Prime
Solve your shoe clutter nightmares
For most women, the small wardrobe spaces for shoe racks are filled to the brim, so shoes are scattered allover the house. However, this can all be solved with a few organisational attempts, writes Agnes K. Namaganda
When female celebrities were asked sometime back how many pairs of shoes they owned, most did not know, but on average, the estimates were between 50-100 pairs. Such large collections of shoes are not limited to celebrities. Most women have shoe collections that can fill a small shoe shop. One may wonder what they use all those shoes for, but we will save that debate for another forum and concentrate on how to help these women neatly arrange and effectively utilise their much treasured obsession.
Get rid of the old shoes and make necessary repairs
For most women, the small allocated wardrobe spaces for shoes are filled to the brim, so shoes are now scattered in the garage, under the kitchen table, in the corridors, in corners somewhere and under the bed.
The challenge is finding an appropriate pair for an outfit. It means that you have to spend hours going through all these places each time, a very mind boggling ritual. Many times women only remember that they have a similar pair of shoes they like when they see another woman wearing it in town or at party and on searching for it back home, find it covered in mould somewhere.
For starters, get rid of all the shoes you will never wear again. Take to the cobbler’s all those you still want that are damaged. People who are inclined to keep things for sentimental reasons should be careful not to hoard shoes that they clearly do not need. Get realistic with that worn-out pair that you’ve kept since your secondary school days just because of the memories it gives you, or that very sophisticated pair that is still new because it never fit. Give them away or throw them out.
Take stock of your remaining collection
At this point, you should only have shoes that you love wearing and that are in good condition. If you have a very big house and a really huge collection of shoes, you could convert one of the rooms in the house into a walk-in shoe store. Depending on your taste, have wooden or metallic racks fitted around this room, with a full mirror on one empty wall such that after dressing, you can try out and see which pair goes best with your outfit. This seems rather outrageous, but if you have over 200 pairs, it’s very logical.
Okay, not everyone has this kind of space really, but even then you can order something that fits into the space you have. If you just have a little horizontal space that can accommodate say, five pairs of shoes, Jemma Kasaali, an interior designer with Djemma International School of Beauty and Interior Design, advises that you can take advantage of your vertical space by ordering a rack that goes all the way up to the roof. Keep seasonal shoes like party ones at the top of the rack and the ones you wear regularly at eye-level and below.
Buying a shoe rack
Shoe racks made out of wood are very appealing to the eye because then you have a choice to make it out of any type of wood and colour that suits your taste. Unfortunately, the wooden strips in form of shelves sold in most carpentry shops can only accommodate about 20 pairs, are quite ordinary and not very flattering to the eye. So, if you’re looking for an attractive way to arrange your collection, you might have to order it.
You could look up something over the Internet and take the picture to a good carpenter. He will take measurements for the space you have and make what you want.
For Shs100,000, Sylvia Namale ordered a wooden shoe rack 10 shelves high that can fit about eight pairs of shoes horizontally. It’s the envy of her friends. It was painted in a very flattering colour – white - which nicely complements the white colour of her bed. So, for such a good price, the worry of looking everywhere for that pair of leopard-print pumps that you must wear with your outfit could become a thing of the past.
