DIY: Shoe Wall

If you’re like me, you have more shoes than your closet can hold. Solution: a shoe wall! I’d always wanted to hang shoes on my wall, but I wasn’t sure how best to go about it until a friend gave me a page from Martha Stewart Magazine with this picture in it:

  Chair rail! Genius! An elegant look with a minimal amount of work. To make your own, here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Measure the wall that you want to be your shoe wall.
2. Go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and pick out some chair rail. Know ahead of time what shoes you’ll want to hang up—the higher the heel, the thicker the chair rail should be (at least one inch wide).
3. Get the staff to cut your chair rail to the length to fit your wall. (Or you can do this at home with a handsaw.)
4. Get some nails while you’re there—thick enough to go through the chair rail and into the wall.
5. Also pick up some paint, if you want the chair rail to match you wall or to pop off in contrast, and wood filler so you can fill in the holes you’ll make with the nails.
6. Go home and paint the chair rail.
7. While it’s drying, mark on the wall where you want your rail to go. Rails should be a foot apart.
8. While you’re at it, find where the studs in your wall are. You can use a stud finder, but if you have old walls like mine, you can just look for slightly raised nail heads pressing against the wall from the inside.

Now you might need an extra pair of hands.

1. Hold up the rail against the marks you made on the wall earlier. Use a level to make sure it’s straight.
2. Nail the chair rail to the wall.
3. Fill the nail holes with wood filler. Let dry and touch up with paint if needed.
4. Hang your shoes and enjoy!

How’d mine turn out? See for yourself!

  Nineteen pairs out of the closet and on to the wall! I chose to use contrasting colors of paint, which I love. I also stayed with blues and neutrals, shoe-wise—I tried it with reds and purples too, but it looked too cluttered. The simplicity of color makes this work, to my eye. Any way you choose to do it, make it your own. I’d love to see your pictures if you try it!

Sales this weekend: 
Bakers: All wedges on sale (up to 50% off), plus free H by Halston watch with any H by Halston purchase of $100 or more
Bus Stop Boutique: Designer of the month: NICOLE! Pick up a pair of NICOLE boots or shoes & enjoy $20 OFF
Macy’s: Save 15% off (and free shipping with $99 purchase) using code SAVEBIG
Payless: BOGO!
Nordstrom: Half-yearly sale (and double rewards points through Saturday)
Lord & Taylor: 15% off with in-store pass or code NOV (an extra 10% off with a Lord & Taylor card and NOVPLUS)