Skip to content
It is clear that our planet is also very important to you ... otherwise you would most likely not have ended up on our website. Would you like to build your own sustainable shoe rack to maybe store our vegan shoes in it?
We're really glad. And to make this DIY shoe rack as sustainable as possible, we have put together a number of great ideas for you - we would like to turn it into an ingenious upcycling project.
What actually is upcycling?
Just a quick refresher: Upcycling, just like classic recycling, is about reusing and recycling valuable raw materials that we otherwise just throw away. Upcycling goes one step further and turns a product (or its components) into something better - hence the prefix "Up-" for more or up.
What materials are suitable for building a shoe cabinet?
The list of possible materials to build a shoe storage is practically endless. When in doubt, just use your imagination. You can process cardboard and paper into papier-mâché, you can build crazy shelves from old glass bottles and old wooden slats, you can put together beautiful shoe cabinets from leftover wood, use old beverage cans as spacers between shelves and much more.
DIY upcycled shoe cabinet project for beginners and intermediate
Below we present four different ideas on how you can build a shoe rack yourself. Some ideas can also be implemented wonderfully by beginners, while others may require a little more experience or more tools. It is important that you are not afraid. Actually, you can't really do much wrong ... and if you do ... so what ... on to the next project. After all, practice makes perfect.
Idea #1: Reuse Euro pallets
It's really fascinating what you can do with a wooden Euro pallet. This is upcycling at its finest - an old transport aid can become seating furniture, hanging shelves, vertical gardens or even a shoe rack. All you really need to do is clean the Euro pallet and then process it further. Then stand upright and use the horizontal surfaces to put down your shoes. Or you can use the grooves between the slats of the previous storage area to clamp your shoes in them.
Of course, you can also cover them with a pretty fabric or stick on old fabric remnants (you can also simply tear up discarded clothes) as patchwork work. Discarded comic books from your children are also great. To do this, cut the comic books into small pieces (this can also be a contour cut), glue them to the Euro pallet with craft glue and seal everything with clear varnish at the end. Finished!
Idea #2: Giving old cooking spoons a new meaning
Do you have a collection of old wooden cooking spoons that you no longer want to use in the kitchen for hygienic reasons? I'm sure many people in your circle of friends feel the same way. Ask around and gather at least 10 to 20 cooking spoons.
In the very best case, you can also get an old railway sleeper, into which you drill 6 to 7 centimeter deep holes according to the number of wooden spoons and the strength of the handles of the spoons. Now stick the wooden spoon handles in the holes and use the spoon head to store the shoes and slippers on it.
Our extra tip: Boil the wooden spoons in boiling water for 10 minutes beforehand to destroy leftover food, odors and germs.
Idea #3: Pimp my shoe closet
You don't always have to build a whole new shoe cabinet, you can also pimp an old or unsightly shoe cabinet. Paper mache is great for this. Turn a boring shoe cabinet into a rock or a fairytale castle, a shoe-eating monster or a golden abstract work of art. So instead of buying new shoe storage, you simply upcycle the old closet.
If you are aiming for a specific shape (like a rock) you should roughly pre-model it using fine-mesh metal fence (rabbit wire). Attach the wire to the cupboard in the desired shape and generously cover all surfaces with the homemade papier-mâché. Let the paper mache dry and paint it however you like.
|
How do you make paper mache? To make papier-mâché, collect old newspapers and tear them up. Now mix the paper with paste (which is almost always made from potato starch and is therefore 100% vegan) and water until you get a viscous mass. Alternatively, YOU can also simply pull larger pieces of newspaper through ready-mixed paste and then place the piece directly on the wire. You should provide at least 3 to 5 layers of paper so that everything is stable enough afterwards. |
Idea #4: Narrow shoe rack made from old wooden slats and bottles or cans
Do you still have wooden slats from an old garden fence lying around in the basement and don't know what to do with them? A DIY shoe rack, of course, in which our vegan shoes for your child fit perfectly. That's how it works:
Clean the wooden slats and paint them, or stick all leftover fabric over them, for example, as described above for the wooden pallets. Screw the shelves to the wall with the help of metal brackets and simply place the bottles, cans, old bricks or whatever else "gets in your way" in between as pseudo supports. In this way you can even change the supports again and again and get a new look.
Could we inspire you?
We really hope that we were able to inspire you and that you can't wait to build your first shoe rack yourself. If you see it as an upcycling project, the whole thing is even more fun, because you not only reduce your waste, but also create something great new from stuff that initially seems useless. Have fun crafting and building. Feel free to send us photos of your self-made shoe rack. We look forward to your creations!
