Do you have a good system for storing shoes and bags, or are your shoes and bags taking over your home? Does it take you half an hour to track down that one pair of red shoes you know you have lurking in your house somewhere the one time a year you actually need to wear them? 

If that sounds like you, these tips for storing shoes and bags will be a real game-changer. Let’s take a look at how you can get this problem under control and know exactly where everything is at all times. It’s easier than you think!

Less is more

I used to live in a bigger apartment, which meant more places for storing shoes and bags. I overbought, and then we downsized and that was when I discovered something really important: less is more.

I’m not going to tell you that you have to get rid of all of your shoes and bags. Instead, let’s think of your house as a museum and you’re the curator. Which shoes and bags deserve your precious space? 

I like to look at each item and ask myself, “If I saw this in a shop right now, would I buy it?”

If the answer is no, I get rid of it. It’s brutal, but it works.

What to keep

If the answer to the above question is yes, you might keep it, but there are other questions to ask yourself.

Do I use it regularly? Does it fit my lifestyle?

DISCLAIMER: Do NOT throw out your entire shoe collection because you’re only wearing bed slippers right now 🤣 (#covid19lifestyle)

Keep shoes that are comfortable, that you wear often, and that match the style and colours of your current wardrobe. If nothing quite fits that bill, consider donating or giving away all of your shoes and invest in a few practical pairs that do. 

If you end up with a lot of shoes and/or bags that you are convinced you need to keep after answering these questions:

I suggest running it through the black bag method. Place the ones you’re not sure about in a black bag and put it in storage out of sight. If you need something one day, take it out, but after six months, anything in there that you haven’t used should be given away.

After curating your collection, if you still have too much to store:

Divide it by season. Make a pile of summer shoes like sandals, and put winter shoes, like boots, in another pile. Then, keep the out-of-season shoes in places that are harder to reach, like on high shelves.

Don’t have any high shelves? Consider installing some in your laundry room or storage room. Don’t let that space near the ceiling go to waste! You could also consider using under-the-bed storage. 

Store similar items together, and you can even take photos of what’s inside each box and stick it somewhere on the outside of the box so you can find things more easily later. After all, if you can’t find it, you’ll never use it – in which case you didn’t need to keep it in the first place!

What about bags?

You’re going to have to be a bit more ruthless when looking at bags. They might be fun to buy, but they take up a lot of space.

Spending money on a bag is not reason enough to keep it; the only reason should be that you’re using it. Otherwise, you’re just occupying space and holding onto something that someone else could be using.

Of course, you might have a few bags that you don’t use regularly but can’t really give away, like that black clutch you use just for weddings a few times a year. I like to place smaller, less-used bags standing up in a box that I store on a high shelf.

When storing your bags, keep in mind that you can stuff smaller bags into bigger ones that need to hold their shape. You could also store empty grocery bags inside these bags. Of course, if you have any expensive ones, store them inside their dust bags.

When it comes to storing shoes and bags, you need to be methodical and very, very careful about not overbuying or holding on to items you don’t use often enough. You might be surprised by how much space you have in your house once you get organised!

PS: If you’d rather watch the video version of this, you can watch a Facebook live session I’d recorded here.

Also, I get rather creative with storing my stuff all over the house, and you might want to have a look at what I store where right here.

Love,

Nakita xxx