How to Choose a Shoe Rack: Depth, Width, Tiers and Where It Goes

For most hallways, start with the 5-tier bamboo rack: it holds about 15 pairs on 27.56 in of wall and takes shoes front to back.

Three other racks stay under $40. The 10-tier tall rack holds 20 to 24 pairs on a strip of wall 16.73 in wide, so it suits a narrow spot with a lot of shoes. The 6-tier bamboo rack is only 6.42 in deep, with shoes side-on, so it suits a hallway where every inch of walkway counts. The 7-tier steel rack holds about 16 to 20 pairs at 22.83 in wide, and a layer lifts out to make one tall bay for boots.

Measure where the rack will go before you look at any racks. You need three numbers: the width of the free wall, how far a rack can stick out before it gets in the way of the door swing or the walkway, and the height you have below a light switch, a window sill or a row of coat hooks. Those three rule out more racks than any other detail.

Then decide what actually lives by the door. If only the everyday pairs stay at the entry and the rest go in a closet, the entry rack can be much smaller than your whole collection suggests, and a second rack in the closet can take the seasonal pairs.

Depth is the number people skip. Measure your longest everyday pair from heel to toe and compare it with the shelf depth. Across our open racks, depths run from 6.42 in on the 6-tier bamboo rack to 12.01 in on the 10-tier tall rack.

A shallow shelf isn't a flaw; it's a different way of storing shoes. On the 6-tier bamboo rack, shoes sit side-on, along the shelf. A pair then uses its length of shelf rather than its width, so the rack stays slim against the wall but holds fewer pairs per tier than the same width would hold toe-first.

Some overhang is normal on an open rack, and a heel that sticks out a little past the front edge usually doesn't matter. A lot of overhang makes shoes tip or catch as you walk past, so if your pairs are much longer than the shelf is deep, look at a deeper rack.

The tier count tells you how many shelves a rack has, not how many shoes it holds. Width decides that. The 9-tier bamboo tower is 9.05 in wide and holds 6 to 10 pairs across its nine shelves. The 10-tier tall rack is 16.73 in wide and holds 20 to 24 pairs. The 5-tier bamboo rack has half as many tiers as that and still holds about 15 pairs, because it is 27.56 in wide.

Pair counts are estimates, and most makers don't say what size of shoe they assume. High-tops, boots and larger sizes take more room, so read the top of a range as a ceiling rather than a plan.

The other number that matters is the gap between tiers: 7.28 in on the 5-tier bamboo rack, 6.14 in on the 6-tier bamboo rack and 7.08 in on the 9-tier tower. Measure your tallest everyday pair standing up and compare.

If you store boots, look for shelves that come out. On the 10-tier tall rack, the fabric shoe cabinet and the 7-tier steel rack, a shelf lifts out to make room for taller pairs, and the 10-tier rack also splits into two separate 5-tier racks if it's too tall for the spot. The bamboo racks have fixed shelves, so plan around the gaps as they are.

Open racks let shoes air out and are the quickest to use every day: step out, set them down. Closed storage keeps dust and light off the shoes you wear less often, at the cost of some airflow and one more step.

We carry three kinds. The 10-layer fabric cabinet puts nine shelves behind a hook-and-loop fabric cover. The clear-door boxes give each pair its own box: the stackable set comes as 3, 6 or 9 boxes with magnetic doors, and the 8-tier tower folds down as one unit and has air openings in its back panels. The flip-drawer cabinets are furniture: 23.6 in wide, only 9.3 in deep, with three drawers for 12 to 18 pairs. Either way, let a wet pair dry on a mat before it goes behind a door or cover.

Bamboo racks have a warmer, furniture-like look. The 5-tier and 6-tier bamboo racks have solid flat shelves, so small shoes and sandals can't slip through, and grit from soles wipes off. The 9-tier tower goes together with mortise-and-tenon joints and no drilling. As with any wood, keep soaked shoes off the shelves until they've dried.

Metal frames with non-woven fabric shelves are light, and both of ours, the 10-tier tall rack and the fabric cabinet, go together without tools. The 10-tier rack's shelves are a three-layer, water-resistant fabric. Fabric can give a little under weight, so keep heavy boots on the lower tiers. The 7-tier steel rack, on a galvanized tube frame, is rated up to 11 lb a shelf. The 9-tier rack with mesh shelves has a black metal frame and side hooks for bags or umbrellas.

Two pieces do a different job. The stackable boxes are plastic and fold flat when you don't need them. The storage bench is particle board with a padded seat, three tiers of open cubbies and a drawer: fewer shelves than a tower, but somewhere to sit while you put your shoes on. For more seats and coat hooks, see our guide to hall trees and entryway benches.

A narrow strip of wall beside a door suits a tower. The 9-tier bamboo tower needs a 9.05 in wide footprint, and the 10-tier tall rack is 16.73 in wide and 81.1 in tall. A longer wall under a window or a coat rail suits a low, wide piece: the 6-tier bamboo rack is 31.49 in wide and 30.71 in tall, and the bench is about 40.9 in wide and 18.9 in high.

Tall, narrow units are steadier when they're loaded from the bottom up, with the heavier pairs low. If a rack comes with a wall strap, fit it and follow the maker's instructions. With small children or pets at home, an anti-tip strap from a hardware store is worth adding even where one isn't included.

Sorted from narrowest to widest. Sizes are assembled, in inches, and "approx." is the maker's own wording. Where we do not have a number, the table says so.

Cabinets and boxes that keep shoes behind a door or a cover, sorted from narrowest to widest.