Custom Shoe Storage

If you’re like us, we had way too many shoes for the space that we had. The sad entry table and coat hooks were not fitting our needs. The entry had a nook that was the perfect spot to add some much needed storage.

Assess Your Space and Needs:

Start by assessing the available space in your home and understanding your shoe storage needs. Be sure to consider the number of shoes you own and the types of footwear you have (heels, sneakers, boots). This is super important! This assessment will help you determine the size, design, and materials required for your custom shoe storage.

Choose the Design and Materials:

We went with a sleek look using cabinets and adjustable shelves to give us maximum customizability. As the final product would have a lot of interior surface area, we went with 3/4” pre-finished Maple plywood.

Measure and Plan:

Before you start cutting or assembling any materials, it's crucial to measure your space accurately and create a detailed plan. Always be sure to mark out your wall studs whenever you need to fasten something heavy. The location of the studs may alter the initial storage design (for example, if the cabinet dividers/walls line up with the stud) to make attaching the unit easier.

The Build:

There are a number of ways to go about building storage. An easier method might be a furniture hack (IKEA hacks) or building a simple frame and shelves. We went with the most labor intensive option which was to build cabinet carcasses, adjustable shelves and doors from scratch.

This storage unit went from wall to wall with very little gaps to maximize the space. I took the measurements and divided them into 4 equal spaces.

Tip: Be sure to take into account the thickness of the material itself!

We didn’t want to leave dead space at the top so we took the unit almost to the ceiling. The main shoe storage cabinet came to about standing height and everything above became miscellaneous storage. The leftmost bottom cabinet was dedicated for coats and jackets while the remaining 3 were for shoes.

The build itself was super simple. I made a total of 8 boxes out of the pre-finished Maple plywood. Then I fastened them to the wall at the marked out stud locations.

Tip: If you’re doing this yourself like me, it’s super helpful to temporarily screw a horizontal 2x4 at the bottom height of the cabinet. You can use the 2x4 as a ledge to bear the weight of the cabinets as you position them and screw them in.

I measured the interior width of the cabinet and cut out shelves that were about an 1/8” shy of the measurement. Next, I cut out thin strips of hard Maple wood that were just proud of 3/4” and glued them onto the edges to cover up the exposed layers.

Tip: Not everyone has 700 band clamps to clamp the trim in place. Painter’s tape does wonders here. Use a lot!

Once the glue dried and the edge banding was in place, I came back and sanded it smooth and flush with the plywood. Then, I brushed on 4 coats of water-based polyurethane with a foam brush, lightly sanding in between. This gave me a finish that had a similar feel and shine as the pre-finished plywood.

Next up, the doors. Since we were painting the doors, I made them out of 3/4” MDF. MDF is great for paint finishes because it is super stable and won’t warp as much (just don’t get it wet). I essentially cut out 8 rectangles out of the MDF.

I used a palm router and a 1/4” roundover bit to round out the edges. I used a 1/2” chamfer bit on the underside of the doors to create space for fingers to act as hidden door pulls.

After that was done, I gave it a light sanding and a coat of primer using a foam roller. Once the primer dried, I sprayed on 3 coats of paint, lightly sanding in between coats. You can also use a foam roller to roll on the paint and get a nice finish.

Tip: If rolling on paint, be sure to keep the material flat and not standing up. This will help the paint level out better and achieve a smoother finish.

After the doors were fully painted and dried, I drilled holes for the door hinges.

Tip: I used a Kreg cabinet door hinge jig which came with the appropriately sized Forstner bit and guide holes for the screws. This makes it dead simple.

Next, I marked out the locations where I wanted the shelf supports to be and drilled holes for the shelf pegs.

Tip: A shelf pin jig works wonders here. I used the Kreg shelf pin jig which clamps to the front of the cabinet and comes with the right sized bit and hole guides.

Once that was done, I gave everything a nice clean and attached the doors.

To finish off the project, I attached LED lights with a motion sensor to the bottom of the storage unit. Nothing fancy here, I just used duct tape to attach the lights (nobody is going to get on the floor to see the bottom of the cabinet!)

Check out the gallery below for the before and after!