boots are a problem, bcs the stuff you usually can buy for shoes won't actually hold them.

And I actually think that HIGHER shelves are better than on the floor. We think somehow that because we wear shoes near the ground, they should be STORED near the ground. But I found, w/ my shoe cabinet that I made for myself, that having them higher up was easier--I wasn't bending over to pick them up and then AGAIN to put them on.

How big is your closet? Can you devote a vertical 1/4 or 1/2 to shoes & boots?

or, can you have people keep their SHOES in their bedroom, and only their snowboots in the closet?

Stacks and Stacks has a huge collection of organizers.

Here's one that has a boots compartment, which would be less bending, bcs you could grab the boots by their tops. But it would be nice to have this taller to accommodate more.

You *could* just get a basic bookcase of some narrow size that will fit in there, and buy some extra shelves so you can space them very closely together in the places where you want shoes. And, you could have a "tall boots" section and a "short boots" section and an "even shorter shoes" section or three.

The shelves would have an advantage that you could put baskets on them to hold mittens, etc. (though those could also go on the back of the door in pockets). Or spare tote bags, or whatever else you thought you'd need.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stacks and Stacks, search on

also, don't feel that you must have the SAME solution for boots AND for shoes.

You can have a boots solution and a separate shoes solution.

a hanging shoe organizer that hangs on the clothes bar could hold shoes, and the boots could sit on the floor under the coats, if you wanted.

Feel free to think nontraditional, if you'd like.

Maybe a basket or something to keep boots from getting kicked around (even if they are sort of jumbled up inside it) would be smart for the books, and the shoes could go in shoe pockets on the back of the door.

Maybe installing something waterproof (a metal boot tray, or a simple indoor-outdoor-entryway rub) in the bottom of the closet might make people more like to set their damp boots in there.

Here is a link that might be useful: shoe storage at Stacks and Stacks, to give you ideas

If you are talking about seasonal boots, i.e., for snow, rain, I have a big, 45 gallon rubbermaid bin with a hinged top that I keep in the mudroom closet that all boots get stored in. I have 4 children :) It keeps them contained and my closet floor stays neat. When I vacuum, I just pull out the entire container, vacuum, place container back in closet! Better then having to remove 8+ boots out of the way! Shorter coats, jackets can be hung over it.