Shoe Rack Project

Well, since we are in our 4th day of rain and I can't get at the vines over-running some of the old garden beds, I'm working on the next indoors project. I decided to build a shoe rack to get all the various shoes and boots up off the floor and closet. The closet floor space is too valuable as storage for boxes, and it is a pain to vacuum the floor with all those shoes. The vacuum is adept at grabbing stray shoelaces with the rotating brusher head...

The shoe rack is going up on the wall to make it easier to vacuum. To be honest, I had planned the shoe rack at the same time as I did the hat rack, so I cut, chamfered and stained the boards at the same time.



Yes, that's the same photo as for the hatrack. I did all the boards for both projects at the same time. :)

I assembled the frame today. I would have assembled the whole thing but I discovered a problem. (I almost feel like I am writing “how not to” descriptions of my projects). While I’ve built 2 decks, a fence and a shed, I have seldom done any furniture type items and “sturdy” was more important than fine “craftsmanship”. So I’m learning that part as I go. There is a reason I am starting with really simple stuff…

Mistake – There are 2 boards to attach the whole thing to the wall. The sides attach to the wall boards, and the shelves attach to the sides. Somehow, I got the shelves 1/8” longer than the wall attachment boards. I had to rip the shelves shorter to fit.



I was VERY careful to make sure I got that right! I measured twice, cut a piece of scrap wood to fit, and used that to position a stop block at my radial saw. I tested the first shelf I cut and it fit perfectly. Then I cut the other 2 shelves to match

But I had to sand, restain and polyurathane the cut edge. So I have to wait until tomorrow to finish the assembly…