DIY PVC Wall Mounted Closet Shoe Rack

Intro: DIY PVC Wall Mounted Closet Shoe Rack

We had a problem at my house. We have a lot of shoes and I may or may not be guilty of being too lazy to put them back at the end of the day. This meant our closet had become a bit of a hazard. In order to get clothes out of the closet we had to hope to navigate the minefield of shoes all over the closet floor. We had about a 50% success rate and my wife wasn't having it anymore. Drastic measured where required!

To combat my own laziness I thought of this shoe rack. I had seen prettier and more crafty shoe racks done in a similar fashion online and thought it might be cool to to take the concept and mount it to the wall. The end result may have saved a marriage. (-;

STEP 1: Materials List

I went out to the hardware store to find the largest PVC I could find. I ended up using drainage pipe instead because it was a lot cheaper and just as easy to work with.

2X: 10 foot long 6 inch in diameter drainage pipe

1X: Giant bottle of Gorilla Glue

6X: Clamps or locking pliers

6X: Metal L brackets with 2 pre-drilled holes on each side

12X: Nuts and bolts for attaching the shoe rack to the L brackets

12X: Wall mounting hardware (varies depending on type of wall)

1X: Hacksaw and/or Jig Saw for cutting

STEP 2: The Build Steps

1: First you need to cut the PVC to a matching length. I cut mine at 12 inches each but you could probably get away with cutting them at 10 inches and needing less of it. To get a straight cut I cut a cereal box so that I had a long piece of thin cardboard with a straight edge on one side. Then I measured 12 inches and wrapped the piece of cardboard around the 12 inch line. When the two ends of the cardboard overlapped and where even I knew I had it "square" and ran my pen around it to give myself a good line.

2: Now that all my cutting lines had been drawn I used a hacksaw to put a small cut over each line. I didn't complete the cut. Instead I went back and used my jigsaw to complete the cut to give me a better chance of keeping a straight cut. This worked pretty well.

3: Now I used whatever sandpaper I had lying around to sand down any rough edges

4: Paint, I spent a lot of time painting the outside of the PVC. Here is the thing though, if this is going to be mounted in a closet then NO ONE will ever be able to see it from the side. I'd save the time and skip this step now that I know better.

5: Glue, glue and more Glue! I tried using PVC glue but because I used the softer drainage material it didn't work well. Then I tried using 5 minute epoxy, nope! Gorilla glue did the trick perfectly and now my 5 year old can literally hang form this thing. Just get the pipe damp with a cloth and then glue (not too much as it expands as it dries). Immediately clamp the glued pipe together at each end. Wait a few hours and its done!

6: I drilled holes into the pipe and used the bolts to secure the L brackets to the now together shoe rack. I used 6 in total, 2 on the top, 2 in the middle and 2 on the bottom. That worked great and this is now the sturdiest thing in my house.

7: Mount it. I held it up on the wall to see where it should be and marked with pen the spots that the mounting hardware should go to. Then drill a few holes, add the hardware and you should be done.

STEP 3: Just Add Shoes

We did this a few months back and it is by far the longest we have ever had a clean closet. Its amazing what a difference having your shoes at eye level and off of the floor will do.

As a side benefit we had a bunch of extra pipe so drilled some holes, added some textured paint and ended up with some awesome new candle holders for some of those flame-less candles we had lying around.

Comments

[ProfessorKens]

Excellent instructable with clear details and a bit of humor.
I've used PVC, ABS, P.I.P. drain pipe, and form tube (Sonitube) to store all sorts of stuff i my garage. I've never built one for shoes since I only have the one pair. Suggestion for those wanting to store heavier items:
1.Get a piece of scrap plywood, MDF, OSB, or other sturdy sheet material and cut a circle to match inside diameter of the tube.
2. Glue said circle in one end of tube (I use brad nails to hold it while glue sets)
3. Mount to wall with whatever hardware is appropriate.
To hold things that might want to roll out, cut tube on a bias at a shallow angle and make back piece an ellipse. This way tube will pitch up from ground.
I've quite literally stored rocks in one that was 12" in diameter and 14" long with the tybe made of cardboard form tube.

[panks]

fabulous idea!

[panks]

fabulous idea!

[sdrobert]

Where did you happen to find the smooth drainage pipe? All i can find is the corrugated.

[jeanniel1]

Ha ha! Love this! I need to do this - my daughter has a million pairs of shoes - I'll bet I can make slightly smaller pipes to hold the socks that normally lie everywhere, too!

[RickN10]

That is a great idea, I bet a smaller size would fit socks and fit inside a dresser drawer as well. I might have to try that.

[LauraE5]

Just thinking that if you do this for smaller children or ladies with small feet, you could use coffee containers(Folgers comes in nice round container) and this project would be extremely inexpensive.

[Fly4aWhiteGuy]

PVC pipe gets really expensive in large sizes. Even drain pipe is not cheap.

[chrispix]

Agreed. This similar project uses concrete forms, which are lighter and cheaper: https://www.instructables.com/id/Shoe-Storage-Made-from-Cardboard-Pipe/

[Kaljakaaleppi]

Smaller lenghts of pipe are easily scavenged from construcctiuon sites. A short one has no use in a building so it gets scrapped.

I did one like this but with pipe (scavenged) with a diameter of approximately 30 (40?) cm. We store the kids stuff in it...

[Glenn Spray]

Great Idea , just had a thought if you box it in ,no need for glue , this is gonna sort my under stairs closet out , once and for all !!!

[rolandcontreras]

Briljant idea!

[thundrepance]

i've 'pinned' this idea in the past, but without any instructions. great job; thanx!! ☺

[davideager]

Great Idea. Just thinking about how the pipes get held together. I wonder if gutter bolts or pop rivets might work. Should just about be enough space inside the pipe for a pop rivet tool, especially if the rivits are closer to the pipe ends

[n7twt]

That is a good idea and I think I will make it for my wife.. It would not work for me because my shoe size is 18.

[skiwolf9]

3 things you have to have and WTF did we do before these....PVC, Gorilla Glue, and Duct Tape. And the Gorilla Tape I've found is actually stronger than Duct Tape. I've made reflector frames, light banks and diffusion banks for my Studio, locker shelf brackets, frames for rear storage in my SUV, green houses, garden gates to keep my Siberian Husky's from eating vegetables in said green houses, training aids for speed and conditioning, Lacrosse goals, Air pumps, Hockey gear drying racks and some I can't remember right now out of PVC pipe.

[RobF10]

What's your opinion on Duct Glue?

[jvandeyacht]

Not sure about duct glue but roadt duck is awesome... ;)

[skiwolf9]

Never used it or heard of it.

[Hack42Mack]

Sweet idea. I saw it already in use (for some decennia) in El Corte, Nijmegen, NL.

It's where the regulars store their dancing shoes.

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-netherlands-nijmegen-international-week-at-tango-school-`el-corte`-42256523.html