Look! Built in Shoe Storage (Or Is It?)

While taking Bacon for a walk around the neighborhood the other night, we came upon this glowing glass porch. The first thing we noticed was a fairly elegant shoe storage system which seemed to be built in, right next to the door. But as we got closer we realized it was much, much, simpler...

Once we got up close, as you can see, we realized it was just an inexpensive white bookcase — tucked snugly into the recess of the wall, blending in with the white trim. Although it felt less special, the reality is much more accessible and something that anyone could achieve.

We have a lot of shoes and, sadly, many of them end up living next to our front door. No matter how well we line them up, eventually they begin to overtake the entryway and must be put away — until the vicious cycle begins again. To us, this would be the best of both worlds: easy access to our shoes right by the door and a clean, organized system to keep them from taking over the entry. A full size bookcase might be a bit much for us, though, so we're brainstorming ways to scale this down for our apartment...

Check out these other shoe-storage posts on AT:

Look! DIY Floating Shoe Racks

5 Places to Place Your Shoes

Reader Poll: Where Do You Keep Your Kicks

Look! Creative Shoe Storage

DIY Shoe Cabinet: From IKEA Hacker

Comments (26)

I have been trying to come up with a solution in my garage. This would work perfectly. Shoe, and other item, storage easily accessed and kept neat and tidy. Also something I can probably talk my wife into letting me do.

i need a bacon update that's pictorial in nature.

I like that a lot! We don't have the space in our entryway, but I've been trying to figure out how to organize the shoes in my closet... I dig it.

Emily

we also have a shoe problem in our entry (mostly due to my hubby). i was thinking about putting a couple low shelfs behind the door, because we always end up with a pile of shoes, but i think my 1 year old would just take them off the shelfs (we have a short bookcase besides the entry and the takes everything off of that)

so i'm thinking of getting a couple of those wall mounted shoe cabinets from ikea.

anyone have experience with them? how are they?

just curious do you guys have to get permission when taking photos of the inside of someones hosue like that?

i mean i wouldn't care- but it would be kinds crazy to stumble across the a pic of the inside of my home on AT!

yeah I find these pictures a little creepy and stalkerish, haha

I came across a great idea of turning a bookcase into a bench in the entryway...the cubby holes allow you to store shoes...check it out:

http://thesalerack.blogspot.com/2008/09/case-for-repurposing.html

Wes here-

The pictures are taken from a sidewalk and reveal absolutely no personal information about the home owner or where the home is.

If you want creepy speculation check out Kyle's Post:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/green-ideas/2-small-condos-1-large-lighting-difference-069537#comments

This image isn't anything that couldn't be seen casually walking by the person's house at night (as the post suggests). I don't find it creepy. If the homeowner's really wanted their shoe nook to be private they could have a blind or a curtain.

Rules for distributing photographs are complicated. Photographers have rights to share photos taken in public places. While the home is private property, the street and the sidewalk are considered public. I believe that anything that can be photographed from a public place (such as a sidewalk)is fair game...

I agree with kristykreem. What's Bacon been up to?

yes, let's see what's up with Bacon!

eribear12, i have a shoe cab from ikea and love it.

pics:
http://tinyurl.com/6muxkt
http://tinyurl.com/5ebl9f

these hold at best two per cabinet, though i can cram 3 pairs of flats in some. i'd recommend getting as many as you can fit in, horizontally of the 2x2 unit :) though ikea also makes a 3x1 and 4x1 for more vertical space.

Also...

For Bacon updates he can alway be found <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wesleyschwartz/sets/72157606016375043/">HERE</A>

Fair game or not, I find it rather creepy that you are taking close up/zoomed in photos of stranger's homes. And all for a bookshelf of shoes?

Oh man. Glanced through this article and didn't notice the bit about bacon being a dog so when I saw the comments on Bacon updates I was confused (as in what in the world could bacon have to do with bookcases and shoes). Just looked at the bacon's flickr page...I wasn't ready for that amount of cuteness. It doesn't help that I've been wanting a french bulldog for ages.

I'm officially going to stalk your dog and his flickr page.

bacon's flickr page makes me squeal like a piglet!

thanks for the info funkia! i really like that shoe cabinet in particular so its good to know how much it will hold! i like the 2x2 so it can serve as a console table as well, and i can get rid of the book shelf that my baby loves trashing! looks great in your space btw.

man, i really need to spell-check my comments, i made 2 mistakes in my first comment.

Yes, I need a bacon update too... what breed is he?

Bacon's flickr page= no work at work for me for a little while.

This image is VERY CREEPY!
Not as bad as Kyle's post, but still.....

Whether or not it's "technically" allowable to photgraph the interior of somebody's home at night, without their knowledge or permission, and post those photos online for all the world to see, doesn't make it the RIGHT thing to do.

My neighbors can see through my living room window during the day when I have my curtains open and I suppose they COULD also photograph the interior of my home through that window then. BUT would I want them to? Would I be disturbed if they did? Would I be creeped out if they did, whatever their real intentions are? Absolutely NOT to the first statement and absolutely YES to the latter two.

There's no identifying info about the house, and it's not like it's the living room or something, so I think this is fair game.

I do agree that it seems like a formal house in which the shoe storage is out of place.

If you want creepy, check out the street views in google.

Hope those are NEW shoes. Wouldn't want that to be the smell that welcomed visitors to my home...

Wes & Kayla should be the only AT bloggers that use "we" instead of the usual "I" unless other bloggers team up too.

I walk by this house all the time with my dog and just noticed this last week as well. We must be neighbors!
We have metro shelving in our tiny enclosed back porch where we keep the dog stuff and our shoes, but shoes get really cold in the winter and wet boots don't really dry.

these pictures looks like they were taken by a stalker.
stay away from my neighborhood shoe- perve

Love it, though I'd hang a sheer in front of it or put doors on the cabinet so I wouldn't have to look at all of those shoes all the time :)