The $20 IKEA LACK Shelf Might Actually Be a Better Small Space Storage Solution for Your Closet than Your Home Office

Getting creative with your clothing storage solutions can be tricky when you’re short on square footage or live in an older home that just doesn’t have modern closets. Luckily, IKEA offers products for just about any setup. There’s one somewhat surprising item though that you might want to consider for your closet in addition to your home office or living room, and that’s the humble LACK shelf. Take one look at this makeshift closet by Bryce, whose house tour was featured recently on Apartment Therapy, and you’ll see that the LACK is the perfect spot to stash shoes and other accessories when you don’t have a proper place to store your clothes.

Currently, Bryce shares a 1060-square-foot row home in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, with her photographer fiancé, Stefan. Their house was built in 1920, and since the couple moved in three years ago, they’ve been on a mission to “inject some love and character back into the space,” to borrow Bryce’s words. Even though the couple doesn’t own their home, Bryce didn’t let that deter her from experimenting with DIYs and different design aesthetics. “I actually think renting is a good opportunity to play around with different styles to see what you like,” she says.

Each room in the home has a distinct look and features unique furniture finds along with custom built-in-looking features that Bryce completed herself. I’d say one of her finest projects has to be the closet she created for herself basically out of thin air on her third floor, since Stefan uses the small bedroom closet. This cool and creative instillation owes a lot to those aforementioned LACK shelves and a splashy blue paint color, Behr’s “Mammoth Mountain.” Specifically, she mounted three LACKs and painted them the same exact Behr shade so that they blend perfectly into the wall, achieving a fancy, boutique-like display effect.

While many people use these popular open shelves from IKEA to store books and display art or knickknacks, they’re actually large and sturdy enough to hold several pairs of shoes, and that’s exactly what Bryce did to store her footwear. “I use these floating shelving in multiple areas in our house because they’re so easy to hang and inexpensive,” she says of the hardworking LACK shelves. You could also consider a couple of them for a handbag collection or even other accessories; they keep everything at the ready, and sure, you might have to dust them more than you would if your shelving were inside a closet, but they’re a great solution to the small (or non-existent!) old house closet issue.

If you’ve been trying to figure out how to maximize your closet space or display your growing shoe collection, some LACK shelving might be just what you need. As long as you have the wall space, you can hang these shelves just about anywhere, and you can use as many or as few as you need.