Boot Storage Rack
8 Materials
$40
2 Hours
Medium
If your family is anything like mine, I’m sure you can relate to trying to leave your shoes by the door so as not to track dirt through the house. Rob works construction by day and our two-and-a-half-year old son loves to jump in water/muddy puddles, play in sand and dirt, and the fact that we leave in a coastal area doesn’t help with the sand factor either. Not to mention, we also live in New York where we’re bound to get at least a foot or so of snow every year, and Rob snowplows when we get hit with it, so I’m constantly having to keep beach towels laid out much like a red carpet at the front door so he doesn’t track in snow. Needless to say, we needed a solution by our door to keep the Swiffering, sweeping and mopping at a minimum. Rob came up with (what I think is) a cute design to hold all different size boots so whether it’s a rainy or snowy day, they have a place to dry and mama doesn’t have to clean the floors a zillion times in a day.
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Get the materials to do this project
- PVC piping (1-1/4”) (Amazon)
- PVC caps (1-1/4”) (Amazon)
- Wooden dowel (1-1/4” x 48”) (Amazon)
- Poplar board (¾” x 7-1/4”) (Amazon)
- Grip Rite All-Purpose Screw Pack (Amazon)
- Rustoleum Hammered Paint & Primer in One (Color: Black) (Amazon)
- Measuring tape (Amazon)
- #10 countersink drill bit (Amazon)
Not pictured:
-miter saw (if you don't have power tools, you can ask the hardware to you purchase your materials from to cut everything for you)
*Note: you may need more or less wooden dowels, PVC and PVC caps depending on how many boots you’re trying to fit on a board.
*Also note: I ended up not using wood glue as it would have been overkill since my end product was very secure using just screws.
STEP 1: Cut PVC, wooden dowel & poplar board
First, I cut all of the elements of my boot storage rack. Note that I made sure to square off (cut the raw, uneven end) the end of the wooden dowel before making my cuts. Here are the cuts I made for the PVC, wooden dowel and poplar board:
Wooden dowel:
10-4” pieces
PVC:
2-4” pieces
2-8”
2-12”
2-16”
2-20”
Poplar board:
Cut down to 33”
Here is what my wooden dowel and PVC looked like once the cuts were made.
STEP 2: Make marks for boot holders
Next, I marked up my poplar board to prepare for drilling in my wooden dowel pieces. With the board laying horizontally in front of me, I marked 1-1/2” down from the top and 1-1/2” up from the bottom. Then going from left-to-right, I marked 3”, 9”, 15”, 21” 27” across the top (making sure that I was 1-1/2” from the top edge) and 6”, 12”, 18”, 24” and 30” across the bottom (making sure that I was 1-1/2” from the bottom edge).
STEP 3: Pre-drill countersink holes
After my marks were made, I used my countersink bit to pre-drill holes where each mark was made.
This little bit is actually pretty cool because it will prevent the screws from scraping the floor once they are put in.
STEP 4: Attach wooden dowels
Once all of the pre-drilled holes were made, I screwed in a 2” screw just enough for the tip of the screw to come out the top side of the board.
Then, I held the wooden dowel to the tip of the screw and drove the screw into the center of the dowel until it was just snug (don’t over screw or you may split the dowel).
Here is how my board looked once all of my wooden dowels were attached.
STEP 5: Secure PVC pieces
Next, I pre-drilled 2 countersink holes one side of each of my PVC pieces. I didn't really measure where to put the holes--the first one was about half an inch to 1-1/2" from the bottom depending on how long the piping was.
Then, I slid the PVC pieces onto the wood dowels, ensuring that each size was paired together diagonally (example: my two 4” PVC pieces went on the 3” and 6” marks of my poplar board, etc.). I secured the PVC to the wooden dowels using 1-1/4” screws. Again, be careful not to tighten the screws too much or you will risk splitting the wooden dowels.
STEP 6: Add PVC caps
To give my boot storage rack a finished look and to also keep anything from getting inside the piping (such as spiders and other critters), I popped the caps on the tops of the secured PVC piping.
STEP 7: Paint
Finally, I used a hammered black spray paint to complete this project. I figured with how dirty boots can get, black was the best way to go color-wise. I had this hammered black spray on hand from a previous project and thought it was the perfect way to add almost an industrial look to the boot rack.
C'est fini! Here is the final product!
Don’t let the steps intimidate you—they did me at first since this was Rob’s design—but once I got into it, it really wasn’t that bad. If you want, you can add little felt tabs to the bottom if you have hardwood floors. I simply placed mine on a rug to keep it stationery and from rubbing against our hardwood. I’m really happy with how it came out and the fact that I can even put Bo’s little boots on the rack!
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Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 87 comments
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Looking at dirty soles of all boots is worse than just lining them right side up. It’s all subjective, I guess.
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I use a similar rack. Though a little more difficult, we mounted the uprights at a slight angle. This helps to drain the boots faster if there is water inside.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Does this really take up less space?
Thank you for saving me money I was just going to use wooden dowels but this makes better sense. We don't use boots often but I but we take our shoes off at the front door or back door. I think our sneakers and winter shoes will hang on the PVC. Do you think it would work?
Does the dowel fit in the pvc? They are both listed as 1-1/4 inch.