Too Many Shoes? Free Up Closet Space With A Sleek Pull Out Storage Solution

While shoe racks and cubbies may be the first shoe storage solutions that pop into your mind, these aren't a great solution if you're tight on space. Another popular footwear storage solution is a shoe hutch, but again, picking the right shoe cabinet for your footwear that fits in a small room can be tricky. Rather than purchasing a bulky piece of furniture for shoe storage, a better option is to work with what you already have, which in many cases, means maximizing vertical storage. If you have a weirdly shaped tall and narrow cabinet, or a section of your closet that you don't use, you should consider installing a pull out storage rack for your shoes.

With narrow spaces, it can be difficult to find that happy medium between maximizing storage and losing items into the abyss of the back of the shelf. However, a pull out shoe storage system solves that problem. In addition to taking advantage of vertical storage space, a pull out shoe system makes it easy to see all of your shoes in one place, so you can save time looking for the pair you need. There are a few different ways to go about installing a pull out storage rack for your shoes. The simplest method is to purchase a tall shoe rack and modify it so you can slide it in and out. Another option is to build your own vertical shoe storage system using sliders and wood, which will be far more time consuming, but is a nice option if you like to work with your hands. Finally, you can have one professionally built to fit your space.

To convert a shoe rack into a pull out shoe storage system similar to the one in this Tansel Storage Instagram post, start by purchasing a metal shoe rack. For taller spaces, consider purchasing a rack like this SONGMICS 8-Tier Shoe Organizer that's only 12.1 inches deep and can fit up around 32 to 40 pairs of shoes. If that particular shoe rack doesn't sound like the right size for your space, that's okay; just shop around until you find one that is.

Once you've purchased a rack, it's time to make it slide. To do this, you'll need 2-by-4s, wood screws, a set of caster wheels, and a mounting bracket. Essentially, you're going to be attaching the 2-by-4s to the bottom of the shelf, and installing the wheels to the underside of the wood. So, you'll need to purchase a mounting bracket that fits under the shelf and will allow you to snugly attach the wood pieces.

After gathering your materials, cut the 2-by-4s to the same size as the depth of the rack. For example, if you use the SONGMICS shoe rack, you'll cut the wood to be 12.1 inches long. Next, attach your caster wheels to the bottom of the wood. Then, use mounting brackets to securely attach the wood and wheels to the bottom of the racks to make the shelf slide, and you're all set! Keep in mind, one limitation of this genius vertical shoe storage DIY is that it doesn't have a track to slide in, so take care not to bump it against the walls while pulling it out.

Alternatively, you can forgo purchasing a shoe rack that's already made and build one entirely from scratch. For materials, you will need wood and screws to build the shelves themselves, drawer slides, and a cabinet door and handle to close it off. Alternatively, you can purchase pantry hardware, and make the shelves to match the hardware. First, you'll put together the shoe shelves by using wood cut to the size you want held together with wood screws. Be sure to build each individual shelf at a slight diagonal so the shoes fit, and add a little wooden ledge to the lower part of each shelf to keep the shoes in place. Then, attach the slide hardware to your wall, and attach the whole rack to the slides. Finally, attach the cabinet door to the shelf and add a handle so you can easily open and close it.

Keep in mind, building an entire shelf from scratch and attaching it to slides is a fairly complicated undertaking. Not to mention, pantry slide hardware can be quite expensive, and unless you're fairly accomplished at woodworking, you may want to pay a professional to custom build it for you. Hiring someone to build a custom pull out shelf like this will likely cost anywhere from $500 to $1,200 per linear foot, at the time of writing, so you can use those numbers to calculate exactly how much it will be to have someone build you a custom pull out rack that's perfect for organized shoe storage.