So this was a bit of fun.

It’s a shoe box!

A good friend of mine has been hassling me for at least a year now while I’ve been renovating my garage, trying to get me to build something for him to store his Nike sneakers in. He has a lot of sneakers. His solution at the moment is plastic buckets from Ikea but he wants something more economical, attractive and larger, so all his shoes can be stored together.

We’ve tried a couple of times to put something together but nothing came of it, however when we saw this design on the ‘net a couple of weeks ago, well, the decision was easy.

The idea is that it looks just like a giant shoe box. Then when you open it, you see up to 20 pairs of sneakers stored nice and neatly. There are no plans online for it, however it is essentially just a large chest so it wasn’t incredibly hard to build.

I’m not certain that I built it from the correct material however. I used 16mm MDF. Plywood was my first choice however I can’t transport a full sheet of it. At the time I went, the store couldn’t cut it down for me either. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the integrity of the box using MDF, it’s very strong and the smooth finish makes the paint look nicer, the problem is the weight. It’s very heavy, the lid in particular. I’ve ordered a heavy duty stay for the lid to keep it upright and help slow the closure. With the stay installed in it now, it shuts itself way too fast.

It took probably 10 hours or so to build – however that was with no plans or templates to follow. I’d also just finished a graveyard shift that morning so my brain wasn’t exactly operating on all cylinders. It still went together really well though I think. Another couple of days painting and applying the vinyl decals, and it was all done. A very enjoyable project!

I posted this on my personal facebook wall and it received a lot of attention – so much so that I have orders for 3 more. They are a pretty good looking product I must admit. The vinyl decals really make them pop too.

I built this as I went along so I have no plans to offer at the moment, but I’ll be putting some together soon in SketchUp.

Due to the amount of sheet good used in this project, I really need to sit down and work out the smartest way of going about it, no point turning money into sawdust. I think if I reduce the size a little I can get most of it from a single sheet of ply which would be great.

I’ve also had a couple of orders about making something similar for baseball cap storage. I didn’t realise collecting hats and shoes was so big in Melbourne, but hey, if that’s what people want, that’s what people get!

It’s a bit late now for any woodworking so I might go make a start on those plans right now. Check back in a week and hopefully I’ll have them here for you.