Picture Rails = Shoe Rack

This is another re-purposing idea from THE Martha. As I wrote this tip, I realized that she labeled this idea amongst others: Decorating Easy Transformations. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that unless you are a general contractor or a weekend DIY enthusiast, installing a bunch of picture rails isn’t something you’d call easy — doable perhaps, but not easy! I guess it’s all relative or in SAT parlance, “True or False: Easy is to hard as installing a plethora of parallel picture railings is to installing a toilet.”

I thought this idea was brilliant for an Organic or Smart to visually see — and remember — their entire collection of pumps. Classics and Funs can do this as well but they’re happy with boxes with images on the sides if they’re going to go to the trouble to super organize their shoes. But, not everybody has an entire wall free to dedicate to such an idea — as seen in this picture by Seth Smoot. And therein lies my addendum. You don’t have to do one big wall, you could also do it on a smaller wall and then just have the rows going all the way down to the floor. The reason this is such a neat idea is that there are not a lot of great shoe racks out there unless you get a custom closet. The picture rail idea is a way to have a sturdy shoe rack for your heels without the expense of a real dream closet. But, heck, even if you do have someone build you a custom closet, this is a great way to use space that might not accomdate shoe shelves jutting out.

Measure whatever wall you have free and clear in your closet width and then height. She suggests buying pre-primed pieces and having the store cut them down. Paint rails before installing them. Space them about a foot apart, attach to the wall with construction adhesive and then hammer finishing nails in about every 18″ — or less if you’re doing a narrow wall. She says not to worry about studs because they don’t have to be weight bearing, she then says to countersink the nails — which I think just means have them nails go deeper than the surface — then spackle and touch up with paint.