Friday 4 May 2012

Shoe rack on the wall


On one of the living room spring cleaning posts I mentioned that I will be making a shoe rack near the door to the terrace. At first I tried to find U-shaped piece of metal from the factory area at work, to create something like this, but I had no luck. I discarded that idea and thought that I should make something out of wood since I have experience working with wood but not with metal. I also liked the shoe rack where pairs of feet are formed from wire. I like that the rack and that the shoes take up so little horizontal space. And then I found this shoe storage item that I thought was the ugliest thing I've ever seen, but yet I think it looks very functional and versatile.

And then I thought of combining those two. I made a cardboard model from my own foot and I copied it on a piece of plywood. I flipped the model around every other time so I was able to make three pairs of feet on the plywood. I used plywood because the layers of wood are in 90 degrees angle against each other, which means that both directions in the plywood are equally strong.



I cut the excess material off with a jigsaw. Then I assembled the rack from three pieces and painted a white base coat. Once the paint was dry I tried out my shoes on the rack. The places on the rack felt too tight and the shoes didn't slip on well. I think what had happened is that because I used a cardboard model that was much thinner than the plywood that the shoes slipped on that very well but not on the plywood because it is much thicker.


Then I redraw the model, I made it smaller and transferred the model on the plywood and then cut again with the jigsaw. I also used the Dremel to sand the edges and sanded the gap between the toes a bit bigger.


After I had tried a shoe on it I returned to the painting. I painted the areas that were now left unfinished and then painted one layer with furniture paint.


On the back of the rack I had drilled before the assembly six holes for the hooks. I attached the hooks with small screws. After that I measured the gap between them and the height where I wanted to place the rack and drilled two screw holes on the wall in the living room. Then I just hung the rack from the screws.


And there it is a shoe rack for three pairs of shoes. I think it's pretty cool, but if I would do it again I would not leave such a big gap between the wall and the rack, not sure if the support pieces on the sides could be similar as in here then, don't know... Anyway I like it, the shoes are near the terrace door and the door can be opened and closed without the shoes being on the way. Excellent.


8 comments:

  1. Looks great! Well done! I still love the mat you crocheted and want to try and attempt my own one. While cleaning out my closet I found so many old shirts that I don't wear anymore but don't want to trash them. Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just remember to cut the weftrags outside :)
      Break a leg!

      Delete
  2. What a great idea! It looks fantastic. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting project. I agree with you about the distance from the wall--still, it isn't that much. Great idea to combine the two designs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it's not too much for this space, but need to remember this is the future, if I ever make a similar project.

      Delete
  4. So well done. And I really like that you had enough vision to see something you didn't like but you knew would function and then turned it into your own ideal. Very well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I appreciate the compliment, I've never thought to be talented in that way.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...