Inside the closet of a shoe obsessive...

I had a bit of a eureka moment today. Whilst having a pre-spring, spring clean, I had a wee rearrangement of my shoes. Normally, for me, a big spring clean involves a lot of fannying about making tea and looking at old cards and pictures I come across. However, today I managed to scrub the bathroom top to toe and GUT my clothes, shoes and make up which is pretty good going for me. Still a way to go with the whole place, but it's a start.

The reason I cracked on with the shoes was not because I want rid of any of them right now, more because the collection was starting to burst forth from the "shoe closet" TM. All my shoes were stacked in boxes of varying sizes and on a rack along the back of the closet (which they happily share with the boiler and the laundry basket) and there was just room for nothing else to be squeezed in! Plus, it was a job to get some of the out too. Angles. Anyway, for some reason, inspiration struck and it occurred to me that I could move the shoes to the side walls, creating a mini stockroom aisle if you will. Duh! And bingo bango, bish, bash, bosh, I now have room for about 20 new pairs! I wonder if this is my first step in acting aspirationally - like when they tell you in magazines to dress for the job you really want. I've prepared the "shoe closet" for the shoe collection I really want! Come to mama, little shoesies!

Here's how it looks now:

LOOK how much space there is to pile the boxes on!

 

I love these neat see through storage boxes. They open at the end so you can stack them as high as you like and easily access any of the shoes - yay! And, they're so much more space saving than a shoe rack. Important to a shoe hoarding sista like myself. Before I got them, I had stacks of busted old boxes with ripped ends where I'd tried to break the shoes free and snapped the lid in the process. What do you mean, if I was the sort of girl who got up early and/or planned her outfits, I might not having been rushing about like a headless chicken needing shoes in a hurry and I might never have had this issue? Huh, in your face early risers and prepared people - these boxes completely indulge my haphazard and last minute little self. Now, I can't remember where I got mine from - I just remember that the first set I ordered got lost in the post and the company were awful and I ended up ordering them elsewhere! However, if you're after some, just Google 'plastic shoe boxes' and there are a few places selling them - you can bag 'em on eBay too. Here are my favoured style with the front access - plus they lock into each other so that they stay neatly stacked and don't slide.

 Schuh, Irregular Choice, Office, Clarks Originals, Converse, Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Nike 6.0, Red or Dead, Bronx, random no brand shoes from eBay, H&M, Dr Martens, Senso, Enzo Angiolini (nope, never heard of him either), Birkenstock, Havaianas, Primark, Matalan - there's all sorts going on in there!

My fantasy would be to fill the newly created space with Christian Louboutin, Nicholas Kirkwood, Charlotte Olympia, YSL and Miu-miu. And maybe some Chanel and a classic pair of Church brogues. That's not to say, if you're about to chuck some gorgeous designer heels in a 7 or 8, you shouldn't chuck them my way if they're not from one of those brands. Just saying...