Organizing shoes is a hell of a task—that’s a universal truth. Personally, Choosing the perfect shoe rack is the most difficult part. We need to consider a lot of aspects—its color, convenience, layers, structure, and design among a lot of other things.

Even after that, it’s highly unlikely that the rack will meet all our expectations. 

What’s the perfect solution to this dilemma? Make a simple personalized shoe rack for your place that’ll consist of all the features you’re looking for!

You don’t need to be very skilled in carpentry for this job. Simply follow some easy steps and apply your own imagination to get the shoe rack of your dreams! 

DIY Shoe Organization Ideas

1. Tall Black Rack

This idea is for the garage shoe storage but it’ll look good near the front door too. It’s a great way to store your small collection and also save space if you’ve got a small place. 

Either get some boards of finished birch wood and shape ‘em into shelves and two lorackngboards for the sides, or you can get similar-shaped pieces from the store. Make sure that you polish them well.

Each shelf should have two pocket holes for drilling and clamping them to the boards. To hide the edges of the shelves, glue and nail some pieces of poplar that’ll be of the same size as the edges. 

Do some sanding and move on to the painting part. Paint it in black or any other color you want and nail it to the wall using toggle bolts. You can also make a base for it to make it stay fixed. 

2. Shoe Hanger

Here’s another great way to store a small collection of shoes and save space at the same time! You can keep this organizer in the entryway or the mudroom. Simply, slip in the shoes onto the rack and everything will look neat and tidy. But, this idea may not do well for heels.

You’ll need two wooden strips and two small wooden blocks from the hardware store. Glue them together to form a rectangle and let it dry. Hang it up using keyhole hangers.

You may even paint it but I’ll suggest you keep your shoe organizer simple and rustic. 

3. Crown Molding Shoe Racks

Here’s an idea that’ll sort your “heel storage” problem without taking up a lot of space! This rack looks the best in the closet but you can keep it in the entryway too.

Get your hands on desirable crown molding strips from the hardware store, select a paint of your choice, and get to work!

It’s better to keep the heels lined up on different molding strips rather than a single one. Customize the length according to your preference and paint the strips.

Use anchors and long screws to mount the strips on the wall and your rack is ready. 

4. Mini Floating Rack 

This floating rack is available at the market but your shoes may not fit in it properly! So make a desirable floating shoe rack yourself and display it in the entryway! It’s perfect if you’ve got little space and no heels to store.

You need poplar strips of two different sizes and L-shaped brackets. Get them from the store and shape ‘em if needed. Make sure the strips are of the desired width. Polish and paint them if you feel like it.

Screw two brackets to each poplar strip and mount them on the wall—the narrow strip, followed by the wider one. Keep a gap in between the two strips so that your shoes fit in the gap. 

5. Goes-with-everything Rack 

This elegant shoe rack literally goes with every spot! Entryway, closet, wherever you feel like placing it, it’ll sparkle! It’s even quite easy to make. 

Tutorial: Get two wooden boards and eight narrow wooden blocks from the hardware store along with wood screws, stain, and paint of your choice. 

Paint the blocks first with your selected color. Then attach them together to form the shoe rack frames. The bottom side of the frame should have extended legs as supports for the rack. Drill holes and screw the two boards to the frames.

Organize all your shoes on it and display your work anywhere you want! 

READ HERE: 30 Cheap Organization Ideas to Tame Your Chaos at Home

6. Copper Shoe Racks

This one’s a fun DIY as well as a good shoe storage unit for almost all types of shoes. This floating organizer will look great in both the entryway as well as the closet.

The main materials are copper pipes, copper fittings, and floor flanges (to be used as wall mounts). 

Use a pipe cutter to get the appropriate length. Then attach the fittings to the pipes to form the rack. Join the pipes together and make sure to leave a gap in between to store both heels and flats on it. 

Use copper adaptors to attach the flanges to the rack. Mount the rack on the wall using the flanges and it’s ready! Make more racks if needed and mount them on the wall, one below the other. 

7. PVC Racks

 All you need to do is find the perfect-sized PVC pipe and get to work! This organizer will suit your entryway better than your closet.

Get a PVC pipe whose diameter is wide enough to fit in all your shoes. Cut the pipe into pieces such that the length of each is enough to accommodate your shoes. Don’t hesitate to get as many pipes as you want. 

After the cutting part is done, paint the pieces in such a way that it matches the decor. Attach the pipes to the wall using PVC glue (available at any hardware store). 

The pattern in which you’ll attach the pipes to the wall solely depends on your imagination! 

8. Planter Shoe Racks

 All you need to do for this is get some horse trough planters and mount them on the wall. Easy!

Attach it to the entryway wall if you’re one to leave muddy shoes near the door and not take them in. It’ll look just fine in the closet too and help you store your beautiful shoes and slippers, but this unique organizer belongs in a place where you can show it off!

You may wonder if you can fit your heels in this organizer—you can! Place your heels in such a way that the heels of your footwear are outside the rack.

9. LACK TV Unit Shoe Rack

If you have any old LACK TV units lying around somewhere, make a shoe rack out of them! But if you don’t have any, use engineered wood to make one! This rack will look beautiful in the entryway.

If you have the LACK TV units, then all you have to do is screw some L-shaped brackets to them and attach them to the wall. 

I’ll suggest you get the units rather than try to make them yourself. But if you are hell-bent on making them from scratch, get some boards of engineered wood and polish them well. To form the rectangular racks, drill holes in the wood and screw them together. Paint them if you wish to and let them dry.

Now, attach the brackets and mount your rack to the wall.

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10. Rustic Ladder Rack

This idea isn’t a “crafty” one. Rather, it’s a creative and useful way to reuse an old ladder!

However, this one’s mainly for your beloved heels. But if your ladder has wide rectangular steps, you can easily store other kinds of shoes on it!

This ladder rack will surely add rusticity to your house, so keep it in the entryway and wow your guests!

11. Crates’ Shoe Rack

Why not use crates as shoe racks too?! Get as many wooden crates (not the plastic ones ‘cause they ain’t so tough) as you need for building this rack. 

Keep the finished shoe rack near the doorway or in an empty corner of the living room. 

You’ll need to get two or more wooden crates and stain them well first. Then paint them if you want the rack to be a bit eye-catching. 

After this, you can do two things- 

a) Arrange the crates in a shape and screw them together to keep them fixed forever. This way, you get a firm and stiff rack whose shape can’t be altered.

b) Arrange the crates in a shape and let them be just like that. You don’t have to screw them together. This way, you can rearrange the crates whenever you feel like and alter the shape.

12. Boot Tray 

If you’ve got some beautiful boots, display them on a rolling boot tray made just them! You can place this tray in the entryway and add some little plants as decoration. This rack will surely add a touch of rusticity to your place.

All you need is a wooden tray, four casters, and some necessary hardware. Make sure you clean the tray properly. Then drill holes in the bottom of the tray and screw the casters in. Finished! 

Now you can arrange your beautiful boots or any other shoes like heels, etc. on this tray. 

13. Hanging Boot Rack

This rack is mainly for storing your boots as well as your bulky winter footwear. Attach this rack to your entryway wall and get rid of the clutter near your door.

First, get two rectangular boards of lumber. Shape and polish them well. Now get a bunch of wooden dowels and cut them into equal pieces. 

Take one lumber and drill holes in it to glue the dowels. Let it dry. You can paint this if you wish to.

Now attach this to the other lumber board using two shelf brackets. Screw the rack onto the wall and organize your winter footwear.

For Medium/Large Collection

14. Multiple Shelf Shoe Rack

If you’ve got quite a collection of shoes, build a wooden shoe rack with as many shelves as you need! This rack will be most suitable for the entryway. 

You’ll need a bunch of plywood boards ‘cause that’s generally preferred for cabinets. The most important part is the shaping of the boards. You need to mark the measurements first. All the shelves must be equal in size.

Choose the design according to your shoe collection. If you’ve got big boots, you need more vertical space. Similarly, for other shoes, you’ll need more horizontal space. Decide the design accordingly. 

Finally, glue the pieces together using wood glue. You can paint this rack if you wish to—give it a color that would match the decor in the room.

15. Peg Rack

This easy DIY shoe rack can be mounted on the entryway wall, or on the closet wall. 

Get your hands on a pine or plywood board (either will do for this idea) and a bunch of shaker pegs. 

First, mark the spots where you’re gonna glue in the pegs. Make sure to keep uniform gaps in between the pegs so the shoes don’t hang clumsily. 

Then drill holes in the marked spots and screw the board onto the wall. Then only should you glue the pegs to it. Once dry, you can paint the rack with the color of your choice.

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16. Garage Shoe Rack

If you’ve got intermediate skills in carpentry, and some unused stash of wood lying around, then this DIY is perfect for you!

This rack idea is for the garage but you can display it in the entryway too. 

Use unused wood, or buy some boards, and polish it well first. Now take accurate measurements and cut the boards into shelves of equal sizes. 

Then cut more wood strips to make the support for the shelves. Assemble everything with screws and apply some plywood paint to give it a good finish. You can also leave it unpainted if you prefer the natural look of wood.

17. Mesh Shoe Rack

Are you having a hard time organizing your heels collection? Are you looking for the perfect rack at a low cost without putting in any effort? Then a giant mesh is the best solution! 

You can pick it up at any local store or online. Get an appropriate-sized grid (depends on the number of heels you have) and display it in your entryway or in your closet.

A silver, minimal, mesh rack is going to make your place look modern.

18. Basket Shoe Storage

Use the space under your bench or entryway table and turn it into a shoe storage spot! 

All you need to do is get some jute baskets and fill them with all the shoes in the house. Segregate the shoes into different baskets depending upon what kind they are—one for sportswear, one for heels, etc. or allot each basket to a family member.

Furthermore, in each basket, organize the footwear in a way that you can easily access the ones you need. For example, keep the least used in the bottom and your regular ones on top.

19. Cardboard Triangles’ Rack

Geometric pieces look pretty eye-catching, don’t they? They never go out of fashion too. This rack made out of triangles is said to be “super space-saving” and a super-easy DIY rack. It’s pretty cheap too!

You can display it anywhere you like—in the closet, near the doorway, in the garage—but I believe it should be placed somewhere where it’ll catch everyone’s eye.

For making this, you’ll have to take a piece of cardboard and cut it into pieces such that each piece can be folded into an equilateral triangle. The measurements of the triangles depend on your shoe sizes. 

Take some triangles together and glue their bases on a separate cardboard piece to form a row. Make a geometrical shape by gluing some more rows together. 

20. Giant Ladder Rack

If you’ve got a good amount of different kinds of footwear, you gotta make this giant ladder rack!

You can easily keep it on display in your living room or in the entryway. It’ll draw the visitors’ attention to your beautiful shoe collection!

You’ll need to get a big double-sided stepladder and polish it well first. Now, arrange some planks for the shelves. Make sure that the material of the shelves matches that the ladder.

Place the shelves in ascending order of their size (smallest to biggest, from top to bottom) such that it looks like an X-mas tree. You can attach the shelves to the ladder with L-brackets.

21. Cardboard Box Rack

If you want a minimalist shoe rack, you can make one out of cardboard boxes. It’s simple, and enough to organize all your shoes properly. You can display it in the entryway or in your closet.

You’ll need a bunch of cardboard boxes, depending on how many shoes you have. Arrange them in a geometric shape, or in an order that’s convenient for you. For example, keep the boxes containing footwear of everyday use at the bottom so that you can just slip the shoes in right when you enter your place. 

Decide the order and tape/glue the boxes together. 

22. Vintage Mail Sorter Shoe Rack

I won’t lie to you, you need to be quite skilled in carpentry to make this one. But no worries, if you follow the steps thoroughly and take precautions, you can easily build this!

I’ll suggest you use this rack to display your beautiful shoes in the entryway.

First, make a blueprint of the work. Then get a bunch of wood boards of different sizes, trim molding, and other easily available materials. Shape them into several pieces—some for the shelves, some for the sides, and the rest for the dividers. This part is quite a toughie, to be honest.

Nail/glue/screw the pieces together. 

23. Clothes Hanger Shoe Organizer

Now this one’s a clever idea! Simply get a bunch of clothes hangers and shape ‘em in a way that you can hang your shoes instead. 

Take one hanger and cut it into two. Take the top half and bend the edges out in somewhat of a U-shape. Do the same for the other hangers. They’ll help you hang your sandals.

Now take the bottom half of the hanger and bend it in to form a triangle, with the edges folded out. Create more of this. These are for the shoes.

You can hang these hangers on yarn attached to the wall using hooks. The closet is the perfect spot for this.

24. Rolling Shoe Racks  

If you have a bench in the entryway or living room, keep these rolling shoe racks/bins under it.  Roll out the crate, choose the shoe, and you can sit on the bench to wear it. 

You’ll need to get crates from the hardware store and polish them well. Now, take four casters and screw them to the bottom of each crate. Also, screw in a small handle on the front of the crates. That’s it! Now just place them under your bench.

Assign separate crates for different kinds of footwear or allot one to each family member.

25. Skateboard Racks 

This idea is suitable for both large and small shoe collections ‘cause you can install as many shelves as you want! On the entryway, in a corner of the living room, in the closet—all these spots work well with these racks. 

You won’t have to do much here. Simply, install two L brackets on the wall and fix a skateboard on it by screwing the hex nuts in it. Make sure the nuts are fitted in tightly and the brackets are affixed well. Do the same thing with the other boards/shelves (if you need ‘em) and the job’s done. 

If you don’t want the brackets on display, paint them the same color as your wall. 

26. Shoe Trolley

This may seem complicated to make, and yup it kinda is, BUT if you follow the steps carefully, you’ll end up with this wonderful shoe rack.

This one will look better on display than in a corner. 

You’ll need cube shoe organizers, plywood, casters, screws, and other materials. Make the outer frame first by drilling and nailing. Then assemble the interiors cubbies—if there are slots, your job will be much easier.

You can even screw two shoe organizer units together to make a bigger one.

27. Dowels’ Shoe Rack

If you have a wide variety and a large number of shoes to organize, this rack will be apt for that! You can place it in the closet.

You’ll need some wood strips, dowel pegs, dowel crossbars, and some essential hardware for the job. You’ll need to assemble the uprights and attach the crossbars by gluing them into the holes on the uprights. 

You can paint the finished product if you wish to.