Shoe Shelves?

[Luke McFadden]

In trying to free up a lot of space in my garage so I can have some more space to "work", I'm trying to clean up our shoe clutter. We have a shoe holder hanging on the wall for shoes we use infrequently. But we (wife and I) have about 3-5 pairs of shoes we go between throughout the week depending on the season. So this leaves a lot of shoes! I'm trying to figure out the best way to make a small shelf that will sit up against the wall to hold our shoes.

I've seen the shelves that look like cubby holes, but I think that is too much work to do for just shoes (although if anyone has a link to how to build these types of shelves I would appreciate it). So I'm thinking something with 2-3 shelves, that are about 3-4 long.

What is the best way to build a free standing shelf like this?

Sorry for the the "noob" question, but that's what I am!

Luke

[Thomas Canfield]

Luke,

YOu might consider using dowels to support the shoes. I have built several shoe racks over the years using dowels in blind holes in uprights to support shoes. The racks were normally about the height of the hanger bar in the closets. I install the dowels at slightly different elevations front and back so that the heel catches on the outside dowel and sole is supported on the dowel toward the wall. Most have been one shoe wide, but I made one for a granddaughter that was about 42" wide that had a center support and was 2 shoes high to go under her hanging clothes. Most uprights were plywood about 8" wide with some additional foot added for the tall stands.

That is easy to do with Forstner bits in a drill press, but the first one I did was with spade bits in a portable drill. I had to file off part of the tip on the spade bit to keep the hole blind. You can also use a screw into the dowel to help hold the assembly together. In your case, you might consider a solid shelf top over the shoes for additional storage of other items. Let your imagination go and fill the space you have. Hope this helps.