DIY Shoe Organizing with Shoe Boxes

Have been trying to organize our shoe cabinet for the longest time but nothing seems to work. Solely I think it is the users' habits and how we handle and store our footwear after use. Most common scenarios observed are as follows:

- leaving the shoes on the floor after entry into the house.

- randomly finding empty slot and tuck the shoes into the shelf (many times the other half is located at another empty slot on a separate shelf)

- shoes left in the box are forgotten as no one bother to open it unless they need a special pair for an occasion.

- shoes spilling over and crossing each other boundaries

and many others...

Verdict - the shelves are not utilized to its full potential and the cabinet is messy....

Over the years, I have tried to place the shoes neatly side by side but it did not seem to work very well. The nice clear shoe boxes for sale are a little pricey plus the guys in the family have REALLY BIG feet and standard boxes may not fit well.

Hence, I decided to reuse the empty shoe boxes as dividers to keep the shoes. Many of the boxes are too long (as we have big shoe size), hence I trimmed off one end of the box. I then tape the base of the box with clear tape for easy wiping/cleaning off the dirt. 

Place the boxes and shoes back to the shelves and each shoe now has its own space. Even the shoe lid are reused to hold our footwear. We can slide the box out to grab our pair and put it back when we return. I can also label the box to indicate whose pair of shoes to be placed so that everyone in the family can help to return the footwear back to wear it belongs.

I also bought 2 white boxes from Daiso to put the slippers within.

I purposely place the boxes apart from each other so that the empty slots in between act as a compartment where the shoes should be kept. 

Here is a video of how my shoe cabinet system works now. 

The shelves are fully utilized now and it looks neater. Though it may not look as pretty as compared to the nice shoe boxes available in the market. Recycling your empty shoe boxes is definitely a cheaper alternative worth a try.