Shoe storage has been a struggle of ours for years. Since we use the garage to store our shoes, there was always a mess before installing our DIY wooden shoe rack. However, our new DIY vertical shoe racks have simplified our lives. It saves time and keeps our shoes safe from damage. Vertical shoe racks are the perfect solution for shoe organization in a small space.

DIY shoe rack
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How to Build a Wooden Shoe Rack
Building a custom shoe rack to organize and store shoes is an easy DIY.
I searched high and low for DIY shoe rack ideas for a storage solution, but nothing would work for all of our shoes.
Therefore I decided to build a custom vertical shoe shortage solution.
➡️ Before you begin I recommend you watch this quick shoe rack how-to video.
Supplies and Tools
1-inch staples or 1.25-inch trim screws or finish nails (fasteners)
Polycrylic finish
120 grit sandpaper
Wood filler
2.5-inch screws (for mounting to the wall)
Saw
Cordless drill
Speed square
Measuring tape
Putty knife
Small paintbrush
Lumber (3 each 1″x4″x8′)
➡️ Before you begin I recommend you watch this quick shoe rack how-to video.
Wood Cuts
The length of the front and back boards will determine how many pairs of shoes your rack will store.
1x4x48 3 each pine (front and backs)
1x3x48 1 each pine
1x3x12 2 each pine (ends)
1×1.5×48 1 each pine (upper front)
End Boards
You can customize the end boards to hold shoes according to their size. In other words, the smaller the shoe, the shorter the end boards.
For shoe size 9 and up, make the ends 12 inches
For shoe size 8 and below, make ends 10 inches




Shoe rack ends
Assembling the Wooden Shoe Rack
Note: Sand all the boards before assembling.




Sanding wood pieces
Attach the bottom board to the ends with glue and fasteners—two in each attachment point.




Attaching the ends of the shoe rack
Wood Glue
Attach the bottom front board flush with the bottom front edge with glue, and two fasteners at each attach point.




Apply glue to the face of the rack




Stapling the front bottom board
Shoe Rack Back
Attach the top and bottom of the backboard to the ends with glue, and fasteners flush with the top and bottom edges. Two fasteners at each attach point to make the wooden shoe rack sturdy.




Attaching the backboard
This is the backside view of the rack.




Building the backside
Align the top backboard to the top of the ends and attach it with staples.




Attaching the Upper backboard
Shoe Support Board
Attach the 1.5-inch front board 6 inches up from the bottom with glue and two fasteners at each attachment point. For the shorter rack, attach the board directly above the front bottom board.




Mark the front upper board location
Wood Filler
Using a putty knife fill all the fastener holes with wood filler.




Adding wood filler to the shoe storage rack
After the wood filler dries, sand to remove any rough edges and excess wood filler.
Prepare the wooden shoe rack for finish by removing all the dust with a tack cloth.
Sealing Wooden Shoe Rack
Apply a finish coat as per the manufacturer’s directions. I choose a clear polycrylic, however, your shoe rack could be stained or painted if you perfer.




Apply polyacrylic




Wall shoe storage organizers
To hang, locate the wall studs and make them with a piece of painter’s tape.




Determining the height of the top rack
Predrill holes to hang shoe rack with 2.5-inch screws into the studs for wall-mounted racks.




Installing Vertical shoe rack
You can complete this easy and fast DIY project in one afternoon.
Note: We built a storage hall tree with a shoe storage bench (you can read more about it in this earlier post) for putting on shoes but since the shoe cubbies are so small we needed to add more shoe storage. However, since our floor space was limited we had to the vertical space.
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See you soon,
Kippi
Jackie
Monday 9th of October 2023
This is such a smart solution for shoe storage! I have been looking for something to get ours more organized. I may have to try & recreate this. We are having our cabinets refinished this week so maybe once that project is complete haha!
Coots
Thursday 11th of May 2023
Thanks for that! The solution I was looking for. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Leila
Saturday 14th of January 2023
Thank you!!! I was looking for something like this, i don't have a stamper strong as yours but I could do it with some nails and I love the final result not perfect as you did but I'm really proud.
Andy
Sunday 18th of September 2022
Real quick, I do want to confirm since the supply list only calls for 1x4s. Do you use 1x4s for the whole build? It looks like from the cut list you actually used 1x3s for the ends and bottom.
Ashley
Tuesday 12th of July 2022
What did you use on the racks to hang? Did you apply anything to the back of the rack before hanging it on the screws? Sorry I am very confused on how best to hang them. Thanks!
Ernest
Thursday 4th of August 2022
@Ashley,
Use 2 1/2 screw to attach the rack to the wall(stud) screw thru the rack unto the stud behind the drywall