My closet is my happy place. I love to see all of my things neatly stored and ready to wear. My only problem was my boots. The floppiness of the tall boots made them look sloppy. I decided to give this quick and cheap closet hack a try to get boots to stand up without any fancy boot shapers or boot stands. Read below to learn how to keep tall boots from slouching.
I have 10 pairs of tall boots and 9 of them have zero ability to stand upright on their own. It's been driving me crazy ever since we moved into our new home and I designed my dream closet. I'd seen people use all sorts of things like inflatable boot shapers and universal boot shapers, but honestly, I didn't want to see any of them (that would make me even crazier). I also didn't want to spend a ton of money. With 9 pairs of boots, a $20 shaper for each is just out of the question. I decided to skip the expensive shapers and make my own closet hack to get my boots to stand up.
Before the closet hack
My floppy Frye boot collection.
Cheap closet hack to get boots to stand up
So, what did I use to get my boots to stand? Pool noodles!
I bought 4 of the medium-size (width wise) pool noodles. I paid about $3 per noodle and you can even get them on Amazon with free shipping if you don't want to leave the house. I grabbed a serrated knife and cut each noodle down into 5 equal size sections. I didn't want them to be too tall because I didn't want to see them from the top of the boots at all.
I tried using them just like that, but I found that they were too wide for the ankle portion of the boot. The noodles would fit but I feared they'd stretch the boots over time. To fix that, I simply used the serrated knife and cut a little off each side on one end of the noodle portion.
Yes, I have a large Tieks collection in the background (read my review of Tieks here).
It looks like this from the side. You simply just put that piece (shaved side down) into the boot and viola! You've got a super cheap closet hack to keep your boots standing up and neatly organized.
I needed 18 total noodle pieces and 4 noodles (each cut into 5 sections) gave me 20, so I've got one set in case I want to buy another pair of boots. Shh, don't tell my husband!
Jill H says
Good idea it will also maintain the shape of your boots I don't currently own any tall boots.
Alexandra S. says
What a fabulous idea! I’ve been using a flat under-the-bed rollaway storage container for my boots. That forces them to squeeze in laying sideways. Your idea is so much better! Giving it a go soon!
Lori says
This worked brilliantly. Thank you for sharing. I didn't need to cut the end - I guess my size 8's didn't need any trimming.