When tidying shoes, there are many different ways how you can organize your shoes you decided to keep: from putting them on shelves, hanging shoe organizers, various types of shoe racks, in clear boxes or original shoe boxes (not my preferred choice) over shoe trees to shoe cabinets.* The possibilities are endless.
Today, however, I want to talk about the different ways how you can organize your shoes on a simple shelf. Yes, there are different ways of arranging your shoes on a shelf. Depending on your shelf’s magnitude, the number of shoes you have and your aesthetic preferences, you might want to decide on one of the three (or really four) different methods of lining up your shoes on a shelf.
Method 1: Behind Each Other
(for deep shelves & limited space)
If you have rather deep shelves and your shoes fit behind each other, line your shoes up this way (especially preferable if you have a limited amount of shelving space). This method is better than lining up your pairs of shoes next to each other in two rows (one back and one front row) because you can easily see what shoes there are. Other than in the row method where it might be more difficult to determine the shoes in the back row, depending on how low your shelves are, of course.
Method 2: Staggered
(for medium-deep shelves & limited space)
You might want to give this method a try if your shelves are of medium depth and your space is limited. It will help you maximize space: Arrange your shoes in pairs next to each other with one shoe at the front edge and the second one slightly staggered further to the back. The thicker front half of the shoe is placed next to the slimmer middle part of the first shoe. This makes space for more shoes in total as opposed to placing them flush next to each other.
Method 3: Next To Each Other
(for shallow shelves and/or if you have ample shelving space available)
This method is most widely known and applied: line your shoes up next to each on your shelf. You can apply this method if you have ample shelving space and don’t have to worry about maximizing space. The only decision you have to make is if you want your shoes to be front-facing (see two pictures above) vs. back-facing (see two pictures below). However, front-facing looks better, in my opinion, as your shoes are also more immediately recognizable. The advantage of back-facing shoes is that you can more easily grab and take them out. The same goes for putting them back on the shelf.
Do you store your shoes on shelves? If yes, which method do you (have) to choose?
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