I got tired of tripping over my shoes on the bedroom floor, so I began looking for a shoe storage unit. Nothing suited my needs, and since my wife and I are re-decorating our house to look like a beach cottage, I decided to draw up some plans myself to suit our specific needs.
I first created the outside box out of ¾” plywood that had been sheeted with red oak on both sides. I put this together with some glue and 16 wood screws. After finishing the exterior box, I decided that everything else would be assembled with glue and wood clamps.
Next, using a 4’ x 6’ sheet of 3/8” red oak, I measured and cut the shelves on my table saw. I decided to support the shelves top and bottom with tapered red oak stock. Having not been too careful with the plans, I was surprised that I needed 64 red oak supports for the shelves. Each one had to be routed and shaped and that process took many days. There are 16 shoe shelves and the entire front is finished with stringers of 1” red oak taken from a 6’ x 3” plank. Each stringer and shelf support was shaped by my Ryobi table router and Corner Cat sander. To create a more finished look, I routed a channel in the back of all the stringers just offsetting the horizontal pieces so that there would be more wood below the shelf than above. I was amazed at the length of time necessary to fit, glue and clamp each of the pieces and finally got into a rhythm of gluing one area and shaping another.
The final unit came out just as my wife and I wanted and I’ve gotten many compliments on it. Meanwhile, my shoes are off the floor.
I got tired of tripping over my shoes on the bedroom floor, so I began looking for a shoe storage unit. Nothing suited my needs, and since my wife and I are re-decorating our house to look like a beach cottage, I decided to draw up some plans myself to suit our specific needs. I first created the outside box out of ¾” plywood that had been sheeted with red oak on both sides. I put this together with some glue and 16 wood screws. After finishing the exterior box, I decided that everything else would be assembled with glue and wood clamps. Next, using a 4’ x 6’ sheet of 3/8” red oak, I measured and cut the shelves on my table saw. I decided to support the shelves top and bottom with tapered red oak stock. Having not been too careful with the plans, I was surprised that I needed 64 red oak supports for the shelves. Each one had to be routed and shaped and that process took many days. There are 16 shoe shelves and the entire front is finished with stringers of 1” red oak taken from a 6’ x 3” plank. Each stringer and shelf support was shaped by my Ryobi table router and Corner Cat sander. To create a more finished look, I routed a channel in the back of all the stringers just offsetting the horizontal pieces so that there would be more wood below the shelf than above. I was amazed at the length of time necessary to fit, glue and clamp each of the pieces and finally got into a rhythm of gluing one area and shaping another. The final unit came out just as my wife and I wanted and I’ve gotten many compliments on it. Meanwhile, my shoes are off the floor.
