When we moved into our home, our master closet didn’t have any shelf space (other than the shelves above and in between the hanging rods). So we added four four-foot shelves for sweaters, shirts, towels, etc.

But my mess of shoes still ended up all over the floor, so we decided to add more shelves for my shoes. [Remember? I chatted all about it here…]

They actually makes shelves specifically for shoes (they are slanted), but we decided on flat shelves just like the other ones we had added before. That way, we maintain the versatility of being able to use these extra shelves for anything (like right now, the top shelf is holding a few fall/winter season shoes and boots and a couple of baseball hats).

The problem with these shelves comes up when you have heels… Which I do… in drones.

Unless the heel point is perfectly balanced on a wire slat of the shelf, it will fall in between the shelving slats, so the shoes and hence the shelves end up all catywompus.

Not the nice organized look we were going for.

Thankfully, there’s a simple and inexpensive solution. Just grab a thin sheet of acrylic at the hardware store and have it cut for your shelves.

Since I have five 36″ shoe shelves, I chose one 30″ x 36″ sheet of acrylic at Lowe’s for under $20. They cut it for free (really, they score and snap it for you), so I ended up with five 6″x 36″ pieces. [It is not necessary that your acrylic covers the entire shelf, just the back where the heels would slip through.]

And since the acrylic is clear and thin, you don’t even notice it once it’s in place.

So shazaam: fully functional shoe shelves AND maintained flexibility. I love that!

Add that to the free bushes I planted in the backyard today (I just had to dig them up from neighbors who were redoing their landscaping), I am feeling practically productive. Who knew?! 🙂

So, anyone else out there hacked some simple, cheap fixes lately? Do tell!

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