This Strange Shoe Storage Idea Is Brilliant for Small Spaces

When you live in a one-bedroom city apartment with an extensive shoe collection that belongs in a much larger space like me, any extra square footage is game for storage. While I’ve made use of empty wall and under-bed space to keep my stilettos, sandals, boots, and sneakers as contained as possible, one TikToker is suggesting taking a page out of Carrie Bradshaw’s book for storing your shoes. It’s an ingenious (and rental-friendly) solution for footwear lovers with small homes … so long as you’re not an avid home cook.

TikToker Kate Bartlett shared a video where Bartlett demonstrated how they repurposed their kitchen in her New York City apartment to corral her multitude of shoes à la Sex and the City’s iconic columnist and fashionista. 

Bartlett doesn’t go so far as to store footwear in the oven, but says “I have no choice but to live alone because this is how I use my pantry” while showing off the shoe storage details of the apartment. The TikToker demonstrated how they reworked the kitchen and pantry into an unexpected shoe closet by using the shelves in her cabinets and pantry to display their selection of high heels, boots, flats, and purses. Meanwhile, a sunglass collection lives on the inside of the pantry door, thanks to a hanging organizer. 

Of course, there are no food items, dishes, cookware, utensils, and cutting boards in Bartlett’s pantry and cupboards. While this off-the-wall solution does deal with your shoe storage problem, using this technique might not be the best option for any home cooks for fairly obvious reasons. As someone who regularly cooks and eats at home, I’d struggle with the idea of putting my dirty shoes near food items (even in containers), dishes, and cookware. 

However, for solo homeowners or renters who only use a few of their available cabinets for dishes (or even just rely on takeout over cooking), this shoe storage hack can be a great way to take advantage of unused space for organizing your footwear, accessories, or other things you don’t have storage for, like books, blankets, linens and towels, and tech.

If you do decide to use your kitchen shelves for shoe storage, you might want to invest in some shelf liners for easy cleanup, strategically arrange your shoes with one side facing forward and the other in the back (trust me, it magically allows you to add an extra pair to your shelf), and add some hanging organizers for the backs of the cabinet and pantry doors for other accessories.