind of shocked to see how many people own rifles. It is a small town and sorrounded by mountains. We get deer jumping over the fence to eat apples from a tree in our backyard. Bears are relocated from downtown every now and then. Last year even I took a shooting course. Just never know..
This is a funny topic. I don't have a problem with the gun, but I bet some who do don't have a second thought about going to the store and buying a couple of steaks :)
Re: Icarus.
Growing up there was a rifle and two shotguns in a rack in the living room. By the time we were old enough to have been able to drag a chair over and taken one down we had already used them, were well aware that they could kill, and what that meant, and would never have dreamed of using them for any reason without our father there to supervise. We didn't need to sneak and use them. Dad was happy to take us shooting any time we wanted.
Okay I get the gun comments if the home is filled with a bunch of babies that are starting to crawl...but children also should be taught to leave guns alone. If I had been caught even considering touching any of my grandfather's, I can tell you right now I would have wished for a spanking rather than the slap that would have followed by my grandmother and her long fingers.
Darn, I knew I was forgetting something during my shopping trip to WalMart. Extra ammo. (All those after-10 p.m. trick-or-treaters were bugging the **** out of me.) So thanks, AT!
I have no problem with the gun. All for hunting. I just like the funny comments :)
We enter through the garage, and we have a carpet remnant just inside the door as an entry rug. We leave our shoes on that. We chose a color that doesn't show dirt, and it can be shampooed if necessary.
I'd say a THRIFT SHOP cookie tray might be a size-appropriate boot tray for some, but paying $20 for one is silly with more cost effective solutions available.