DIY Built In Shoe Shelves in a Small Entry

Today I want to show you a project we did here in my house. It’s one of my favorites because it was a simple and easy project that added so much function to our house for very little time and money. We added DIY built in shoe shelves to our small side entrance foyer.

Plus this is perfect for fall so you can get our closets, foyers and mudrooms in shape for the changing weather. Here’s how to easily build shelves to keep those sneakers, sandals and boots neat and tidy. Plus, it will save you some space too.

Materials:

• Miter saw
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Level
• 1″ x 2″ wood, for supports
• 12″ deep MDF or pine boards
• Cordless drill with drill bits
• 2.5″ Wood screws
• Primer
• Paint

Optional:

• Wall anchors
• Paintable caulk

Instructions:

In our side entry to our house we have a small landing at the stairs leading up to the kitchen. It’s a perfect place for shoes, coats and accessories. Unfortunately, our method of lining up our shoes wasn’t working. I thought built in shelves would be a great solution. The shelves ended up saving us space and giving us more room.

Sometimes those awkward spaces can be a blessing in disguise.

Instructions:

1. First, prep the area by removing anything you were storing and sweeping it out. If you want to add a fresh coat of paint to the walls, now is a great time to do that.

2. Measure how wide and deep you want the shelves to be. (Most shoes fit on 12″ deep shelves, unless you are Big Foot.) Mark the walls at the height of each shelf. (We made the lowest shelf tall enough to fit boots underneath on the floor and the highest shelf about half that height for items like sneakers and shorter shoes.)

Use a level to mark on the wall where the supports will go.

3. Cut supports from the 1×2 wood to fit both the left, right and back sides of your shelf.

Hold the supports up against the wall and mark on the support where the wall studs are. Drill pilot holes into the supports at the marks.

4. Attach the supports to the wall by driving your screw through the pilot hole in the wood support and into the wall stud. Continue until all the supports are attached to the wall. (If there aren’t studs in a convenient location in the wall, you can use wall anchors.)

5. Cut the MDF to the width of your space. Don’t have a miter or table saw? No worries, since your local home improvement store can cut your lumber for you. Take advantage!

6. Place the shelves on the supports. You can let gravity hold them in place or nail or screw them to the supports.

 

7. Prime and paint the shelves. If you are a perfectionist, caulk any gaps in between the wall and shelves. Make sure to let the paint cure per the directions so it is nice and durable. We used oil paint in the same color as the walls to give it a built in look. Oil paint resists scratches and dings better than latex paint.

Since these are white, I was worried how much they would get dirty with shoes on them all the time, but a magic eraser cleans them up perfectly!

 

This is a perfect use of space for shoes and other items you’ll use on your way in and out of the house.

 

Now that you know how to create built in shelves, all you need is a few pieces of wood and you can build shelves to organize just about anything!

Here’s a quick before and after, a definite improvement!