LindaC, I tried to reply earlier but my browser crashed! When I went to that xmas "open house" the 'look' was: walk in the front door (directly into the LR, with one of those add-on hardwood-type floors), greeted by the host who said: "We're asking everyone to remove their shoes for the comfort of all the guests.". (WHAT?!) There was no closet or place to put coats -- so I removed my coat and handed it to the host. There was one small scatter rug, already overflowing with shoes. There was NO place to sit down to remove my shoes, and then no place to put them. (eventually the door and 'entryway' were littered with shoes). The gathering place was in the kitchen/dining area off the LR. It had cold tile floors. There were no scatter rugs anywhere -- I looked, because my feet were freezing and I spent the entire time there with one or the other foot against the back of my other leg trying to get it to warm up. That hostess has never offered or been asked to remove her shoes in my house. I was shocked that I was asked to remove my shoes at her "party". To those who say I should have brought slippers to wear: it never occurred to me that she would ask me to remove my shoes, if I wanted to wear slippers I would have stayed at home, and it's plain gross to carry slippers with you to someone else's house. I really hated being cold and barefoot in a house where I didn't know if I might step on a glass shard, let alone mingling with un-shoed strangers who might have any number of contagious foot problems!

I don't think any kind of boots needs to be on the floor--I'm not the only person here who stashes shoes (and even snow boots) at torso-level. I have a set of shelves that holds shoes at torso height, and one set of shelves is spaced a bit farther apart, which is useful for the 2 sets of ankle boots we have. If I'd been thinking, I'd have put in compartments for the kids' snow boots (and I still might someday, next to the backpack compartment). I can't see bending over twice--once to pick the boots up off the floor, and once to put them on (or once to take them off, and once to set them where they belong on the floor). The big thing is, you want them not to fall over, and for them to be out of the way. Falling all over on the floor isn't either, since you'll end up tripping over them. And falling off the shelf isn't useful, either. I wonder if you could use plain bookcases and put simple dividers between the pairs of boots? They make these vertical dividers that slip over a regular shelf; they're usually shown holding stacks of sweaters or handbags. But you could put them between sets of boots. Maybe space some shelves tightly for shoes, and others farther apart for taller boots. And get a bookcase/cabinet w/ doors, if you want. It's too bad those shoe cubbies don't come w/ removable dividers, so you can make some of the compartments really tall. I wonder if you could just leave one or two of the horizontal slats out? Here is a link that might be useful: shelf dividers

Dear friends -- I'm too lazy tonight to straighten up this shameful display. But this is just because I promised I'd post the scene. My excuse is I'm recovering from seasonal sneezes and misery but it does often get like this. Anyway, you see to the right is the refrigerator already! Previously I had a shelf on the wall next to the door facing stairs. I realised one day that I hated to go into the kitchen because I was always squeezing by! Yes, I've got to clean up those magnets on the door. There are some shoes on the bottom two shelves of that book case and the top part becomes a catchall. The tidiest place I ever lived was when my family had a 2nd floor apartment and you came through the door into a long hall that led directly to the kitchen. Things did get dumped there (my poor mother) but they got cleared out right away. I have never ever lived in a place with a so-called landing pad which is probably why I haven't organized better. It's a new term for me. Hoping you can see this and thanks for all the help you gave me. I'll go with the Ikea and reorganize the TINY closet to the right of the bottom stairs in the photo.

Alas never took a photo of it as far as I can remember. This one is similar and looks to be about the same size. MIne had more detail outside but no drawers. I was looking for a larger piece but the labels on the shelves won my heart and being small it fit nicely into the small bedroom. Celestina, I had a half rack of that sort of design made of cast metal that might have been brass that fit nicely in the front hall. Fastened to studs it took up far less room and couldn't fall over. Sold that on eBay long ago and had never seen anything like it since until just now. Pictures are upside down but it is exactly the same design. If you could find a shoe cubby that looked okay with the old fashioned vibe it would terrific looking so long as you manage to keep it cleared off. You wouldn't think something that simple could hold so much! I really like the pieces acm found particularly the wood and metal 3 shelf one. Just work really hard to keep the number of things hung to a dull roar.