How to Make a Shoe Organizer Into a Device Organizer

With me being in a family of five and each of us having our own phones and devices, we were quickly losing desk space to multiple devices and a jumble of cords. So my mother and I came up with these slight adjustments to a shoe organizer so that it can be used for storage. Not only putting devices in them but having them charge as well. And it may or may not have turned into a spot where we just put everything we can fit into a shoe sized pocket.

Step 1: Things You'll Need

To make this organizer you'll need:

A shoe organizer

A power strip

A roll or two of any kind of tape (I recommend a clearer tape)

Some lengths of string (shoe strings work great)

A pair of scissors

And some type of glue (I used hot glue but any stronger type glue will work, think anything but Elmer's)

Step 2: Forming a Pocket to Hold the Power Strip

In order to charge our devices that are stored in the pockets, we need to attach a power strip in some way. We did this by creating a pocket at the bottom of our shoe organizer. Between each row of pockets is some space of just fabric. These clearances are good spots to bend the organizer at to create the pocket. Place your organizer with the pockets facing down. Lay your power strip at the bottom of your organizer and find the easiest way to bend the very bottom of your organizer up and over your power strip. Mark or remember where the bottom corners and edge of the folded up portion meet the main body of the organizer.

Step 3: Completing the Pocket

Now that we know how we want our pocket to take shape around our power strip, we need to attach the bottom portion we are folding up to the main body to complete the pocket. To do this we will need six, 3 to 4 inch lengths of string. You need 6 for each pocket you are going to make. For this particular shoe organizer I made two pockets. If the lengths of string you cut do not have a plastic tip on the ends, take some tape and wrap it around the tips so that the string doesn't fray and eventually come undone. Attach the string to the corners and the middle edge of the portion you are folding up using your glue. Also attach the string where you marked earlier, where the corners and middle edge meets the main body of the organizer again. Simply tie the strings together somewhat tightly, so that the folded up portion just about touches the main body.

Step 4: Multiple Power Strip Pockets

Depending on how long your shoe organizer is, you may be able to make more than one pocket to hold a power strip. For this particular organizer I made two pockets. The process is the same as in step three: form your pocket around the power strip, cut six lengths of string and attach them. While there aren't any corners or edges in the middle of the organizer, when holding your pocket in shape you can see where you need to attach your strings. attach the strings where your folded up section touches the main body of the organizer. complete your pocket by tying together the strings. With the completion of each pocket, put your power strip into each and make sure that each pocket will hold together with the power strip in them.

Step 5: Making Holes to Put Charging Cords Through

The last thing we need to do to complete our charging organizer is to cut holes into each of the pockets we want to having charging cords ran through. First off, decide where you are going to have the holes located. I recommend that they be somewhere near the top of the corresponding pocket as it is easier to attach to the device and also the cord will stay in the pocket instead of falling out the back. Once you've decided where your holes will be, put a couple strips of tape around the area on both the front and back. This will help the fabric from not fraying and deteriorating over time. Pinch the fabric and the tape to make your cut, but make sure that the plastic pocket on the front side is well away from the fabric so you do not cut through it as well. Make about a half inch cut into your pinched taped section to create the hole. Repeat this same procedure for every pocket that you will want to put a charging device into.

Step 6: Completed Charging Organizer

Your charging organizer is now complete! Hang it up wherever it's the most convenient for you, insert your power strip(s) into your pockets and plug them in. Plug whatever adapters you need into the power strips, run your charging cords through the holes and you can now charge your devices in a well organized manner. For this particular organizer, I use it mainly to put my everyday carry items all together in one place. Namely my keys, wallet, and my charging cell phone. The pockets on this particular organizer are a little to small for devices like tablets and larger devices such as those. However, some slight modification to the pockets may allow such devices to fit. You may want to explore some different shoe organizers and the size of the pockets, compared to my particular shoe organizer, if you want to put larger devices into them.