Small Closet Shoe Organization with a DIY shoe rack

I was perusing the isles of Target last week when I had an “aha” moment about a closet organization project. I had this crazy idea that I could repurpose a curtain rod and create vertical shoe storage.  You know me, if it’s cheap and easy I’m willing to try it! Come along and let me share my DIY shoe rack from a curtain rod! Or should I say shoe rack hack, LOL!

Here we are four months living in our rustic beach cottage and I STILL haven’t organized our master closet. Maybe I just don’t know where to start because our old closet was the size of a small bedroom and our new one is about 1/8 of that size.  Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t need a closet as big as our old one, but our new closet is presenting some organization challenges. 

When we moved into this home, we “downsized” about 1000 square feet from our old home.  Most people thought we were crazy to leave 3200 square feet and downsize to 2300 square feet with two small growing kids.  I have learned though, that sometimes the more space you have, the more crap you accumulate.  This, in turn, means more things to clean and keep up with! Please tell me you can relate!

I’ve had to get creative with a few spaces in our home due to this. I created a DIY family charging station in our kitchen which works beautifully. I even decided to organize our car with a few dollar tree supplies.

I have to admit I was (sort of) looking forward to losing a little (or a lot!) of closet space so I could really work on organizing and purging. Let me show you the current state of our closet:

What you can’t see is the plastic boxes that line the floor with our shoes.

The problem with keeping shoes tucked away in a box is that if I can’t see them, I won’t wear them (I’m sure the same issue goes for my husband too). I needed to find a way to display our shoes.

But where?

The clothes are already stuffed in this little room as it is.

Before I share my little shoe organization hack, I had to organize and purge a few clothing items.

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After our clothes were a little more organized, it was time to try out my new shoe organization idea with inexpensive curtain rods.

Supplies for DIY Shoe rack with Curtain Rods

• I purchased four of these curtain rods at Target.  You can see they were only $1.49.
• Drapery hold backs
• screw driver
• screws
• spray paint (not necessary)

I hurried home to make sure they fit ok on the wall and actually held one of my shoes.

I also had the idea to hang a few drapery hold backs to hold belts, ties, scarves and maybe even small purses!

This small closet shoe organization idea might actually work!

How to create your own shoe rack with curtain rods

1. Spray paint the curtain rods (not necessary)
2. Decide where you want your curtain rods to hang and make small marks on the wall
3. Use your screw driver and screws and attach the curtain rods to the wall
4. Start to organize your shoes on your new shoe rack

Note: when measuring for where to install your curtain rods, make sure you leave enough room to get your shoes in and out of the rods.

You know me and you know I want my closet to look semi decent, so I decided to spray paint both the curtain rods and the hold backs the same color.

I used an oil rubbed bronze spray paint from Rust-Oleum.

Once they were dry, it was time to hang these repurposed curtain rods.

Before I hung the “shoe organization holders” I made sure I left enough room to slide the shoes in from the top.

The same rule of thumb needs to apply for the second rod.

Next I hung the curtain hold back and added all my belts and scarves. I removed the finial so I could slide the belt ends down the rod.

I also hung a flip flop hanger in the middle between the two hold backs so I could display my flip flops.

Small space organization hack with repurposed curtain rods

What do you think about this DIY shoe rack?

As cliche as this sounds, it really is easier to get ready in the morning when I can see all my shoes!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsey**