Making your own shoe cabinet

Want to make your own shoe cabinet? Ideal for neatly storing the shoes of your partner, your children and yourself. But, how do you make a cut-to-size shoe cabinet? At TOSIZE.se, we're happy to help you get started. And we provide perfectly cut-to-size sheet material. How convenient!

So time to make your own cut-to-size shoe cabinet. The beauty of this DIY project is that you decide exactly how the shoe cabinet will look and what you want to do with it.

So you can use a shoe cabinet as a partition wall or make the cabinet exactly cut-to-size for your living room, utility room or hallway. You can also combine a shoe cabinet well with a coat rack

How to make a cut-to-size shoe cabinet, we explain below.

What items do you need to make a shoe cabinet?

Before you start working on your shoe cabinet, it is useful to gather the right materials. Get the following items ready before you start your job:

  • Graph paper, pencil, eraser, ruler: for drawing your shoe cabinet
  • Cordless drill: to easily pre-drill holes and screw screws into your material
  • Wood glue: can be used to glue different boards together as required
  • Primer, edge sealer, lacquer: most TOSIZE.se wood still needs to be finished.
  • Sandpaper: always handy to have with you, to smooth away unevenness or clean up your drill holes
  • Tape measure or folding rule: to measure out your shoe cabinet exactly and order the right size of sheet material from us
  • Screws: to join the different parts together

In which room will you put the shoe cabinet?

Do you already know in which room you will put the cut-to-size shoe cabinet? In the hall, your living room, in your bedroom or in the shed perhaps? This has consequences for the functionality of your cabinet, but also for the finish. 

A shoe cabinet placed in your living room you might want to add extra space for other things. Moreover, you want a cabinet in your living room to have a neat neat finish and be able to close it with nice doors. For a shoe storage in your shed, raw sheet material might suffice and you can just leave the front open.
 
Either way, it's your job, it's your choices. Think carefully before you start drawing the shoe cabinet.

How to make a drawing for a shoe cabinet?

You now know in which room you will place the shoe cabinet and you have also thought about what your shoe cabinet will look like. 

To order all sheet materials precisely cut-to-size in our webshop, you need to make a drawing or sketch of your project. You do this simply with a pencil, graph paper and an eraser. Start by sketching your idea. 

By putting your design on paper, you force yourself to think carefully about each element and its fixings. For example, how will you connect the corners? Will you use corner anchors or screw the boards together directly?

We can also mitre-cut the board material for you. Then you create invisible joints. See our finishing options for more information.

When making the final drawing, it may also be smart to use tape to mark off the outside dimensions of your shoe cabinet on the wall. That way you can see exactly how much space your cabinet will take up in the room later. 

Ultimately, it's about working out the sketch in such a way that you know the exact measurements of all the materials needed. Also take into account the external and internal dimensions. Using this list, you can order your board material in our web shop. This way, you don't have to saw your wood at home: that saves a lot of work.

Tip: you can mark each board with the label of your choice when you place your order. That way, once your wood is delivered to your home, you will know exactly which board belongs where in your design.

How big is a shoe cabinet?

When making a shoe cabinet, it is smart to take into account the shoe size of yourself and your housemates. Measure the largest shoes and make sure the inside size of your cabinet is slightly larger than that. Then you can be sure they will fit later. 

Generally, most shoe cabinets are about 30.0 cm deep. But, a size 45 shoe might just barely fit in there.
 
The width and height of the shoe cabinet depends a lot on the room you put it in. But, also for the width, it is wise to measure some shoes and make sure you can fit, say, 3 or 4 pairs of shoes next to each other.

What material do you use for a shoe cabinet?

Actually, almost all sheet materials in our web shop suffice to make a good shoe cabinet. Think of MDF, plywood, plywood, concrete plywood, underlayment or furniture panels.

In the shoe cabinet projects of our handymen, we see a lot of MDF, underlayment and plywood.

MDF

MDF is just about the most versatile board material. It is easy to work with and does not splinter. Moreover, it is available in many different versions, such as plain MDF or MDF with a lacquer carrier film. Lacquer carrier film is a primer which you still have to finish yourself.

We also have MDF in different colours, such as yellow, blue, terra brown, grey or black. Please note, these colours are still untreated, we advise you to treat them yourself to protect the MDF. 

Ideal material, also for a shoe cabinet!

Underlayment

Underlayment gets its name from the fact that this board was traditionally used a lot as a subfloor. But, underlayment can do so much more! It is very strong and has a natural look. Just take a look at this formwork for roller skates!

Plywood

Plywood boards are suitable for decorative and structural purposes. And thus also for shoe cabinets. It is a versatile, strong board that is easy to work with. Plywood is also available from us in different variants. 

Whichever material you choose, TOSIZE.se ensures perfectly cut-to-size boards. Everything cut to the millimetre and delivered to your home with ease. Then all you have to do is put everything together and the difficult sawing has already been done for you.

Creative shoe cabinets from our handymen

Our handymen regularly update us on beautiful projects they carry out using our cut-to-size material. Here, we are happy to share with you some inspiration for a beautiful, homemade cut-to-size shoe cabinet!

Roll formwork for roller skates

Joris uses roller skates at events and he made a beautiful formwork out of underlayment for that. By screwing a pair of wheels underneath, he can easily move the formwork. Clever!

Rolling formwork for roller skate storage, by Joris

Shoe carousel made of MDF

A creative and convenient solution is this rotating shoe carousel by Ray. Using a scaffold tube and 10 MDF circles, precisely milled into circles by TOSIZE.se, he makes the most of a niche in his bedroom.

Shoe carousel MDF and scaffold tube, by Ray

Cut-to-size wardrobe and shoe cabinet

Wim used 39 sheets of plywood interior poplar for a spacious wardrobe and shoe cabinet. A lot of work, but the whole family can now store coats and shoes in it.

Shoe cabinet for the kitchen

It doesn't all have to be complicated. Vanessa made this convenient shoe cabinet for the kitchen. With space for the microwave and other goodies. Handy!

Cut-to-size shoe cabinet in kitchen, by Vanessa

Shoe box with coat rack shelf

Shoes can of course also be stored nicely in a chest of drawers. Perfectly cut-to-size, it fits exactly in the hall. Nice project!

Getting started with your own shoe cabinet

Time to get started on your own shoe cabinet. Think you will succeed in making your own shoe cabinet? With our tips, we have helped you a long way. 

Now we can help you cut your panels to size. That will make your job a lot easier.  

Have fun making your own shoe cabinet!

Start ordering now!