This past weekend, I realized that, in all honesty, I had been wearing the same five pairs of shoes for the past 6 months.
And if I'm being really honest, I haven't utilized my shoe collection much at all since I moved from my childhood home... in August 2009.
Oops.
What's even worse is the fact that I've been shoving all my shoes (minus my tennis shoes, boots, and several brand-new in boxes dressy shoes) in a giant rubbermaid tote for the past year and change.
Yeah, somebody's taking really nice care of their things. Not.
First off... I lined all my soldiers up. Every stinkin pair.
(As you can see... my collection is rough. And gross. And kinda outdated. Somebody hasn't really purchased shoes since college. Except for work shoes which are any hideous pair you might see in these pics.)First I identified some pairs that were missing in action.
Bye-bye, favorite gold Target flip-flops from 9th grade. I shall miss you dearly, but I know your companion has been missing for at least a year... (packrat! hoarder!)And then I found the ones that needed to be trashed cause they were ugly or non-functional. But mostly I'd hated them forever and they needed to go bye-bye.
Bye bye!But what to do about the shoes that I'm basically over but... eh, maybe not?
I still love some of these shoes but honestly most of them are pretty trashy looking and have some functional defect - ie they make me feel like my feet are going to fall off.But they haven't made it into trash bags yet...
I did manage to thin the herd quite a bit... but I still look at this and think - do I really need those?!
You can barely see the hot pink barbie platforms in the foreground of this picture.. but they have a 4" wedge. Seriously? Where am I going to wear those?But it's hard to get rid of a shoe in perfectly good condition.... if you are me and are a shoe-hoarder.
And while we're on the topic... how do you organize your shoes?? I have been throwing ALL of mine into a big tote... which explains why some of them are in such crappy condition, don'tcha think?
Shoe trees? Individual shoe boxes?
Cause... just between you and me... it's Monday morning (I started this project on Saturday) and those shoes are ALL still in the middle of my bedroom floor.
Just me and my soldiers, getting ready for battle...
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24 Classy Comments:
I bought a short, black book shelf from Target to put my shoes on. It has 4 rows (including the top of the shelf). It houses most of my shoes but I have a few pair that I keep in their boxes because I don't wear them often enough. I love it! And it was pretty cheap, but doesn't look hideous.
Throwing away (or donating) shoes is the hardest! I can easily donate clothes to charity but giving away shoes, I have to force myself. I understand your indecision on what to keep.
Because our closet space is very limited, I keep my shoes in the shoe boxes so that I can stack them up. That way I can fit more in a small space and always be able to see which box I'm looking for. It's not ideal, but I'm working with what I've got!
i have a shoe wheel that i got for my bridal shower - it's pretty amazing :) I keep heels and nice shoes in there. I keep flip flops in mid size rubbermaid tote and sneakers i keep in their boxes.
OK, so, I used to have a thingy on the back of my closet door that I hung my shoes on. Genius. Then I moved. And it stayed with the old house. And then I was too lazy to buy something similar. So, mine are just in a pile on my closet floor. If I can find two matching shoes, that's basically what I'll wear. A sad cry from the girl who once didn't leave the house unless she was in four inch heels!
I have a shoe organizer that hangs on my closet door for dressy, not as frequently worn shoes. For my 5 pair go to, I have a shoe shelf in the utility room by the door for those bad boys, BUT if off months (i.e. Uggs) go back to a shoe rack in the hall closet during their off season.
I have one of those rubbermaid three-drawer tower things you can get from Wal-Mart, and two drawers are filled with my flats and one drawer with flip flops. My heels are in one of those hanging shoe organizer things. It's not the most awesome way to do it, but I know where to look if I want flats, flip flops, or heels! :)
Target sells these tupperware shoe box like containers. During their good sales they're 99 cents each! I use those because I have limited space and a serious shoe addiction. Since they're clear you can still see the shoe while keeping them safe/protecting their structure
I store my shoes the exact way you do. For me, it's the easiest so that in the winter, I put all of my sandals and flats in there. Then come spring, I bring them back out into rotation and put the boots away
I have hanging shoe shelves from Target, the cloth things? They help, but I have a shelf on the floor for boots and tennis shoes. Not perfect, but it works for now.
I totally get how you feel about getting rid of shoes! It KILLS me!
You & I share a brain. I swear we really do! I'm in the process of evaluating my shoe collection right now...because I'm converting a closet into a SHOE CLOSET!!! I'm so excited to get this project finished. Currently my shoes line to bottom of 2 closets and the shoes that didn't fit are stored in huge baskets.
Just in case you didn't catch it above, I'M GONNA HAVE MY VERY OWN SHOE CLOSET!!!!
If you have room under your bed, try the "Shoes Under" - or I found a slightly classier version at Target. I actually love it and it's very simple! Keeps all my shoes out of sight, yet easy to access!
I have a shoe cubby thing from Target that I use. It's wood and has sections for each pair and then the taller boots that don't fit, I put on top.
LOVE a good shoe post!!!!!
I keep my shoe boxes -- it helps keep my closet organized =)
Haha this is brilliant! Great decluttering :)
I feel your pain. I hate when you get rid of a pair because you haven't worn them in years and then 2 days after they are long gone with the garbage truck, you realize they would have been perfect for an outfit. GAH.
I'm a clear show box kinda gal. Mostly, because I can do it in my closet up above all my clothes. If I had to have them on the floor I think it might drive me crazy! But, I also have my sweaters in boxes and I'm thinking about trying to move those up top as well. We'll see...
I use this storage unit from The Container Store:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/shoeStorage/floor?productId=10022382&N=73669
for the shoes I wear the most and then I keep the rest of them in a big canvas bin which I store on a shelf in my closet. It works out well, especially if you have shoes that you don't really wear all the time but you aren't ready to get rid of yet!
Sarah, per usual you had me laughing right from the start.
Or when you called yourself a packrat and hoarder. I mean, who isn't though? In my closet cleanout, I found twelve half-used masking tapes. What am I even doing with said tape???? If I saw anyone who had 12 tapes, I would definitely think they were a total creep.
Love the post!
Whitney
I think your shoes look pretty all in rows! You have a lot of shoes. We girls just get way too many shoes and just end up wearing the same ones.
I keep mine in clear shoe boxes I picked up at Lowe's for $1 each.
Oh boy -- I just finished weeding out my shoe collection a few weekends ago, actually! I probably got rid of 20 pairs of ugly, ill-fitting, old or outdated shoes, and I still have a slew of them and nowhere to put them.
Right now, I have an over-the-door shoe tree for my flip-flops, slippers, flats, etc., and my boots and heels are in (somewhat) organized piles near my closet. I guess it works... for now!
I keep my shoes in those cheap plastic boxes from WalMart or Target. They're a dollar a piece but I transferred them about $10 at a time and before you know, it's done! You can see every single pair and they stack neatly in the bottom of the closet. I also organize my stacks by type - flats, heels, sneakers. Then each category has a sub-category - peep toes, closed toes, slingbacks, etc. And inside each sub-category they are arranged by color. Obsessive much?
I have this SAME issue!!! I need to go through my shoes so badly!! I have been wanting the clear shoe boxes... but it seems like a lot of work! LOL
I use these:
http://www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-896300-Horizontal-Laminate-Organizer/dp/B002IT6DHA/ref=dp_ob_title_def
You can get them at Target, although I can't find them online. I have 4 of them total, which may seem like a lot but it's TOTALLY worth it!
The only bad thing is for high heels (basically anything higher than kitten heel) you have to put them on the top shelf.
I store my flip flops in a storage tote and bring that out when they are "in season" whatever than means here in Wisconsin!
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