Good news everyone,

My friend always complained that she needed a better shoe rack. It's not that you can't buy it, but the ones you see on the market are really limited (maybe I am just too picky). LOL

There are a lot of good projects online and after some research I chose one and decided to make some improvements on it.

For credit purposes this is where I got the guidelines to build mine from:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/icandothat/
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/pegged_shoe_rack/

You have to understand that their project is really easy and, with some extra work, looks really good. My issue with it resides in the fact that I wanted to take the most out of the space we have and 3 shelves just didn't do it.

Thank you for looking and I hope you guys enjoy, and don't forget to rate it :) !!!

Step 1: Acknowledgment

I also would like to apologize in advance, during the process I ended up making 2 shoe racks, with different materials and sizes. All the measures I will provide here refer to my second one, stronger, proper, etc; either way you can adapt accordingly with your needs.

thank you !

PC

Step 2: Materials - It Cant Get Any Simpler :)

We need basically 4 types of wood:

2" X 2" Poplar (really cheap and easy to paint and the real size its really 1"1/2 X 1"1/2);
2" X 1" Poplar (again);
3/8" Dowel (pegs);
1/2" Dowel (Crossbar);
Wood glue (extra but I highly recommend).

For tools we need:

Drill;
Drill Bits (3/8 and 1/2);
Hacksaw;
Clamps (optional, but again....);
Patience (LOL).

That's it, as I said it can't get any simpler :)

Step 3: The Design

Here you have the drawings, showing what we are going to build.

Step 4: Let's Make Some Cuts !!!

I had a very specific need regarding height and width, you can adapt thes measures according to your need. The case and the rails should remain the same.

This is how I cut my wood:

Uprights: 46" (4X);
Feet: 12" (2X);
Rails: 5" (4X);
Pegs: 3" X 3/8" Dowel (16X);
Crossbar: 24" X 1/2" dowel (14X).

Step 5: Assembling the Uprights - Part 1: Drilling the Holes

Well, assuming you already made all the cuts lets start marking and drilling.

This is the first modification from the original instructions I used as reference. Instead of only drilling a few holes I decided to make one hole every inch, with exception of the ends, I left the last 2 inches without drilling because of the pegs (check the pictures). I drilled using the 1/2"drill bit.

First shoe rack I drilled using just the drill, second one I decide to use a drill press. I have to say that the drill press is way faster, but a regular drill will do just fine.

After finishing the drilling don't forget to sand it

Step 6: Assembling the Uprights - Part 2: Assembling the Uprights

First we start putting together the uprights and the rails.

Here I'm using the clamps to keep the parts together. I also put some glue to help the peg installation. The glue will allow me to remove the clamps, drill the holes to install the pegs.

Step 7: Assembling the Uprights - Part 3: Assembling the Uprights (cont.)

Once the glue is dry, we can remove the clamps and prepare to drill the holes and install the pegs.

We will drill using the 3/8" bit, we will drill 3"deep . Once you drill the holes, put a little bit of glue inside the hole (really, just a little bit) and install the pegs. You might need a hammer to seat the peg in place

Step 8: Assembling the Uprights - Part 4: Installing the Base

Well so far we did a lot of work: we cut the wood to size (or ask home depot to do it for you. LOL), we drilled all the holes to install the crossbars, we assembled the uprights, now its time to install the base.

Following the design I glued the base to the uprights, same as before it makes life easier when it's time to drill. The clamps keep the base in place until the glue is dry.

Step 9: Assembling the Uprights - Part 5: Installing the Base (cont.)

Once the base is set it's time to drill the holes for the pegs. At the bottom we are going to have 2 pegs to each upright, this way the uprights won't "twist". We are doing the same as before: mark the places you want to drill, drill using the 3/8" drill bit, put some glue inside the hole and, finally, install the peg.

Something I learned: if you put too much glue in the hole when you install the peg you might create too much pressure, because of the tight fit, the glue might come out somewhere. Pay attention and be careful. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show you, but it happens to me too.

Step 10: Assembling the Uprights - Part 6: Assembling the Crossbars

We are almost there, now that we have the uprights assembled we can install the crossbars.

The crossbar will set the width of the shoe rack. In this case I'm using an 24" dowel. I started installing 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom to make the uprights stable. After that you can start setting the others according to your needs.

Step 11: Final Product

Final product came out really good (I might say). Now she has lots of space and she can adjust the height according to her needs.

Hope you enjoy the instructable and have fun building your own.

cheers

PC

Step 12: Bonus Round !!!

Now that I have it done, my friend asked me for a second one. Since she doesn't have a lot of space inside her closet I decided to install wheels on the second one, this way she can have one in front of the other and, when needed, she can just slide one to the side and have access to the other one.

This step is just as easy as what we did so far. All you have to do is get the wheels, drill the holes on the base and attach the wheels to the rack. Done :)

Tank you again :)