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If you take off shoes at the door, what do you do with them?

post #1 of 30
6/17/10 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 
I need a storage solution that works and doesn't look cluttered. I need it to be kid friendly. We have a closet in the entry, but realistically they don't end up there. They end up kicked off by the front door and I'm tired of the mess.
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post #2 of 30
6/17/10 at 2:32pm
Our doorway opens to the stairs and a hallway that leads to the rest of the house. Shoes get lined up on the stairs and whoever has more than one pair there puts them away. Unless they're super dirty and then they get cleaned off outside and then put away.

I really want to get a little bench or something to put shoes on behind the door but I haven't found the perfect thing yet.
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post #3 of 30
6/17/10 at 2:35pm
We have a little bench and shoes get put under it. I try to keep it to only shoes that are in active rotation. My daughter seems to have the most - flip flops, sandals, rain boots, slippers. . . Come to think of it, a basket for hers might be in order since they're relatively small.
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post #4 of 30
6/17/10 at 2:37pm
When we come in we go straight to the closet about 5 feet away and kick our shoes off onto the floor in there. It's habbit now. I don't see any other way working for us. If we had a rack to put them on, I know they would never end up there. Any other closet or room would be too far a walk and too out of the way.
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post #5 of 30
6/17/10 at 3:20pm
I guess I would work on getting everyone in the habit of putting shoes in the closet! I bought a set of wire shelves that I put on the foyer closet floor, which provides a lot more space for shoes. The boys each have one pair of shoes there; DH and I each have two. With the shelves, there's plenty of room - even though DH and both kids wear size 12 shoes!

Talk about the fact that the shoes need to be put away, and be prepared to do two things: lead by example, and be patient! It takes about 30 repetitions of an action before it becomes a habit!

On the bright side, a month from now you should have your shoe problem solved.
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post #6 of 30
6/17/10 at 3:29pm
So, this doesn't help you B&G since you rent... but when we were house hunting I saw a house that had a shoe area under the bottom step. Like, the area under the bottom step was hollow with a few dividers. It was brilliant.
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post #7 of 30
6/17/10 at 4:42pm
We have a toybox by our door to fit the shoes. When the lid is closed we use it as a bench to put the kids' shoes on.
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post #8 of 30
6/17/10 at 6:57pm
I have those clear plastic drawers. 2 sets of them. each kid has their own drawer which fits about 3-4 pairs of shoes. They are right inside the door by their coat hook. They come in and hand the jacket up and put shoes in their "bucket" before they come into the main part of the house. Works awesome!
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post #9 of 30
6/17/10 at 7:08pm
we do not have a hall closet, so we are leading on this auction for a clothes rack. the bottom will hold the shoes (we currently line them up by the door), the top will have some baskets for hats, scarves, and odds and ends. hangers for the coats (that are currently hung on door knobs), and S-hooks to hold bags on the far side (farthest from the door).

other options include a nice basket by the door, or just lining them up there.
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post #10 of 30
6/18/10 at 8:59am
We have a lowish table just inside the front door, with a shoe rack tucked underneath it....a wooden and inexpensive one, but it does the trick. I can easily fit a fair few pairs of shoes on it...and it is not unsightly at all.

We have the table positioned to the left of the door, so when we open the door to greet people they do not look at the shoes, as the table is positioned along the wall to the left behind the door as it opens, if that makes sense.
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post #11 of 30
6/18/10 at 9:29am
We've done various things but have settled on the closet. It looks the best, and it keeps everything contained. There's less tendency for things to spread and get out of control IYKWIM. I put the shoe rack in there, and we just keep the seasonal ones we are currently using and keep the rest in our bedroom closets.

At first I had to gently remind everyone where things go, but it caught on very quickly. Sometimes my 4 year old gets a 'tude about it, particularly when she is tired and hungry and cranky, but it works out. My 20 month old loves it, and is so proud of himself that he knows how to open and close the door and get his shoes and put them away in his little spot on the rack. It's funny what toddlers find exciting.
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post #12 of 30
6/18/10 at 11:28am
We have a nice dark brown wicker basket by our front door/foyer. Big enough to put my shoes, DS's and DH's and it doesn't look cluttered at all. Easy put away and easy find.
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post #13 of 30
6/18/10 at 3:47pm
A little wooden shelf-set, but I think I'd prefer a basket/box where the shoes would be hidden, and the less frequently worn pairs wouldn't collect dust!
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post #14 of 30
6/18/10 at 10:09pm
we have one of those storage benches that has a hinged lid. we (usually) put our shoes in there. like this one. it is good, because the side door (the one we use most often) opens into our kitchen and there was nowhere to sit to put on/take off shoes. two birds with one bench!
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post #15 of 30
6/19/10 at 5:12am
We have two baskets by the front door. One for the childrens backpacks(hats and gloves in the winter) and the other one for shoes. DH thinks it looks sloppy but I think it would look worse to have shoes spread out all over the hall.
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post #16 of 30
6/19/10 at 5:46am
We have a set of open shelves to the right of our door. There's a space for each pair of shoes (3 adult pair wide by 6 shelves) we have and a shelf for shoe polish/brushes, etc and recently added a few hooks on the side for frequently used bags.

(BTW, anyone else out there own less shoes than their husband? )
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post #17 of 30
6/19/10 at 9:40am
We have a little wooden shelf beside the door we always use. Right now it's holding six pairs of my shoes (my entire collection) and three pairs of ds's shoes. We've just made it an absolute rule that shoes go back on the shelf after being taken off. If anyone, even guests, leave their shoes somewhere else, I'm practically guaranteed to trip on them!

The coats go above the shoe rack - I have a shelf with hooks underneath.

Oh, and since ds was 2 or 3, it's been a really easy chore to assign him to line up the shoes nicely on the shelves. As long as they're lined up, I don't mind the look.
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post #18 of 30
6/19/10 at 9:52am
DH and I take ours to our bedroom where we have them on a shelf. The kids throw theirs in a basket on the floor in our hall closet right by the front door.
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post #19 of 30
6/23/10 at 7:00pm
My SIL has this wall of shoes for her household of seven. It's several small shelves with 6x8" (or so) openings, stacked together along the garage wall right next to the mudroom entrance. Shoes come off at the door before actually entering the house, which helps with mud, and go right into one of the little shoe-shelves.

At our house, only shoes in immediate rotation are by the door. Otherwise, they are upstairs tucked underneath the dresser.
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post #20 of 30
6/23/10 at 7:35pm
basket by the door...

the relief that occurred when I got to stop nagging about putting them in their closets was amazing!!
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