See Ya, Shoe Clutter: This Clever IKEA Hack Keeps Footwear Neat And Tidy

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Keeping your shoes neat and orderly is just plain easier if you've got an IKEA IVAR pine cabinet nearby. It has two shelves and measures 31 by 12 by 33 inches, making it big enough to house more than a dozen pairs of shoes and keep your shoe clutter at bay. However, on its own, it can be a bit wobbly and hard to open, thanks to doors that scrape the floor. When you hang the cabinet on the wall, this problem goes away. As it turns out, the issue also disappears if you mount the would-be shoe cupboard on furniture legs.

Much of the construction of this creative IKEA shelf hack is taken care of thanks to the $100 IKEA cabinet kit. You'll need to assemble this, of course, but you won't need to measure and cut wood from scratch. You'll also not be required to drill holes into the wood so that you can insert the shelves into the unit. The IKEA IVAR cabinet kit is already outfitted with those, too.

However, you'll need to purchase the furniture legs to attach to the cabinet separately. Any type of screw-on replacement chair legs will work, though adding a set of four Btibpse Store Natural Wood 2.7-Inch Round Ball Shape Furniture Legs creates a cool visual juxtaposition, with the round legs augmenting the boxy look of the rectangular cabinet. Tall, thin furniture legs would be a lovely option, too. If you go that route, consider something like WEKIS Store's 6-Inch Wooden Retro Sofa Replacement Legs. This project additionally calls for a drill, a measuring tape, and a pencil.

To implement this genius shoe storage idea, you'll need to completely assemble the IVAR cabinet according to the IKEA construction. The kit comes with the two shelves as well as all the screws and hinges you need to do the basic construction. Follow the instructions to put the cabinet together, though you may want to wait to put the doors on until after you've added the legs.

Next, lay the IKEA IVAR cabinet on its back and mark four spots on the bottom. These should be evenly spaced and about 3/4 of an inch to an inch inside the borders of the bottom of the cabinet. Once you have the spots marked and are satisfied with their placement, drill holes all the way through the bottom of the cabinet (the instructions for whichever furniture legs you've purchased should be able to guide you more specifically for this step). Once you make the holes, screw the legs on and add the doors if you didn't do it in an earlier step.

The IVAR cabinet comes unfinished from IKEA, so if you'd like to dress it up a bit, add paint or stain to the cabinet. The round furniture legs are a natural wood color. You can try to match them with a light stain. Or you can create some visual drama by coloring the cabinet a darker hue and leaving the legs as is. Finally, lining the cabinet's interior with some BOKEBEVE Store Retro Peel and Stick Wallpaper Vintage Leaf Floral Wall Paper would finish things off and make the IKEA shoe cabinet look stunningly vintage to boot.