When we moved in, we put an Expedit unit right behind the front door, in front of the staircase, to hold our shoes and hats, etc. This is the same set-up we had in our old apartment, and the kids each have their own cubby for putting shoes and hats away.
You can see that the Expedit was a wee bit too big for the space, but we really needed the storage. We don't have a foyer or coat closet (or any built-in storage on the first floor), so we made do with what we had.
The biggest problem was that the Expedit was sitting on top of an air vent. We put the Expedit up on bun feet to allow the air to circulate, but with the really hot weather we've had, the vent being blocked was a major problem. Unfortuately the immediate solution was to move the Expedit to the side of the stairwell next to the antique secretary (itself also moved off an air vent), where it stuck out and blocked traffic.
But then! I read Young House Love's shoe solution: the Ikea Retur recycling bin. This could solve our air vent problem!
Ta-DA!!!!!
It has a much thinner profile, makes the space feel much bigger, holds all our shoes, and best of all, it doesn't block the air vent.
The bottom shelf holds the kids' shoes, the middle one will hold the kids' hats and gloves, and the top one will hold gloves and hats for me and the Mister, and my shoes. (The Mister usually walks his work shoes right up to his closet.) Right now the top one holds our flipflops. I'll probably partition the bottom and middle bins so that the kids each have a section, rather than a giant jumble of gloves and hats and shoes.
It does sort of look like plastic bins. The Mister said "it looks very....European" after he hung them. Its also not centered on the wall because there is a small nonremovable thingamabob on the left side that sticks out too far to hang anything on top of, so the bins are hung just to the right of it.
For me, the Retur bins have the advantage of having a full bin with a back, so you can store hats and gloves in it, not just shoes. Many of the shoe cabinets from Ikea only have a bar inside the compartment to hold the shoes in, and the back is open, so it would not be usable for hats and gloves.
But! My shoe storage over air grate problem is solved, thanks to YHL. Fabulous!
You can see that the Expedit was a wee bit too big for the space, but we really needed the storage. We don't have a foyer or coat closet (or any built-in storage on the first floor), so we made do with what we had.
The biggest problem was that the Expedit was sitting on top of an air vent. We put the Expedit up on bun feet to allow the air to circulate, but with the really hot weather we've had, the vent being blocked was a major problem. Unfortuately the immediate solution was to move the Expedit to the side of the stairwell next to the antique secretary (itself also moved off an air vent), where it stuck out and blocked traffic.
But then! I read Young House Love's shoe solution: the Ikea Retur recycling bin. This could solve our air vent problem!
Ta-DA!!!!!
It has a much thinner profile, makes the space feel much bigger, holds all our shoes, and best of all, it doesn't block the air vent.
The bottom shelf holds the kids' shoes, the middle one will hold the kids' hats and gloves, and the top one will hold gloves and hats for me and the Mister, and my shoes. (The Mister usually walks his work shoes right up to his closet.) Right now the top one holds our flipflops. I'll probably partition the bottom and middle bins so that the kids each have a section, rather than a giant jumble of gloves and hats and shoes.
It does sort of look like plastic bins. The Mister said "it looks very....European" after he hung them. Its also not centered on the wall because there is a small nonremovable thingamabob on the left side that sticks out too far to hang anything on top of, so the bins are hung just to the right of it.
For me, the Retur bins have the advantage of having a full bin with a back, so you can store hats and gloves in it, not just shoes. Many of the shoe cabinets from Ikea only have a bar inside the compartment to hold the shoes in, and the back is open, so it would not be usable for hats and gloves.
But! My shoe storage over air grate problem is solved, thanks to YHL. Fabulous!
That works perfectly in that space!
ReplyDeleteWe have some bins on the wall going downstair that we also use for shoes. Great idea, but no one puts their shoes in the bins, so I'm still tripping over shoes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog and all the projects you take on; very impressive considering you have three youngsters hanging out with you.