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20 Free DIY Shoe Rack Plans You Can Make Today (with Pictures)
Pete Ortiz
Last updated:
Shoe racks are an ideal woodworking project for several reasons. Everyone knows the pain of having shoes scattered all over the floor, taking up space and making your home’s entryway less appealing. A good shoe rack can save room, brighten up a space, and keep your kids from losing their favorite sneakers.
Building a shoe rack is also an excellent way to develop solid woodworking fundamentals. A shoe organizer demands caution and patience but might be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever put together. We’ve gathered some of the best free plans for DIY shoe racks available online. Pick one you like and get started today on your new favorite project!
This easy shoe rack design by Home D-Zine has a simple, versatile design that can fit in a closet or stand free in your entryway. It’s so stylish you might not believe you can build it in an hour—but this is a project where even beginner woodworkers can shine.
Tools: Drill/driver, Pocket hole jig (can be replaced with the drill if you don’t have one), Clamps, Tape measure, Pencil
Supplies: Laminated pine planks, PAR pine, Wood glue, Pocket hole screws
2. Closet Shoe Organizer and Rack by Our House Now A Home
Emily of Our House Now A Home built this rack for her closet to organize the mess of shoes that always filled up the space. It’s cheap, fun to build, and extremely effective for getting your closet in order or for any other room where you want to cut down on the mess. The design includes big spaces that work great for boots.
This shoe rack by The DIY Plan is incredibly useful, and it also looks awesome. It’s a shoe organizer and a bench with a cool asymmetrical shape that will add real character to your foyer. As a bonus, it’s easy to construct with affordable Tools.
Linn posted this design for a minimalist shoe rack on Instructables. It’s narrow enough to fit in a wide variety of spots, and the angled shelves help you store even more pairs of shoes while taking up less space.
One of our favorite plans for a tall, classic shoe rack comes from My Outdoor Plans. This is a more involved project that requires a lot of accuracy and precision but is still straightforward enough to get done in a single day of work, and once that day is over, you’ll never lose your shoes again.
When Shelly of 100Things2Do couldn’t find a design for a shoe rack with more than two rows, she decided to make her own. The result is a jumbo-sized DIY rack that’ll help you make much more efficient use of your closet space. It’s nice and quick, too, taking about half a day if you know what you’re doing.
This ingenious folding shoe cabinet is the result of Nick and Bethany from Reality Daydream being challenged to build something out of their leftover scrap wood. It has a hinged panel that swings open to reveal three layers of shoe storage.
The Gentleman’s Stand, designed by Woodworking for Mere Mortals, is a combination shoe rack and side table with drawers that are fine places to store your other going-out accessories. It’s a good fit for entryways, bedrooms, and living rooms and looks best unpainted.
User Molarin posted this unique shoe rack design on Instructables. Its dowel-based structure makes it a different kind of project than most. With the freedom to design your own side panels, building this rack is a treat for the artistically minded woodworker.
This design by Angela Marie Made is an easy way to turn an unsightly pile of shoes into a feature that’s both aesthetic and functional. It’s as easy to build as it is to use and can be put together for no more than $15 worth of supplies.
Yeah, it’s called a mudroom, but that doesn’t mean you want to see muddy shoes everywhere. With this shoe rack bench design from Bitterroot DIY, you won’t have to. While it might look intimidating at first, this bench comes together with surprising and rewarding ease.
If you like to store your shoes in plastic containers, this plastic shoebox organizer by Jay’s Custom Creations might be the perfect project for you. Those immensely useful dollar-store plastic containers can hold shoes, craft supplies, or anything else you want, and this rack holds 10 of them. It’s also lightweight and comes together without wood glue.
This genius space-saving solution comes to us from Instructables user andysewell. It’s a vertical rack of parallel slats where you can wedge your shoes by their toes, keeping them out of the way yet easy to grab. This design is elegant, effective, and a joy to build.
Brittany of the blog By Brittany Goldwyn provides this design for a minimalist, multi-use shoe cubby. It features 10 shelves of varying sizes that accommodate shoes, sandals, and boots, plus a flat top for extra storage and decoration. Build it, and enjoy surprising all your friends when they ask if it’s from IKEA!
Tools: Kreg jig, Radial arm saw, Measuring tape, Pencil, Sandpaper, Nail gun, Rubber
Supplies: Pine boards, Kreg screws, Putty, Finish, Primer, Paint
If you’re a fan of the rough-edged exposed-brick look, consider gracing your foyer with this industrial shoe rack from Two Feet First. This small yet effective floor shelf can be made quickly and used forever. Since it incorporates metal pipes into its structure, it’s a good way to broaden your skills.
Aptly named star woodworker Jen Woodhouse shared this plan for a DIY shoe organizer. It’s small enough to fit in most closets, yet its shelves are high enough to fit the tallest boots. On top of that, it’s easy to throw together out of scrap wood.
Tools: Miter saw, Jigsaw
Supplies: Scrap plywood, Brads, Wood glue
17. Floating Bench and Shoe Shelf by The Schmidt Home
This unusual shoe rack and bench combination from The Schmidt Home is meant to hang between two walls in your mudroom or foyer. It’s a bit more involved than most of the other projects since, to get it looking like it belongs, you’ll have to remove some drywall. We recommend having a contractor check out your building space before you get started.
Instructables user bgrprojects shares another idea for a hanging ladder-style shoe rack. This one is made to hang from the back of a door and can be detached and moved anywhere else in your house. If you’re on the hunt for a design that demands fewer specialized tools, this shoe rack can be made with almost any type of saw.
These boot rack plans from By Stephanie Lynn will be useful for anybody who lives in a damp or snowy climate. A base of sturdy boards is studded with thick dowels that can hold your boots upside-down, so they don’t collect moisture. The seeming simplicity is a bit deceptive since this plan requires you to be very precise at cutting holes.
Tools: Sandpaper, Chop or Hand saw, Hand drill, 2-inch Hole saw
If you’re after a truly ambitious project, look no further than this DIY shoe cabinet plan from House Becoming Home, which is big enough to hold an entire family’s shoes, hats, gloves, and scarves. Learning how to build a shoe rack of this caliber might be time-consuming, but watch all your clutter disappear.
Tools: Measuring tape, Carpenter’s square, Clamps, Utility knife, Staple gun, Table saw, Miter saw, Jigsaw, Drill and Impact driver, Kreg jig and 90-degree Pocket hole clamp, Router, Orbital sander, Brush
Pete has been working in the trades since high school, where he first developed a passion for woodworking. Over the years, he has developed a keen interest in a wide variety of DIY projects around the home. Fascinated by all sort of tools, Pete loves reading and writing about all the latest gadgets and accessories that hit the market. His other interests include astronomy, hiking, and fishing.
As the founder of House Grail, Pete's primary goal is to help consumers make educated decisions about DIY projects at home, in the garage, and in the garden.
