The one clutter pain point that often ends up being overlooked is the shoe rack or the entryway of your home where all the shoes get parked or the kids’ shoes that are strewed about in every corner of your living room. Well, you know you need shoes to protect your feet and to live a comfortable life. But how to fight the clutter that is caused by the innumerable pair of shoes that you own? And how to make space for the new ones?
Let’s face the reality! Given how long it took you to have a perfect shoe collection and how expensive these items can be, it’s always hard to get rid of them. While some of them hold fond memories, others were too pricey to be able to let go of. Whatever the reason, remember that your shoe rack has a limited storage space and sooner or later, you will have to brace yourself to declutter it.
If you are looking to declutter your shoe closet but can’t decide how to go about it, here are a few tips and tricks to guide you through it:
1. Decide On The Number Of Shoes You Can Keep Depending Upon The Space
If you currently own 50 pairs of shoes, it’s actually practically impossible to wear all of them on a regular basis. And the pressure of making the most of these shoes will only stop you from enjoying the ones that you really love.
As you begin to declutter your shoe collection, think about the storage space or the room you’ve got to store your shoes depending on which you can decide on the number of pairs you can keep. It can be 5, 10, 20 or 50. The goal here is to keep decluttering until your shoe collection perfectly fits the available space.
2. Decide On The Footwears You Need To Let Go Of
The biggest worry you will come across while decluttering shoes is deciding on the pairs that you need to get rid of. You may find yourself gazing at pairs that you haven’t worn in years while looking for one reason to hold on to them. It will be hard to discard shoes that were bought with your hard-earned money, but you need to remind yourself how the every-growing pile of shoes comes falling down every time you open the shoe rack.
While deciding which all pairs of shoes you need to get rid of, ask yourself a few questions in order to make sure that you only keep the ones that are worth occupying a space in your closet:
- Does it have a match? – There might be shoes that would have lost their match and are no longer wearable. These are always the first ones that are required to be decluttered (after you’ve looked everywhere for the missing shoe).
- Is it comfortable? – Are there shoes that hurt your feet and aren’t too comfortable to wear? If the answer is yes, you know that it’s in your best interest to let go of them as soon as possible.
- Does it fit you? – Shoes that don’t fit you today are unlikely to fit you anytime in the future which makes it pretty obvious that they need to leave your closet at the soonest. However, if they are in a good condition and can fit someone else in your house, do opt to give them away.
- Is it wearable or damaged? – If you find a shoe that is not wearable because the sole or the footbed is out of place, see if you can get them repaired. I rarely find this option helpful because women’s shoes aren’t always repairable and the cost of repair isn’t always worth it. If you think that it’s not worth your time and money to get the shoes repaired, get rid of them.
- When is the last time that you wore it? – No matter how wearable it is or how much money you spent on it, if it’s a shoe that you haven’t worn in the last 6 months or a year, it’s evident that you don’t like it enough. And there’s no reason why you should hold on to something that you no longer like. However, if you suddenly happen to find a missing pair of shoes hidden in some corner of your house and you decide to start wearing it more often, do it by all means.
- Is it trendy or out of style? – Are there shoes sitting idle in your closet because they have gone out of trend and you no longer want to wear them? Well, maybe it’s sign that you should get rid of them.
- Does it go with many outfits, or only a particular one? – Any pair of shoes that you haven’t worn in the last few months because it only goes with a particular outfit should be dealt with at the soonest. Think if the outfit in question is still wearable or the pair of shoes can be matched with another similar outfit. If not, let go of it.
3. What To Do with Decluttered Shoes?
Dealing with the decluttered pile of shoes is as important as the actual decluttering job. You can’t just throw aside the shoes you don’t need and expect them to walk out to the trash bin on their own. In short, there’s no point decluttering your shoe rack if it isn’t dealt with in a proper manner.
If you’re looking for methods to properly dispose of the declutter pile, here are a few ways you can do that:
- Donate – Many NGOs and national charities work towards making material things available to the ones who need them. If there are shoes in your declutter pile that are wearable, try and find a good local/national charity that can make them accessible to people who are less fortunate.
- Give Away To Friends/Family – I had two pairs of shoes that I stopped wearing years ago because I didn’t like them much. I didn’t want to throw them away because they were expensive and forever trendy. Fortunately, I had family members who loved those shoes and gladly accepted them. Many people I know gift away the shoes that are intact to close friends and family who would happily wear them. You can also be the one on the receiving end of it if a sister or a family member of yours has a pair of shoes in their declutter pile that you won’t mind wearing.
- Trash – Donation/gifting isn’t an option for the shoes that are damaged, torn or broken. Make sure that you trash these shoes at the soonest or they will end up cluttering your living space.
So are you ready to declutter your shoes? If yes, I hope the above-mentioned tips come to your rescue and help you carry out the job with utmost ease.
If there are any other shoe decluttering tips and tricks that you would like to share, feel free to drop a comment below or write me at hello@theaestheticabode.com.