Photography: Hannah Puechmarin / Styling: Cheryl Carr
If you like your guests to take their shoes off at the front door, you need a good storage solution to avoid it looking like a dumping site.
It’s difficult to keep a home entrance clutter-free. We hang coats, discard keys and drop bags, often leaving them there as we continue our lives inside. Add the removal of shoes, and it’s one more item to store away neatly and keep the vibes high at your entryway.
Despite any storage conundrums, some households are vehemently ‘shoes off’. We recently asked MasterChef winner Laura Sharrad about her shoes-on/shoes-off preferences, to which she firmly said “shoes off!”
I grew up in a very strict Italian household,” she revealed on The Edit podcast. “Going to Nonna’s house? No shoes [were allowed]. It was, ‘take your shoes off outside and bring your slippers, and put them on inside.’ There was never a crossover. Those outside shoes never touched the inside of the house.”
Listen to Laura Sharrad on The Edit podcast:
If you’re like Laura and live in a ‘shoes-off household’, you may be looking for a neat solution for storing your shoes once they’re off your feet. Scroll on for shoe storage ideas for your entryway.
Front door storage solutions for your shoes
Console or hall table
A versatile solution for any interior style or entryway size, you can find all manner of hallway consoles to fit your needs. These long, slim side tables sit close to the wall, and are functional without consuming the space. If you’re looking to store shoes, look for a console with a low shelf. In lieu of this, consider how you could utilise the space beneath, e.g. with storage baskets, boxes or chests.
Casa Console Table,
$699, Castlery
Majorca Console Table,
$349.99, Mocka
Vintage Console Table,
$1.299, Freedom
Hall stand
Also sometimes called a ‘hall tree’, these vertical furnishings offer storage for shoes, coats, hats and more. With a mix of bench, shelf and/or hook storage, it’s a great solution for people with spacious entrances, and more provincial, classic or country-skewed home styles.
Kinman 4 Shelf Hall Tree,
$179.99, Temple & Webster
Erin Coat Rack & Shoe Cabinet,
$169, Freedom
Alice Hallway Stand,
$329, Living Styles
Black Lucella Hall Tree,
$234, Temple & Webster
Sideboard
This entrance features an antique sideboard from Lucinda Rose. (Photographer: Nic Gossage; Stylist: Lisa Burden)
For truly discrete shoe storage, nothing hides mess like the closed cabinet doors of a sideboard! The world is your oyster when it comes to style choices, just observe height and width measurements to ensure your buffet isn’t too bulky. (Or too thin, rendering it useless!) If you have a warehouse or Scandinavian style home, you can even try funky, locker-style storage.
Ollie Sideboard,
$2,299, Lounge Lovers
TheMidi in Slate,
$499, Mustard Made
Hastings Buffet – Olive Green
$399.99, Mocka
Posey Sideboard
$2,199, Castlery
Shoe rack
A shoe rack is another storage solution that can be found for all manner of styles. This style of open shelving will require a diligent eye to ensure it stays neat, but it can provide an easy, portable option for filing footwear away. While there is an abundance of timber shoe racks for your consideration, if you have a more modern or eclectic home, you can get away with a
Designstuff Forma shoe rack
$129.90, The Iconic
Sitka Shoe Rack with Curved Sides,
$69.95, Freedom
Kallso Bench with Shoe Storage,
$119, IKEA
2 Tier Metal Mesh Shoe Rack,
$21, Kmart
Storage bench
Depending on where your home entrance is, you may like some extra seating along with your shoe storage. Bench seating naturally leans towards rustic homes with a love of timber, but there are plenty of velvet fabric or minimal, scandi-style alternatives, if this is more your jam. Use the wall space above your bench seat to hang wall hooks (more storage!) or a beautiful art work.
Walnut Shoe Storage Bench with Cushion,
$599.99, Homary
Quilt cover in butter yellow,
$409, Living Styles
Cargo Timber Blanket Box,
$1,240, Ecosa
Idris Shoe Storage Bench,
$87.95, Temple & Webster
Basket
The ultimate budget storage solution, a large basket can be a rustic piece of decor and a fuss-free container for shoes. A standalone woven basket is the way to go, working with a number of home styles. (Farmhouse, Hamptons — you name it!) Ensure it’s more deep than shallow for a more discreet solution.
Loire Round Basket,
$89.95, Freedom
Palm Hunter Green Large Storage Basket with Handles,
$185.97, Etsy
Kiondo Floor Basket XL,
$378, Wolf & Badger
Openook Large Round Natural Rope Basket,
$29, Big W
Built-in storage
The expert-level entryway storage solution is having built in storage, akin to a mudroom. This is particularly useful if there are dual entrances to your house, as with Laura Sharrad’s former home which had a laundry entrance via the garage. If you already have a linen closet built-in near your entrance, you can also consider interior shelving, shoe organiser hangings or other over-the-door shoe storage.
While you can factor built-in entryway storage into your next renovation, an intermediate solution can be found in wall-mountable closets, shelves and cabinetry.
Gullaberg Shoe Cabinet,
$199, IKEA
Noosa Rattan Slim Bookcase,
$249.99, Mocka
Pax / Bergsbo Wardrobe Combination,
From $1,173, IKEA
Billy / Oxberg Bookcase with Doors,
$429, IKEA
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