It’s been a long time since I completed a COP project (Cleaning, Organizing, Purging). But over the past few days, my patience with the state of my room in our bedroom has worn thin. Right now, Matt and I are using the guest bedroom as our main bedroom and we will continue to do so until we build our addition. The addition includes a very large bedroom with a large walk-in closet and another small closet.

But for now, these two shelves surround the window…

I built those closets knowing that we would be using this bedroom as our main bedroom temporarily and I figured Matt would get one and I would get the other. But Matt doesn’t really need a full room to himself. In fact, he doesn’t need a room.

Matt has MS, and having been homebound for a decade, he doesn’t need a variety of clothes and shoes. And even now, he still doesn’t. Matt wears very comfortable clothes and only has one pair of shoes that he can withstand being on his feet with. So all his clothes fit in the bedroom dresser.

But for some reason, when I realized Matt didn’t need the room, I didn’t get another room for my stuff. Instead, I used it to store the comforter we use in the winter, the quilt that goes on the bed in this room, and the large decorative pillows, and many other things that don’t really need to be in this room.

And since I’m trying to force myself to use a small-ish closet, this is my shoe situation…

There’s no way all my shoes fit inside the closet with my clothes, so I keep the rest of my shoes neatly lined up outside the closet. But that nice lineup only lasts a few days before my shoes end up in a mound like this one. And imagine trying to step over that mound to open the closet and take off the clothes or put the clothes away!

So on Monday, I had to go to Lowe’s to pick up some things for the studio and decided to take a stroll down the shelf and closet organization aisle to see if there were any small shelves I could use around the TV. Studio. And when I’m in that aisle, I’m inspired to go ahead and buy what I need to organize that other room. I didn’t want anything expensive or elaborate, so I found a very simple closet organization solution that works in this closet to create a shoe closet.

So last night, I decided to take a couple of hours and solve my shoe storage problem. I started by clearing everything out of this room so that I had nothing but an empty box.

I started by adding these two Closetmaid ShelfTrack metal tracks for adjustable shelving. Since I was screwing these into a solid plywood backing, the process took about five minutes. Tracks come in various lengths and these 84-inch tracks fit my room perfectly.

These shelf brackets slide into notches on the tracks, so the shelves are fully adjustable to the required height.

For the actual shelves, I decided not to use the Closetmaid wire shelves made with the ShelfTrack system because I don’t really like wire shelves and thought I could find something cheaper.

I ended up using stair treads! I am very excited about finding this option. Not only are they one of the cheapest options (cheaper than 1″ x 12″ x 8-foot lumber, pre-primed MDF, etc.), but they are thicker than most standard lumber. Stair treads are actually one inch thick, while standard lumber is called 1-inch, but it’s actually three-quarters of an inch thick. These stair treads have a nice bullnose on the front edge, which I think looks great.

So I bought seven stair treads, cut them to length with my miter saw to fit inside the closet on the brackets, then sanded them before putting them in the closet. Because I wanted to finish this project quickly, I chose not to stain or paint the shelves. I haven’t cleared them, but I might end up doing it later. For now I need to get this over with quickly so I can sort my shoes and head out. I am ridiculously excited about this shoe closet.

I ended up one shelf short, so the bottom of the closet is a little cluttered. I need to get another stairwell and make room for another shelf so that those shoes currently occupy the bottom center of the room, have their own shelf.

In the process of organizing, I ended up getting rid of six pairs of shoes that I no longer wear. So this is not only an organizing project, but also a cleaning project! I am so glad I took this precaution now. And once Matt and I are done using this room as our master bedroom, the closets will be fully adjustable, so I can store anything I want in this room.

It’s one of those organizing projects that seems so trivial. I mean, it’s just a shoe closet. Also, going after this from before will have a huge impact on my life.

Being able to stand in front of that other closet to hang out or pick out an outfit without tripping over shoes would dramatically improve the way I use these closets and definitely improve my mood when I have to get them. Ready to go anywhere. I can’t believe how quickly this project shipped and I can’t believe I put it off for so long!!

Addicted 2 Decorating shares my DIY and decorating journey as I renovate and decorate the 1948 Fixer Upper that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical activity, so I do most of the housework myself. You can learn more about me here.