In mid-January 2018, my dad came to Memphis to help me move to Philadelphia. There had been an ice storm a few days before, so we were trying not to slip as we went back and forth from the house to the U-Haul in the freezing cold. My dad is a fastidious and efficient U-Haul packer, approaching the task like it’s a puzzle to solve. Even then, in the end there was only one box-shaped spot left for two boxes. One held my shoes; the other contained pots and pans.
“Make a choice,” he said. I chose the shoes.
Here is some advice: if asking yourself whether or not an object brings you joy doesn’t work for you, try imagining a cold, hangry dad telling you to “make a choice.” All jokes aside, I was temporarily moving into an apartment with a stocked kitchenette, so I wouldn’t need pots and pans for at least a month. Plus, a trip to Ikea for kitchen essentials would be cheaper and easier than replacing my shoe collection. The shoes went in, we stopped for sandwiches, and off we went to my new city.
This is all to say that moving into the studio was not the first time that my shoes had caused a dilemma. And, like that U-Haul, my new 200-square-foot space was a puzzle to solve. The first step was to figure out where all the furniture would go. The second step was to figure where all the things—shoes, for example—would go. I had the idea to use the armoire to store my shoes pretty early on in my studio-planning process, but I wasn’t sure exactly how it would work. My first thought was to install shelves. I bought wood and brackets, but the door is so narrow that I couldn’t reach in well enough to install them properly.
For a week or two, the shoes just languished in a pile, hidden away behind the closed door. But as everything else found its place in the apartment, my pile of shoes became increasingly hard to ignore. Then, the aha moment: The armoire had a rail. I measured, went straight to the Container Store website (or maybe Amazon?), searched hanging shoe organizers, and quickly found some that would fit exactly. I added four to my cart, and the rest is history.
It’s too narrow for hangers, and it doesn’t have shelves, so I think a lot of people wouldn’t quite know what to do with the armoire, but it’s been my secret weapon in every apartment. Because of its narrow silhouette, it fits snugly into little nooks that might otherwise have been wasted. I made use of its great vertical space to stack linens, and it’s been a great home for the lush Pothos I inherited; there’s a deep drawer on the bottom where I’ve kept odds and ends (currently, my delicates); it even has a full-length mirror! It’s a beautiful piece that requires a bit of creativity, and “shoe closet” is my favorite iteration yet. Not only are my shoes organized and out of sight, I love that they are completely separate from my clothes. I love New York, but the sidewalks are pretty gross.
this week’s read
Not a review or recommendation—just what I’m reading right now.
A wonderful story. Fun memories and a cute picture of the big city move. ❤️