Ask Apartment Apothecary – Hallway shoe storage

Today’s AAA is for Farah, who posted on my Facebook page AGES ago and I never got round to responding, so here you go! Farah wanted to know whether I could think of anything better to store shoes in her hallway than the classic Ikea shoe cabinets that look like this:

These cabinets are very practical, accessible, slim and provide a ledge for bits and bobs. However, they may not be as aesthetically pleasing as you’d like (although you could paint them or add different handles to the Hemnes version), they cost a fair amount and they take up quite a lot of wall space so you can’t hang coats above them, which you may need to if you don’t have more wall space.

Ideally, you want shoes to be out of the way, easily accessible, easy to find, and stored reasonably carefully so that they don’t get even more scuffed or pushed out of shape. These are some options that I have found, that would also suit Farah’s style a bit more than the generic Ikea option:

1) Re-purpose a vintage cupboard into a shoe cabinet.

2) Put up a low shelf for small bottoms to perch on and put shoes in baskets below the shelf. You could also store hats, scarves, gloves and bags in the baskets. Hooks can be hung above so there’s room for coats and shoes on the same wall.

3) Buy a vintage school bench with compartments below for shoes. I saw the one below at the weekend on eBay that sold for £86. I searched vintage school bench with shoe storage.

4) Buy some vintage pigeon hole shelves that will add a bit of character to your hallway, as well as being very practical. I searched on eBay for vintage pigeon holes.

Hope some of these ideas help, Farah.

Katy x