What’s on my shoe rack(s)?

One thing you should know about me is that I am a shoe-a-holic. Yes I love my make up, yes I love books and skirts and whatnot. But one of my first major loves when it comes to fashion was shoes. It remains one of my favorite items to shop for and I feel that the right pair of shoes can make or break an outfit. More so than any other accessory. That is one reason why I have a lot of them. Shoes that is. And since my storage space is limited, I had to be smart. Enter Ikea and the Tjusig shoe rack. I own 4 of them and these are the shoes I store on them.

Shoe rack number 1! There’s a number 2 including close ups after the cut.

I last recorded a shoe collection video in 2014. I do not own very many specialty shoes, nor do I own any designer shoes. I like my shoes practical for the most part, which is what you will be seeing mostly today. I keep my most worn, every day shoes on my shoe racks. I also own a good selection of heels, flats and sandals, but those are all hidden away in my closet as I reach for them less often. What I like about these shoe racks is that all my favorite shoes are on display, which makes picking a pair of shoes very easy.

In total I keep my shoes on 4 Ikea Tjusig shoe racks. They are €24.95 each and I stack two on top of each other to maximize space. I keep one inside my fireplace (which I use for storage as it is no longer functional) and the other I use to hide a few storage boxes from view. One is filled with sneakers, other flat shoes and heels and the other is filled with boots and brogues. This way I’ll always know where to find my shoes. Let’s have a closer look at what’s on them. If you would like to know more about a particular pair you see, then feel free to ask in a comment below.

The top two shelves of shoe rack no. 1 are filled with my taller boots and my ankle boots that come in another color than black. I stuffed some old magazines into my tall boots to keep them standing upright. This will ensure the shoes retain their shape and it simply looks less messy. These shoes are from so many different places too and some I have had for years! The tall grey boots go way back and were a sale purchase back in my student days. My currently most worn shoes on this rack must be the brown Chelsea boots which I got from Asos last fall.

Going down to the next two shelves are my black ankle boots. I own three pairs of black Chelsea boots: a low cut pair, a flat pair and a heeled pair. The last pair has a crocodile skin print and has zippers down the sides. The next shelves holds my other black boots. Some of them dressier (and slightly less comfortable) or a bit more edgy. There’s my pair of cut out boots, my pair of biker boots and my two pairs of pointed toe boots, one of which has a snake skin back. These two shelves house my most worn shoes, especially the black Chelsea boots I wear a lot.

Next to the bottom two shelves of each shoe rack. Since there isn’t too much space for storing shoes underneath you have to go with very flat shoes. Enter brogues and sneakers! I wear brogues year round but mostly come spring time. Some of them are from Primark, some Ebay, Zara or Asos: as you can tell, I get my shoes from many different places. The bottom row of my other shoe rack is a little less exciting. This is where I keep my work out shoes and my Nike trainers. The Roshe’s I bought in 2014 and are completely beat up and worn down. I hope to replace them with a new pair some time this year.

At the top of shoe rack no. 2 I keep more sneakers. This is where my Converse live, as well as some other more fun pairs of sneaker like shoes. The tartan print ones are so old and tattered, but they are so comfortable at the same time, that I just can’t get myself to get rid of them. Below that I keep some of my tallest heels. I own two more pairs, but those are made of a velvety material, which means they easily get dusty and so I keep them in my closet. Mostly all of these are heeled sandals, apart from the brown pair, but I usually where these during spring/ summer. As you can see I keep 5 pairs on this shelf as I can alternate these in order to maximize space.

Last but not least there is a bit of overflow from the other shoe rack. I have found my shoe preferences shifting towards more comfortable shoes these past few years. Mainly because I walk to and from work all the time, which means I easily clock in 45 minutes of walking every day. But for that much walking you need good shoes. So I’ve invested in some. My Dr. Marten’s 1461s are my go to shoes whenever I don’t know what to wear and I am so happy I finally bought them in a patent black. Finally there’s a final row of sneakers. One pair is again a pair of work out shoes and there’s an ancient pair of Pastry sneakers which I loved back when I first got them, but they are a bit too loud for me now. The next time I declutter my shoe collection, those will have to go.

How do you store your shoes?