The Best Closet Hanging Shoe Organizer

Whether you’re low on closet space or just don’t have a good place appropriate for storing your shoes, a closet hanging shoe organizer can solve your issue. This handy accessory simply hangs down from over a door or from a closet rod to safely hold and display several pairs of shoes. You also get the benefit of a very easy installation process versus putting together alternatives like a shoe rack or installing new closet shelves.

You can find closet hanging shoe organizers with pockets, shelves or both. Which type works for you will depend on the types of shoes you want to store as well as your preferences.

Pocket shoe organizers are made of fabric or plastic and feature several rows of multiple pockets on the front. These work well for finding and grabbing shoes quickly, especially when you get one with mesh or transparent plastic pockets. Since the small pockets can be too narrow for some larger shoes, you’ll need to shop around for larger pockets when necessary.

Hanging shoe organizers with shelves usually feature one open or closed shelf per row and can accommodate larger shoes. You’ll find the shelves in various sizes depending on the model, so you have a lot of flexibility to get the right option for your shoe collection. These organizers are usually made of fabric with boards to add strength. Some models will have a few pockets to hang items from the sides too.

You can find either type of closet hanging shoe organizer in a variety of colors to fit your decor. Neutrals such as white, gray, brown and black are especially common and easy to find across manufacturers. But if you’re looking for bolder fun colors or patterns, you can shop around for manufacturers with more options.

In any case, keep the size of your shoe collection in mind as you’re comparing your options. Manufacturers specify the pocket number for pocket shoe organizers, but keep in mind these pockets might fit either one or two shoes. It’s harder to know how many shoes that organizers with shelves can hold since it will depend on how big your shoes are and how large the shelves themselves are. For example, a narrow shelf might hold one pair compared to a couple of pairs for a wide shelf.

• If you have a lot of shoes and aren’t sure where to start with putting them in your organizer, try categorizing them by shoe type. For example, if you have a pocket organizer, you might put your athletic shoes in the top row, your heels in the second row, your sandals in the third row and so on. You might also sort by the most frequently used shoes and place those pairs where you can easily grab them.
• While a closet hanging shoe organizer offers versatility for placement, check out the climate before installation. To prevent damage to your shoes, you should not place the organizer anywhere with humidity issues or extreme temperatures. A particular place you might avoid is your basement.
• Besides knowing how many pairs of shoes your potential closet hanging organizer can hold, always check the weight capacity. While you usually won’t have an issue filling the organizer with lighter shoes like flip flops, sneakers and slippers, you could run into problems with very heavy shoes like work boots. You might end up needing two organizers so you can spread out the weight of a large or heavy shoe collection.
• Before storing some shoes you won’t use for a long time, consider doing some prep work. For example, you could clean the shoes or polish them if needed. If you’re hanging the organizer in a dustier environment, it helps to put the shoes in a bag for further protection.
• If you don’t want to hang your organizer from a rod, you could do some tweaking to hang it on your wall. For example, you could remove the attached hooks, place some strong string through the organizer’s holes and then hang the organizer on some nails or hooks you have on your wall.
• If you use a closet hanging shoe organizer with small pockets, take some precautions if you plan to store small, fragile or potentially messy items such as makeup. You might consider placing the items in a zipper bag to reduce the chance of them falling out of the pocket and also catch any mess if something leaks or slips out.