The Smart Way To Repurpose A CD Rack For Extra Shoe Storage

If you are of a certain age, you remember CD racks, which have now become one of those nostalgic home items that most of us no longer have on display. But if you do still have one sitting in the garage or you come across one at a flea market or on Facebook Marketplace, don't dismiss it so fast — those tall and narrow frames that once proudly displayed your favorite albums can actually make surprisingly great shoe storage. Their shape is perfect to get tucked into small spaces, and their evenly spaced slots can keep shoes upright and organized without taking up much floor room. Simply slide your shoes into the units for a convenient storage system. Just make sure you find a good study one, preferably made from wood or metal, so that it can hold the weight of bulkier footwear. 

Coming across a find like this or repurposing a long-forgotten household item is an incredibly thrifty move, and once you're on this kind of home organization roll, you might find yourself looking at every piece of unused furniture with new eyes.

Making a CD rack shoe holder work for your space

Once you've found an old CD rack, and maybe given it a little spruce up with a lick of paint, it's time to think about where it's going. For shoe storage, hallways, closets, or entryways are always ideal. Even the corner of a bedroom can work if you are tight on space — just make sure to measure the your rack and the space it's going into before you commit to a purchase. And if you have a lot bigger footwear like big boots or platform trainers, it may even be worth measuring your shoes against the rack space, too. Yes, picking the right shoe storage for your footwear can feel daunting, but starting with something secondhand (or that you already had that was gathering dust) make the whole process less stressful, not to mention a lot more sustainable.

If you're a DIY-master who wants to take things up a notch, there are ways to personalize this hack. Consider wrapping the frame with rattan for a more natural look, lining the shelves with mats to prevent the shoes from scuffing, or even adding small hooks from where you can hang other bits and bobs such as keys or extra shoelaces. And if you find an old rack that your shoe collection won't fit into, don't toss it out — after all, other ways to repurpose CD and DVD storage racks around your home include turning them into toilet paper holders or even DIY wine racks. Old CD and DVD racks can even be transformed into planters or bathroom organizers. The possibilities for these nifty little racks stretch far beyond what they were originally made for, which makes the whole repurposing thing less about 1990-2000s nostalgia and more about ingenuity.

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