We used to have a copper tray and a coat rack, both from Ballard. I got so tired of how it looked. Always messy.

We do not have a mudroom: our foyer is accessed from the front door and garage.

I had this old dining room buffet refinished - and we now use it for shoes.

Nay on shoes lined up at the door period. We never wear shoes in the house, but we put them in our hand and put them back in the closet where they belong.

Just my 2 cents :)

Here's what's inside:

This is such a great question. We are a no shoes household too. How do you handle guest shoes? Many of them also do not wear shoes indoors and I hate the pile of shoes at the front door during parties etc.

Ours are currently stashed on a shoe shelf from the Container Store inside our coat closet. But it is never quite enough space and always a bit of a battle to get the kids to out theirs away instead of just kicking them off or, worse yet, leaving them on.

Ikea makes some pretty decent looking shoe cupboards. I need to check my space and see if one will fit.

One of my kids and his friends always took their shoes off just inside the front door and the entry looked like a plebeian shoe farm. If people must take off their shoes at the door, why can't they just carry them to their closet?

I'm constantly going in and outdoors so I keep a shoe tray under a large bench in the entryway with a couple of pair of my garden shoes. It's a nice entryway too. And get this! We also hang coats on the coatrack! lol

This is my home and I'm not going to worry if my stained shoes will offend anyone.

I also have a pair of garden shoes by the back door. :)

eta: If I had a dollar for everytime I've had to run out the door on little emergencies, I'd be rich. Which is another reason I keep shoes there.

This post was edited by oakleyok on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 16:27

We too are a no shoes household. I typically remove my shoes when I go to friends homes - mostly out of habit since this is what I do in my own home. And my good friends and our children's friends do the same when they come over.

Since our shoes are away in the cabinet in our entry (see photo above) friends shoes are just tucked beside it. It's really not a big deal to me to have a few pairs of shoes out in the open.

But when we are having a dinner party, I would never expect my guests to remove their shoes. We make sure we have a good quality LARGE mat at our outside entrance; and the rug in our entryway is also an ample size to catch any dirt that was left behind.

Oakleyoak - do you have a picture of your coat rack and the tray? When we started the rebuild, we had the option of a powderroom or a coat closet. We opted for the powder room thinking we will figure out the shoes and coat later. Now it is time :) We do have shoe racks in each of the closet as part of the organizer(Elfa) but I need shoes near the back door and front as our house is very indoor/ outdoor and I expect to go in and out all day.

Janice I LOVE that. Gives me some ideas. thank you! :)

I don't have much room by the front door and have some decorative things there, but I think they will have to go soon. I don't mind if guests keep their shoes on, and I don't mind a pile by the door for guests. I do mind when the older kids and DH smoosh my nice shoes in the closet that is too small and does not have enough shoe storage.

Good topic choclot. Thanks for starting it.

I've had something like this in mind but I don't have the room.
You could give each child their own little drawer with those cute name
holder thingies .
Now if your talking boots it appears they won't fit.

Here's a link to the Ikea shoe cabinet options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Idea shoe cabinets

I LOVE that green! I wonder what else they have in that green. I would love some hooks for kids back packs and coats that would match. Then I could keep the closet shoe space for myself. :)

We're not an official no shoe household, but both of us prefer not to wear shoes in the house, so we always kick them off on the way in. We put ours in the mud room. And since I have a lot more shoes, I tend to carry them up and store them in my closet. For guests, I have no problem when their shoes line up in the entry. I plan to put a bench there for ease of shoe removal and to allow them to put their shoes either under the bench or in the coat closet. In my house, my significant other would never neatly stack his shoes in such a beautiful cabinet as Janice's, though I would love it if we could do that in our mud room.

We have MUDDY shoes in the foyer!! They must be removed, and they cannot be put in the closet caked with mud, and they cannot be left outside, because even witha 10' deep porch, if it rains and the wind blows, they get soaked. So, I work to accept it.

Nancy

OMG, my kids would never open up a little drawer to place their shoes in nicely. They just open the mudroom closet door, kick their shoes into it, and walk away. Oh, the closet has shelves inside for shoe storage, but everyone is too "busy" to stoop down and put their shoes on a shelf. DH is the worst -- he puts his shoes away upstairs in the bedroom closet, and WEARS THEM en route. Okay, the point of being a no-shoe house is so no one will wear their dirty shoes all through the house. Sigh. I guess I should be glad that most of the time, 4/5 of us leave the shoes in the mudroom. Just don't look in the closet when you come over.

We had a bunch of people over during the storm the other day, and we brought up an extra 3x5 rug from the basement so they could leave their boots on it. In general, though, we don't expect guests to remove their shoes.

How 'bout a basket ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Shoe basket

Shoes sit on a small rug in the back hall. When we've finished doing the mudroom, they'll probably be there, maybe on some kind of shelf or rack, but probably on a small rug.

We all take our shoes off when we come in the house. It is more comfortable, more sanitary, better for my wideplank pine floors, better for my rugs and carpet, and quieter.

We have a side door vestibule area where shoes are usually found if they are wet or snowy or muddy (the floor there is slate).

Adjacent is the mudroom, which has a basket for each of us. Even with a basket each, it is hard to fit all the shoes. We keep non-seasonal shoes elsewhere and I keep all of my shoes in my closet, my DH keeps his dress shoes in his closet. Ski boots and snow boots are kept in a ski closet, since they take up so much room.

Whatever the solution, it has to require minimal effort to be effective. I will try to take a photo, my camera is having issues.

Don't have a photo, but we are a no shoe house, as well, and find that a bench with baskets in cubbies underneath works well in the entryway. Older guests or those with mobility or back issues appreciate being able to sit while removing their shoes, and they are easily accessible yet semi hidden from view. We have the "Samantha" bench from PB, but there are many similar and attractive options out there.

I think this is a great question. I see a lot of good solutions but nothing is hitting me just right yet. I will keep watching and thinking. So far the best solution is from avidinternet. I put a carpet remnant on the floor in the coat closet and toss them there and attempt to refrain from something too rigid. If we have to open something and place shoes gently away we will not do it. We are more apt to slip them off and toss them on a rug.

I don't know what to do about company shoes. My floors are birch and the person who refinished them said it is a soft wood and could be damaged by heels. How do I ask guests to take off their shoes? I am very uncomfortable with that but I don't want my floors dented.

Sounds like some of you have all, or most, of your shoes near the entry? Really? Now that is a challenge. We only keep foul weather shoes/boots near the entry on a waterhog mat and that's enough for me. All other shoes are stored in the bedrooms.

We have a coat closet a couple steps from our front door. A few pair are usually on the floor near the door, but most of the time we open the closet door and kick them off. It's messy in the closet with scuff marks on the wall, but it's our house and we're the ones that live with it. I could never get my family to put their shoes neatly in a cabinet.

Another option is an over the door shoe holder if you have a coat closet. You can install them with screws if you don't want the hooks to show on the outside. They work best for kids shoes and small women's shoes in my experience. They are also great for mittens, hats, sunblock, umbrellas, lint rollers, etc.

Crl, I love the idea of those over the door shoe organizers but mine scratched my door badly. Are they making them differently now?

That's one reason I suggested the option of screwing it into the door instead of using the over the door hooks.

"Sounds like some of you have all, or most, of your shoes near the entry? Really? Now that is a challenge. We only keep foul weather shoes/boots near the entry on a waterhog mat and that's enough for me. All other shoes are stored in the bedrooms."

Here it's the everyday ones that are usually left on our small rug, day in and day out, and that means one pair per person. All the other shoes are put away. I shouldn't speak for everyone else, but I suspect most others do the same general thing.

Oh - yes, and we have a basket by the back door as well. It also contains the towel to dry off the dogs paws when she comes inside.

We have closets in our bedrooms; and these contain most of our shoes. But it's just not practical to come home, take shoes off, put them in our hand, walk upstairs, and put them away. With our kid's schedules, coming home, leaving for activities, coming home, leaving for activities, it would never work. Well - maybe for some, but not for us.

When our cabinet starts to overflow, I take out a bunch of the shoes, put them on the steps, and ask the boys to put them away when they head up stairs.

I put a two tier shoe rack in the bottom of the closet door that's filled with a few everyday shoes. With mud, rain, and snow, shoes end up scattered right inside the door. I think this is my biggest pet peeve (for our house). It's too cramped there as it is. I finally caved and put a boot tray by the door for the big boots covered in mud and/or are wet and don't fit in the closet. This isn't really working for me though. The only plus is they seem to be neatly on the tray instead of throw by the door but I still don't like to look at them. My only hope is someday to have a mudroom. I do like your idea of the bookcase shoved in my closet.

I love Janice's idea.

"every day ones " That's what I don't get. I wear at least six different pairs of shoes during the course of a week. Three to five different pairs to work. Others that are more casual for home and weekends. Add on all weather mocs for little snow days and boots for more snow days and, just myself, I have about 7-10 different pairs I wear in a week. No way would I try to store them all near the entry. Sounds like others are trying to that though. Maybe I'm wrong. I have been before . ;-)

Crl, I didn't read that very well, did I. I wonder if those 3M Velcro strips would work. They work for heavier items and I could use more than one. I don't want to put screws in my door and it could keep the organizer from swinging around. Thoughts?

Thanks CRL!

We are a 7 person household, but our main closet is in the front and we always come in the back, to the kitchen. I used to have the kids put their shoes in the pantry, but that was sort of tough. Now that it's winter, we have a boot tray just in the kitchen, but it barely fits even one pair per person. Need another tray!

We don't have a ton of shoes, but even if there are 2 pairs per person in rotation, it is a chore to get people to remove the unused pair to the closet with more space.

Reminds me of something I saw on Pinterest:
{{gwi:1604730}}

GW, I don't have a current picture, but the coat rack is very simple. Just a decorative piece of wood with hooks on it.

I think the tray is called a "Boot Tray." Today it's going to come in handy with snow! It keeps the water inside the tray and not on the floor, which is tile.

The bench is very simple. It's the size of a picnic table bench, painted white with curved corners. Practical for those wet coats!

I also keep my purse on the bench. I'm ready if there's a fire. lol.

Rosesstink, I don't keep my good shoes by the door. Just garden clogs and a pair of tennis shoes. Today I'll put the snow boots there.

We're very casual.

Shoes in the entryway? Yes, we're human. I've tried trays and they were ignored. The shoes, boots and people that are attached to the feet stayed, the tray went.

I can understand winter boots being a problem, and guess we would leave them on our front porch. When our children were young we lived on the 31st floor of an apartment building in Manhattan. Even in bad, snowy weather our shoes were were pretty clean by the time we finally got into our apt after the lobby (with mats inside the door in inclement weather), after the elevator and the long hall to our "front" door.

We did live in Ladue, MO for a couple of years with very snowy weather and were lucky to have 1920s house with a side vestibule for that stuff.

When your kids wear mostly flip flops or sandals it looks less necessary and more like a shoe sale bin at Goodwill to have all those shoes just abandoned inside the front door, iykwim!

DH usually enters through the laundry/mud room because he is more likely to have truly dirty/muddy shoes. Until last year he worked in the excavation field, he has always had hunting dogs in a kennel that requires walking in the mud/gravel, outside hobbies, etc so he needs to remove his shoes in there.

I usually kick my shoes off on a rug beside a small foyer table. Even though I get out of my car, walk across a paved driveway, and then across a brick patio, they will be wet on the bottom during winter weather - this gives them a chance to dry out. We have an unattached garae. To be quite honest, there is usually no more than a couple of pairs at a time sitting there. I am not going to put damp shoes in the closet. When I "pick-up" the house, they get moved to the BR closet. I can't imagine all our dress shoes piling up at the door. I don't remove my shoes at the door when the weather is dry - usually take them to the bedroom closet when I change from my work clothes to casual clothes for the evening.

On weekends, it is not unusual for a pair of boots to be sitting there or a pair of sneakers for when I run in an out of the house.

I do keep a cute rectangular basket sitting on the rug for the easy slip on type shoes (flip-flops, crocs, summer slides, etc.)

As far as visitors and family, we don't have a rule. If they wear shoes in the house, it is fine with me. I can't think of anyone who would visit my house and walk on in with mud or snow - they remove their shoes out of courtesy as they would their own home. It's just never an issue - just common sense.

Glad ( I think) to see I'm not the only one with this problem. And of course, I went home and forgot to take the pic :-(

The problem for us is that with 6 people, there are at least 12 pairs of shoes at any given time at the front door. Like Janice742, when the pile gets to be too much (and they've started a second row!), I line the shoes by the stairs and have them take them up.

I would love it if we were able to take off our shoes and promptly take them to our bedrooms, but I must face the reality that this is not gonna happen in my family. My kids sometimes can't even be bothered to put their coats and/or bookbags away and I'll find them hanging on the banister rail or across my breakfast nook chairs.

I worry about making sure I'm not too strict about things being put away because I don't want the kids to feel like they're living in a hotel. But I also want my house to look nice. Such a hard balance to strike!

No shoes in the entry here. We're a 2 person family and we never enter through the front. I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this but we go in and out through our garage. This comes in through our laundry area and kitchen. To the back of the house is the sunroom leading out to the patio and when I'm home I'm in and out that way a good bit. I keep a pair of shoes in the kitchen, where we have a hoosier cabinet that allows a nice space underneath for me to slide a pair of shoes. Snow and mud is not a problem here but if so, shoes would be removed in the garage. Shoes are kept in bedroom closet and there is a closet inside the foyer for coats, etc.

I love the chest shown up top as a solution!

tina

Choclot, how old are your kids? Mine are 11, 7, 6, and 3 (plus a baby)and they all are in the habit of hanging their coats--and they have to walk through 3 rooms to do it. They shoes are different because they have to leave the wet ones by the door, so it is not automatic to bring the alternate pair to a closet. They still do it, but I do have to put the shoes aside and remind them.

Anele,

My children are 4, 10, 13 & 17. It's still a mystery to me how they haven't picked up my slightly OCD ways about keeping things "in their proper place".

Getting them to hang coats is a battle. They get a spot in mind for where they put it and no matter how many times I remind them to move it and put it away, the next day, it's there again (for the same reminder). Drives me bonkers!

I hope that as they continue to mature, that my clean ways will rub off on them. Right now...it's not looking too good!

Like tinam61, we enter through our garage and the front door is for guests so I don't have any pictures of a front door solution.

My kids have lockers at school, so I decided to make them lockers here. This was my inspiration pic:

Of course, I had to do what worked for us and I used pieces I already had. Both kids have their own locker (the bookcases) and DH and I use the shoe bench and the hooks in the middle.

{{gwi:1604733}}

The cabinet on the right is a shoe cabinet from ikea but we use it for hats and mittens. Each of us gets one of the slots. If your kids will put their shoes away, I'd recommend it for using it as a shoe cabinet. It's very shallow and holds a lot of stuff.

{{gwi:1604735}}

Here's a pic of my back closet. It has a bookcase in it for not in rotation shoes. It's also a tall closet so I divided it in half and out of season coats get stored on a rod up high to save space below.

{{gwi:1604736}}

Maybe you can use some of these ideas for your front entry.

I struggle with the "shoes off" in the house policy. In theory, that would be my preference. And certainly in bad weather, my kids all take their shoes off. However, I have four kids, and two of them are outside playing all the time. They come in and out for a variety of reasons, so requiring them to take shoes off each and every time just isn't manageable (especially since one of them has fine motor skills problems, so just tying his shoes is difficult for him). I usually take mine off when I come inside, unless I'm wearing sneakers and coming from the store where I have to make multiple trips to the car.

That said, I also have three entry points. The kids go in and out through the garage, which is underneath the main floor. If they are coming in and staying in, they usually leave their shoes in the garage just outside the door (a huge pile which I'm trying to organize - used to be a big basket but too many shoes, so now I have an organizer to put together, but not sure they will actually put their shoes in each compartment!). I always use the front door and kick my shoes off at the front door - there is a basket there by the door, so if I'm going out again later, I leave my shoes there, but if not I bring them upstairs to my closet. I wear slippers in the house. We also have a mudroom but it is accessible from the back door. There was a time when my kids always used it after school/coming home from somewhere, but now my key no longer works in the lock so they always use the garage instead. The mudroom, however, seems to store whatever shoes they haven't left in the garage (as well as shoes that are not in use regularly, like cleats, church shoes, etc). They each have their own cubby, and a basket for shoes in their cubby.

I find it perfectly normal here where I live to see a basket of shoes near the front door. The only houses where I don't see them are my friends' homes who have homes that are more formal (don't look very lived in), or if they have a mudroom or other main entry for family.

I just read the two posts above mine and see that they both have four kids like me. I had to laugh at choclot b/c her battle sounds like mine! Mine each have their own cubbies and STILL I find their things all over the mudroom - coats laying on the bench instead of hanging on the hook, shoes on the floor *right next to* their shoe basket, socks they've taken off and left in their cubbies and then wonder why they have no socks after I do laundry!

I do call them from wherever they are to fix their mistakes, but much of the time I'm off doing something else and don't notice right away. My kids are 8, 10, 12 and turning 14. My oldest has actually become very organized (she keeps all her shoes in an organizer up in her bedroom after years of using the mudroom), hangs her coat in her room, etc. My 12 y/o is a slob, but he is incredibly organized with his schoolwork, binder, etc and judging from what I hear from his friends' mothers whose boys are constantly losing things, forgetting to turn in schoolwork, etc, I figure I'll take that over him not putting his shoes away properly!

How well a command strip would work for holding up a shoe organizer inside a door would depend on what you want to put in it, I would think. I haven't ever used those really as my parents trained me early that it is easier to cover a nail hole than paint peeled from adhesives. I was forbidden to use tape or anything like it to hang posters. No idea if they are right, I just have retained the habit. Anyway, if you want it for hats and mittens and such, I am sure it would be fine. If you want to fill it with sneakers, I am not so sure. Shoes can be heavy!

Tina - I meant entrance from the garage in regards to where our mat is for wet/snowy footwear. That's our entryway during the winter. Leaving foot wear in the garage is not an option. They'd freeze. During the summer we generally use the front entrance and don't take our shoes off when we enter so no piles there.

My house has a large coat closet just off the front hall so DH put 3 shelves at each end for shoes. I also have 2 of the "Ikea Skubb organizers" with the boxes that act as drawers that hold 18+ pair. As well there are 2 shelves at the bottom of the closet for more shoes and boots and 2 shelves above for lesser used shoes in boxes.

I don't like shoes in my bedroom clothes closet so having them in the front hall closet works for me.

There are so many good storage systems available one only has to decide what suits one's needs and budget best. When my kids were young, depending on our house at the time, I sometimes used those hanging fabric shoe holders. They are also handy for mitts and scarves.

When we have guests their shoes are in the hall on the floor.