You are probably familiar with the situation: Friends (or in the worst case, relatives) are coming to visit and corridor is blocked with a heap of shoes.

Here is easy and really cheap solution for the problem.

First step is of course to clear the area. Black huge plastic bags are good option. Fill the bag with shoes and you are ready to begin.

Step 1: Measurements

When you have cleared the perimeter, you can finally measure the area where you are planning to place your shoe rack.

We actually need one measurement, width. In my case this was 60cm.

Step 2: Get to the Work

Find suitable pieces of wood.

You can of course buy those, but I used some random length scrap wood pieces. I choose wood which was 45x45mm and 25x45mm and 25x75mm (or 2" x 2", 1" x 2" and 1" x 3").

You also need screws. Every handyman knows that you must save every random screw in a "magic box". If you have not started to collect such box, start now. It will save you many times in the future. You never know when you need that odd sized screw together with a hook and a two different sizes of nails...

So find some screws ready. The lenght of the screws of course depends on the size of wood you choose to use. Just be sure they are long enough. I needed ones which were 45-60mm long. Some where bit different than other, because the "magic box" can provide only limited supply of certain sized screws.

You also need some basic tools:

Screwdriver (cordless drill)
Saw
Measuring tape
Angle tool (I really don't know what is the name of this tool... but you use it to mark straight angles...)

Step 3: The Foundation

Now you must decide how tall you want your shoe rack to be.

I choose the height of the rack to be 35cm. This is bit thight height but the shoes will fit nicely in this one. If you use thinner wood pieces than I did you will get some extra space.

Saw the corner pieces to same lenght (35cm).

You now also need two support beams with a length of 25cm and one support beam with the chosen widht (60cm).

Screw the corner pieces as shown in the picture. The long support beam is going to be at the back side of the rack.

Step 4: The Ikea Time

The next pieces I didn't even measure. You can use longer ones than in the picture, because eventually you will saw them to the correct size.

For the measurement I placed the second shelf supports to rest nicely on the floor and the upper edge resting towards the top supporting beam.

Then you can add the bottom shelf pieces. They are of course again the same length as you shoe rack is wide. In my case 60cm.

As you can see from the second picture, one of the 25x45 pieces is placed directly on the corner pieces. This way we created a stopper from shoes to fell from the angled shelf. Simplest solutions are usually the best.

Step 5: More Ikea Time

Add now the pieces to form the top shelf.

When you are ready with the shelves, saw the extra length off from the "angled support beams" from the rear of the rack. (second picture).

Your shoe rack is ready for the test run.

Step 6: Grand Opening

Place the shoe rack on it's place. If everything went as planned, it should fit nicely.

There is only two small things to do anymore.

One: You must find a name for your rack! This is very important. You can choose to use some Swedish names, such as Igmar or Karlsson. They make good impression and give your rack a nice nordic feeling.

Two: Fill your rack with shoes.

Step 7: Optional Steps

To give your shoe rack a nice finishing, you can sandpaper it and of course paint or wax it. This will make the shoe rack of course much nicer and also it will last longer this way.

If you are very handy, you can as well decorate it as you wish.

My shoe rack was intended to be very temporary solution... And we all know that nothing is more permanent than temporary...