ENCOURAGE REMOVING SHOES AT THE DOOR WITH A WELL DESIGNED STORAGE BASKET

 

With two adults and two children dedicated to taking shoes off upon entering our front door - which is in our living room - a pile up used to ensue, which was pretty unsightly. I finally took hold of the situation a few years ago and it's working out well. The only problem that it doesn't solve is that my seven year old sometimes throws her shoes off her feet, across the room.

Some people put a shoe rack at the door, but as this was going in our living room, I didn't want our shoes on display. So, I decided on a basket. It's sizable enough that we can put our shoes directly in and still find our own at a quick glance later. It's purposefully not big enough that we'd be able to fit all of our shoes in there, as I do want to encourage a habit of putting our shoes back in our closets. We typically each end up with one pair of our most worn shoes of the season in there most of the time. 

For a family of four, I find that our 16" w x 13" d x 9" h works well. It could stand to be a little bigger, but I wouldn't go smaller.

Here are some ideas for well designed baskets that are nice enough to go in any space.

And, of course, don't forget to place your slippers in the basket so they're at the ready when you take off your shoes.