How to make space saving sturdy DIY shoe rack from cardboard for FREE in 30 minutes. Great small space storage & closet shoe organizer ideas!
This SUPER space saving and surprisingly sturdy DIY shoe rack is part of our New Year de-cluttering effort, starting with our closet shoe storage.
The design idea behind this easy DIY shoe rack is:
Because we do not need to see both shoes on a shoe storage rack, they can be placed one behind the other. Our DIY cardboard shoe rack is designed to hold 2 shoes, one behind the other, so we can best utilize the depth of a standard closet for the most efficient & easy shoe storage.
This durable DIY shoe rack is entirely made of cardboard. When you move, just recycle it and make a new one for your new place. It is great for people who move a lot and people who live in small space homes or college dorms.
I can honestly say that this cardboard closet shoe storage rack has made such a huge difference! I really enjoy using it, and the look isn’t too bad for something made from… cardboard! Here’s our fun and easy tutorial…
Step 1: creating the basic unit of our DIY shoe rack:
You probably know that I am inspired by modular geometric designs from this post – DIY concrete geometric planters.
We are utilizing the modular geometric quality of the equal sided triangle again! Each module here is a triangular tube, the length and size of the module depends on your shoe size! (My shoe size is US 7, so the modules I made are 7″ on the sides, and 24″ long each.)
Cut a piece of cardboard to the size you need, mine is about 21″x24″. Score it into 3 equal sides.
Use a piece of duct tape and tape the piece into a triangular tube like shown above.
Step 2: create more shoe holder units
I made 13 modules total. Glue or tape each row onto thick cardboard so they stay together.
Step 3: connect the units to create the shoe storage rack
Glue each row of shoe storage units onto a piece of cardboard as shown below. Stack the rows up. Our closet shoe storage rack has alternating stacking rows of 4,5, and 4.
Slide each pair of shoes in a triangular opening, one in front of the other. I also put an extra piece of thick cardboard on top of the shoe holder stand to put some odd sized boots.
Now we have a cool and compact DIY shoe rack that holds more shoes in a small area than most shoe storage rack you can buy! Plus it fits inside our closet perfectly.
I love the possibilities of cardboard as a creative material! Like this set of furniture made with cardboard and duct tape!
And this useful seed organization box made from 2 shoe boxes- 
Happy organizing! See you next week!
Uwe
Hello Ananda ,
this is a very cool idea !
I made a shoe rack from a pallet.
You can see it here: http://mydiyol.blog.de/2014/01/30/palettenschuhregal-17665301/
That was the beginning of my blogs, so even a small picture.
many Greetings
Uwe
ananda
that’s such a great way to use pallet! thank you uwe as always!! =)
Abria @ Bee Splendid
This is a really cool idea. The options for decorating that rack are endless — tape, paint, adhesive drawer-lining paper, etc. That’s such a neat idea, especially for people who move around a lot, or students.
ananda
thank you abria! =)
Jeanine
What a neat idea! We have so many shoes and such this would be a great idea! I’d have to make a few but I love it!
Lauren
This is such a great idea. We have so much cardboard sitting around, too!
Angie
This is brilliant! I’m always looking for better organization methods. Thank you!
Yaitza
lol I had to laugh when I saw the photo of the laptop desk at the beach… lol love the show rack idea as well.. thanks for sharing
Kakers
So gonna make my roommates do this for me!
Chelsie
What a cool idea! We definitely could use some better storage options for our shoes!
Chelley @ AisForAdelaide
That’s such a fun idea! I love reusing materials!
Karissa
Great shoe rack. My daughter needs one. She has a shoe obsession.
Andi
I can’t believe those are cardboard! They are totally cool! Love the beach chair but I am thinking they will disintegrate if the water hits it!
Cara (@StylishGeek)
That is such a cool #DIY post! I love it! I need to see if my kid and I can do this together. We need to organize our shoes! LOL!
Mandi
This is pretty rad! I have a ton of cardboard that I’ve been trying to find a use for.
Brenda
This is awesome! What a killer DIY idea!
Shannon Peterson
totally pinning this to do it in my insanely messy closet!! Thank you so much!
ananda
thank you shanon!! =)
Debi (thedeb83)
I need to run home and make this immediately. Our shoe situation is getting out of control!
ananda
yay! have fun with it debi! =)
Iris
How neat! And simple enough for us less crafty inclined people. 🙂
Rebekah
What an amazing way to organize and reuse cardboard! Thank you for sharing!
Rosie
What a fab idea.
Rosie
http://www.rosedogandco.blogspot.com.au
Myrabev
This is so awesome I am so amazed
Icar
This is a cool idea! So easy to make and very easy on the budget! Actually we were looking for a shoe rack since the year started but cannot find the right one.
Karla
awesome!! thx for sharing
Carly Brydon
This is so creative, I love it!
mavi
very nice, I’ll make this
Camesha | Mama Motivator
As many boxes the UPS man drops at my house, I can definitely make use of them. I love the shoe rack and the desk!
paulina
that’s actually modern and cool!
ashley nicholas
What a great idea! I would’ve never thought to use cardboard!
Sorin
Really interesting idea! thanks for sharing and love the way you take photos! artistic
Arpita
This is absolutely brilliant, but I wish I’d seen it earlier. Two days ago I threw out a super large ikea box.. now I will have to wait to accumulate more boxes to get started on this one 🙁
ananda
thank you arpita! i too always wish i had cardboard as soon as we recycle some ! =)
Jess
Love this shoe rack, thanks for the instructions! I’m in the process of making it now and thought I’d give people a heads up about a problem I ran into. After an hour or so the duct tape on the first triangles I made started pulling up and I had to go back over parts of it with ‘packaging tape’. You may want to keep some packaging tape on hand when making this.
Kimberly
Just moved and have ALOT of moving boxes. Definitely need more space for my shoes even with an over the door shoe rack I still have spillage. This is going to be a weekend project. Thank you!
Jasmine Patrick
What a great idea, love it, now just have to chase up some cardboard!!!!!
Brandi
So cool! I have a huge issue keeping things organized, I have a Ton of shoes, jeans, shirts, and I know I can save space if i just find the right ideas that fit my closet
Steven Johnson
Very interesting article. I also have a lot of shoes at home and now I can fit them nicely)
And you don’t have to throw away your new TV box.
Christine
How can I get d pay someone to make me one? I am a one handed bandit, can’t manage this alone’
ananda
hi! this is very easy, find a crafty friend to help you! 🙂
Chetna
Hey
I like your idea.
But I need to know which cardboard to be used.
Love from India
ananda
hi! not sure what your question meant, please clarify! 🙂