Shoes, glorious, shoes – oh, how I love shoes! How many pairs does one person actually need? How about an active family? This week’s home organization project is – you guessed it – shoes!
When every activity seems to require a different pair of shoes, we certainly own our share. Remember when we just went outside and exercised and we didn’t have a shoe for every activity? That’s a topic for another day. Stay focused, girl!
Home Organization Project 8
- This week’s project. Shoes.
- Combine and sort. After going through shoes in closets, we rounded up all the other shoes – from strategic hiding spots and the basket on our side porch – then we put them in the entryway and sorted.
- Bag it, baby! Each of us picked out our must keeps and then a pair of running shoes – and a spare. It rains in Portland and we all run, so you need a back-up pair. All the rest went into bags to go to various destinations. Good ones to a clothing closet, running shoes to a recycling bin, and a few my daughter wants to try and sell. Tip: tie laces together or rubber-band matching pairs so that they don’t get separated.
- Clean sweep. With the shoes off our side porch, I used the opportunity to clean it. Yes, one home organization project leads to another. My husband was so annoyed (he helps with all of these
messesprojects), he told me he’s not sure he can handle 52-weeks of this – remember his filing project? – or – the kitchen pantry which is still fresh in his mind. Look for the next few projects to focus on my stuff only! - Less is more. Once again, this is proving to be true. I got rid of several pairs of shoes that were similar. We all agreed that we needed to donate a pair of running shoes every time we get a new pair.
We got rid of 20+ pairs of old shoes, 2 pairs of soccer cleats, 3-sets of shin guards, and 6-pairs of soccer socks.
I kept a pair of Ralph Lauren crocodile shoes (remember the Ralph cashmere sweaters I accumulated as part of my compensation?) even though they are way too small for my big, fat feet! While I may not be able to cram my size 10 feet into them any longer, they are the perfect shoe for dress-up. It warmed my heart to hear them clacking around our basement when my now 15-year-old teenager was younger – and liked my taste in shoes.
If you’d like to keep up with these organizing antics as they happen in ‘real time,’ there’s always Instagram. Search for ‘gogingham’ or click HERE to follow along.
How are your home organization projects coming along?
Go Gingham related links:
Gingham style: It’s got a definition
How to make a waistband smaller without pins!
How to turn jeans into capris – easier than you think!
How to make skinny jeans from wide leg jeans – make your own “jeggings”
Holiday attire that’s all used clothing – frugal and fancy to wear!
A foot note: Vogue magazine (March 2014) has a good article about “Shoes” on page 487.
52 weeks of home organization
As part of our New Year’s resolution, we’re cleaning out a different area of our house every week this year. Find all of the “weekly home organization projects” here – or click the image below.
Go Gingham 
Wow, that’s a big donation – well done! The only person who hoards shoes in my family is my husband, oddly enough. He wears a 14 triple-wide, so when he finds shoes that come in his size, he buys multiple pairs. He labels them and stacks them neatly on the shelf in his closet, it is so psychotic LOL! Oh well, I guess we all have something we fixate on, huh? 😉
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Greetings, Imelda! 😉 I secretly long for a shoe closet. Shoes, glorious shoes …
I weeded through my kid’s closets this past week and sorted out clothes, shoes, and roller skates and am now $51 richer after selling them at a resale store–woo hoo! You are doing such a GREAT job of sorting through your house. Congrats.
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We completely dismantled and reorganized our bedroom closet in the fall and designed in enough space in the closet for 12-pairs of shoes. We also have 4 decorative rattan cubes with lids on them sitting under our bedroom windows for off-season shoes – old, but serviceable, weekend wear shoes – and gardening/painting/grubbing around shoes. We made dividers in each “cube” to separate them in pairs, and each cube can hold 4-6 pairs in each (more when storing flip-flops/sandals).
It always helps me to limit things to a defined space, which the rattan cubes and the shelves in the closet provided. I know that’s all the available space and to use it wisely.
When buying new shoes, as well as clothing, I give consideration to CPW (Cost Per Wear). If it’s going to take up space, I want something that will eventually give a lot of service. My work-out sports shoes eventually digress to lawn mowing/painting shoes. Crocks may be out of fashion, but they make great gardening shoes, and old flip-flops become “slippers”.
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It’s really difficult to rid yourself of something you love, like shoes! I did this last year and I really don’t miss the shoes I donated. Less stuff makes me calmer. Congrats on eight weeks of organizing. You are something, Sara!
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