I own a lot of shoes, and I must admit that they were getting out of hand. In my bedroom, I have two four-tier shelving racks with boxes stacked to the ceiling, shoeboxes underneath my bed, and a short stack at the foot of my bed.
Even after thoughtfully organizing my shoes to the best of my ability (by brand, silhouette, or general style), my setup would quickly turn into a total disaster when I'd try to pull a pair from the bottom of a stack. And with 10+ pairs of Air Jordan 1s and multiples of other shoes in different colorways all stored in identical shoe boxes, going through five or six of them before finding the pair I actually wanted made cleaning the mess even more painful.
I needed a new storage solution, and I found it with these Drop-Front Shoe Boxes at The Container Store.
Design and specs
Designed to hold shoes up to a men's size 13, The Container Store's Drop-Front Shoe Boxes are made of clear polypropylene and polystyrene — aka hard plastic. That means I can see exactly what's inside without having to read color codes and SKU numbers on the label, and they won't break down over time like flimsy cardboard boxes.
Stacking shoeboxes of different sizes from different brands can quickly turn into the worst game of Tetris. The Container Store's are all the same sizes and are designed to stack one on top of the other without getting damaged, so you can pile them as high as you'd like.
The best part is that you'll never have to unstack them in order to get a pair of shoes out. Compared to normal shoeboxes that have a top lid, the drop-front lid gives you easy access, and you won't have piles of shoes toppling over each other. I haven't transferred all of my shoes into these boxes, but I've started replacing shoeboxes that are too beat up to stack and pairs I no longer had a box for with these.
Update after more than a year of ownership
I have a few Drop-Front Shoe Boxes, and they've all held up wonderfully. Since I don't have to move them, there's virtually no wear and tear. The plastic hasn't cracked or hazed, and I haven't noticed any negative effects on my sneakers compared to storing them in normal shoeboxes.
I've slowed down on buying more Drop-Front Shoe Boxes from The Container Store because I'm attached to quite a few of the original boxes that came with my sneakers. For certain shoes, keeping the original box adds to its collectability and overall value. If you think it's just a cardboard box, look at it like a highly collectible Rolex model. If there are two watches in identical condition, the one with the original box, paperwork, and extra links would be more desirable than the watch that comes with nothing.
If your footwear rotation is mostly readily available styles or you truly don't care about collectability, then you likely aren't too attached to the original boxes. Drop-Front Shoe Boxes are, without a doubt, better in terms of structure and accessibility.
Either way, you should still store your shoes in some sort of container to prevent rapid aging, which includes things like yellowing, foggy Air units, and cracked or crumbling midsoles.
The bottom line
Priced at $11.99 each or $71.94 for a pack of six, The Container Store's Drop-Front Shoe Boxes can become an expensive endeavor if you have a lot of shoes to store, but if you want convenient storage, it's definitely worth it. Whether you're trying to get a massive shoe collection under control or you just need a neat way to store the small number of shoes you wear on a regular basis, I've found that these boxes are a great way to start.
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