The Shoe Shelf

A while back our cute little shop in town closed.  They had a close-out sale before shutting the doors and I bought this really cool double-decker shelf.  The moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it...I had no idea where it was going, only that it was going home with me.

When Jay picked it up and brought it home, he asked me what I was going to do with it.  I had no clue.  I tried it out in the bedroom.  I'm wanting a new dresser and thought maybe it would work.  I folded jeans and pants and stored them away on the shelf.  And then thought, who am I kidding?  Those neatly folded clothes are not going to last more than a day and then it will be just another disaster I have to stare at.  Nope, this is not going to be my new dresser.

Then it hit me.  We have such a cluster mess of shoes at the back door.  It is a total disaster...and that is where a majority of people enter our house.  The first thing they see is a mass explosion of shoes.  And try to find the match to the one you're looking for - it's nearly impossible.  My new shelf was going to be the solution to our shoe problem.

Each of us now has our own shelf, which will hold three pair of shoes.  There is no reason for any one of us to have more than that at the back door.  Our rubber boots don't fit in the shelf, so they have a spot next to the shoe shelf, and once winter decides to leave us for good, I can put the winter tote in the attic and it will look even better back there.

The top two shelves have ball gloves, bird feed, gloves and hats, flashlights, ammo, just various odds and ends that usually sit on top of my clothes dryer...or on the floor.  

The shoe shelf is a very simple concept.  You come in the house and you put your shoes on the shelf.  If they don't fit on your shelf, you have exceeded the three-shoe maximum and those shoes need to go in your bedroom. There have been several shoe shelf violations.  The family thinks it's funny and don't understand why I'm obsessed with the order of the shoes.  I even hear little comments like, "Uh-oh, shoe violation, mom's gonna be mad!"  Right you are.  Put your shoes on the shelf, people!

Here's the scoop - the laundry room/back door area is very small.  The rest of my house looks like a natural disaster.  I love having my laundry room area organized and looking decent...because, as I said before, this is where most people come into the house.  (I can always tell when my mom has stopped in and had a few extra minutes...the shoes are lined up in rows along the wall.)  When I have control of that small room, I feel like I'm with the program, you know.  And now if I could just keep guests confined to that area, I'd feel pretty good.

The shoe shelf has brought order to our left-by-the-backdoor footwear and I love it.  All I ask is that my family abide by the shoe shelf rules and regulations.  If not, I'm going to have to come up with some penalties for those habitual shoe shelf violators.