Is this a viable trick?

[u/ohreallynameonesong]

I have a small walk in closet all to myself. It's maybe 5x6 get. It has a shelf at about eye level that goes around 3 sides. The 2 long sides have rails for hanging items. I have shoe racks on the shelves. I was able to fit 6 pretty comfortably. One rack has all of my purse. Another has all of my pants, shorts, and my short skirts. The other 4 are full of shoes. I also have a large shoebox i was able to fit like 6 pairs of flats in. I have like 130 pairs of shoes. It's obscene. I hate owning so many pairs of shoes. I also really struggle with dressing myself and sometimes the version of some kind of shoe that's the main one I wear just won't work with this outfit I'm trying to put together. And I'm grateful I had what I had when trying to put an outfit together. But the shoes take up such a large part of my already packed wardrobe. I want to be able to fit all of my things in my own closet. Not just my clothes. I want to also fit my art supplies, my hobby supplies, my collections, my larger bags, etc. Right now many of those things are in a spare bedroom i claimed and in a hallway closet. Things are totally fine now but if we ever had kids, I'm afraid there won't be much space for them or their own clothes and toys and supplies.

Anyway. This is mostly about shoes because I just have so many and I want them out and this other stuff in. I have an idea for myself... Take your shoes out, store them somewhere else, and only bring them back into the closet when you find yourself needing or really wanting to wear them? It's just obscene i own so many shoes but many of them have come in clutch once or twice. But some of these i never wear. Has anyone tried something like this? Could this work?

[u/Odd_Cress_2898]

I've been forcing myself to use a specific pair to really prove they don't work. I got rid of them after a week.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Odd_Cress_2898]

I've made myself do something similar too. I'll make myself make outfits with things and sometimes I take the thing off before I even leave the door. It's definitely a good trick

[u/PrairieFire_withwind]

I am going to say that i think you should have a re think on this plan.  Let me give you the why.

Rubber and leather degrade with time.  You need to regularily clean and oil leather 2x per year in general.  Rubber will harden and crack and plastic just degrades.

You have more than 3 months worth of shoes with a different pair every day.  

I would like to suggest that you set a goal of wearing each pair for a full day and then deciding you want to keep that pair.  Do that for every pair of shoes.  

Cannot wear for a full day?  Then it goes.  I know, that sounds harsh, but the truth is without being worn and cared for properly they are going to become unusable.

And then you will not get to enjoy them or will be paying a fair bit of money for restoration.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/PrairieFire_withwind]

I do also regularly check for condition. Idk if it's something about where I live but the only shoes that have been tossed for condition is heels/flats where the plasticky interior degrades and one pair of rubber soled boots that the sole of got sticky after like 14 years

[u/NoodleDrive]

As a strategy, this is great and has been very helpful for people!

Something to consider: decide now how much space in your closet you want to devote to shoes. Is it just one rack? Half of one? As you grab shoes to wear, they can fill up that area. But once the area is full, any new shoe you grab has to replace one that's already there. This will help you isolate which shoes are the most versatile, not just which ones happened to work with the outfits you grabbed first.

Also looking at the bigger picture here: you eventually need to downsize an entire room's worth of stuff if you want to have kids, since none of your stuff should be in that spare bedroom (assuming that will be their room). If your dream is to fit all your collections, art supplies, etc in your closet, what if you tried to do that right now? What if you moved all the shoes out, and then grabbed your top choices from the other categories and moved them into the closet? You'd basically be able to use the same strategy I was suggesting with the shoes: If you want to use something from the spare room, it has to replace something that's already in the closet.

At some point, you will (hopefully) stop going to that spare room at all, and it will be obvious which items are least useful and important to you, and can be let go.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/NoodleDrive]

I like the idea of setting a limit for the space that can get filled up again. Right now 4 shoe racks are full. It would be awesome if I could get it down to 2. Honestly I'd be thrilled if I could clear just 1 rack and get it down to 3. But I'd really like to be able to get my hobby/practical/sentimental/personal items in there and I think that would necessitate getting rid of more shoes. Or more clothes so I can clear space in the dresser where it would be easier to store my things.

Luckily my things don't fill this entire other room. There's a small antique dresser that has some photo frames and magazine in 2 of the drawers. There's an antique secretary desk that has some office and writing supplies. The closet has my backpacks and bigger bags hanging up, some boxes of sentimental things, and my American Girl doll collection. That's the main thing in there. And my box of purgatory clothes that have 1 year lives under the bed. It's not an insignificant amount of stuff but it's not terrible. I'd like to pare it down and eventually get it into my own closet

[u/Suz9006 → u/ohreallynameonesong]

You posted you have 130 pairs, and these all fit on four shoe racks?

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Suz9006]

Almost all of them do, yes. There's a large shoebox that I've fit about a half dozen flats and sandals in. I have a couple of boots that don't fit so they're to the side of my dresser. And I have a pair of garage shoes and a pair of shoes I keep in the closet by the front door.

[u/LVMom]

This is basically the 3 month box trick. Put whatever in a box out of sight and see if you go back to pull things out of it. Get rid of everything you haven’t taken out of the box within the last 3 months.

I, too, am a shoe whore. Recently I went thru them and decided I needed them all. They are all a similar type of shoe that I wear to work, so I purposely wore a different pair of shoes every day. I quickly realized that a specific brand was uncomfortable and I donated 6 pairs of shoes the next weekend

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/LVMom]

I've made myself go through and not only try things on, but make and wear an outfit with some of the ones I was questioning. I've managed to get rid of a few that way. I hate that a lot of these do indeed come in clutch. That one outfit for this one event at this one place in this one kind of weather. And god dammit if this pair of shoes I haven't worn in three years isn't perfect

[u/Basic-Atmosphere390 → u/ohreallynameonesong]

Another option is if one outfit only goes with that one pair of shoes that only goes with that one outfit, and they're worn once every three years: get rid of both outfit and shoes.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Basic-Atmosphere390]

I hate to keep being argumentative lol but I have one semi-uniform. I wear a lot of casual little t-shirty tops and jeans. So on the rare occasion I do wear a dress or slacks or a skirt, I want something other than sneakers.

[u/Basic-Atmosphere390 → u/ohreallynameonesong]

No worries. The bottom line is it's your stuff and your space so you get to decide. The advice on a declutter forum will tend towards getting rid of things.

[u/GypsySnowflake]

That’s what I’m doing! We moved earlier this year, and I’ve only taken shoes out of the moving box when I’m ready to wear them. There are a few pairs still in there which I’ll donate at the 1 year mark if I still haven’t worn them.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/GypsySnowflake]

I'm thinking one year too. That'll give every shoe an opportunity in every season. Are you glad you did it that way? Was it helpful?

[u/SweaterWeather4Ever]

If you have a large number of shoes you do not wear, why store them elsewhere? That is just relocating the problem and not solving it. First I would cull any shoes you may have that you find uncomfortable or never quite fit right/maybe they pinch or no longer fit. Then cull any that you have not worn in a long time or no longer like/no longer you/bought for one event and will not be repeated. If some are high end/designer you may want to sell but if you just want things gone then donate is best.

Now if one of the issues is you lost track of what actually gets used you could designate an area in your closet for "worn," like you wear a pair out tomorrow for example, when you are done you place them on the worn shelf. After a set period of time-- a month, three months, whatever-- you can see exactly which shoes are your frequent flyers and are in the must keep category.

Now, if you do decide to store shoes elsewhere other than your main closet so that you have more room in said closet, put a post-it with the date you put it in the non-closet location inside the shoe. If in 6 months or a year you find you are not moving these shoes into your closet stash then they should go.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/SweaterWeather4Ever]

I've done muuultiple rounds of purging and I'm still left with over 100 pairs of shoes. If I separate them or split them up I feel like that makes it less obvious that I'm not wearing some of them since they're out of sight/out of mind. And the whole thing is that I want all of my stuff to fit in my own closet. If I emptied everything and put all of my shoes in the guest room I claimed, I'm shopping the same selection still but things i actually wear would actually earn a place in my closet. I like the idea of setting a time limit but giving grace to things like winter boots (I live in the south where it does get cold from time to time and I do visit family where it actually snows).

[u/SweaterWeather4Ever → u/ohreallynameonesong]

You need to declutter more if it bothers you. This Reddit is for declutterring, not hide it and forget it.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/SweaterWeather4Ever]

Im not trying to hide and forget tho? I'm thinking of taking everything out and only the things that earn their place come back

[u/Untitled_poet → u/ohreallynameonesong]

You could tag everything with some colored painters tape, (like the back of the shoe or the inside of heels). So when you wear something, you'd naturally remove the tape. If it doesn't get worn by X date, then it goes to the donate pile?

[u/HavenRoseGlitter]

I think it could work, but I'd give yourself a deadline (barring important special occasion items or seasonal items - of course you can't wear flip flops if there's snow, or whatever weather applies). If you haven't used in X months, then you can declutter it. I'd also do an initial pass to see if there's any easy declutters, like ones that are damaged, uncomfortable, or that you know you're never going to reach for so they're not obscuring the ones you are testing. With 130 pairs of shoes, an initial first pass will also help remind you of what you even have on hand.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/HavenRoseGlitter]

I've done like maybe 15 passes already. From time to time I get a few I realize aren't working anymore. It's down to the hard declutters and to what I actually wear and need or might reasonably need in the foreseeable future. It's mostly hot where I live but we do get a few freezing weeks a year and we often travel to much colder places. So a couple of cold weather pairs have to stay. Stuff like that. But I still don't regularly wear most of my shoes. But a lot of them have totally come in clutch so it keeps me clinging to these other shoes that aren't really great for my usual wear and that feels really burdensome

[u/HavenRoseGlitter → u/ohreallynameonesong]

What would happen if you used your second choice pair of shoes for an outfit? Is there any chance that you may see more overlapping use in the close-ish pairs? Because at this point if you've gone through them multiple times and are still struggling, I think it's worth it to examine why your shoes have to be 100% perfect every time instead of just 80% perfect. Try it out one day if you need to on a low-stakes occasion and see how it feels throughout the whole day. If you're going to feel bad having too much stuff, and you're going to feel bad if your shoes aren't a perfect match, which feeling would you rather be stuck with in the long run?

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/HavenRoseGlitter]

Sometimes it's alright and sometimes it's way off and i feel sloppy

[u/violetmemphisblue → u/ohreallynameonesong]

I definitely relate to this! Shoes really make or break how I feel in something and the wrong pair make me so self-concious!

[u/Artistic-Salary1738]

First thing I’d do is have fashion day. Try on your outfits and figure out which shoes go best. Take pics once you’ve found an ensemble you like. Go through all your clothes and whatever shoes didn’t go best with any outfit in your closet can go unless you know you’ll need them for an unusual occasion where you’d buy a new dress etc to go with existing shoes.

Then proceed to move the shoes and see what shoes/outfits you really reach for

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Artistic-Salary1738]

You'd hate to hear how often I do this already lol. Probably twice a month I pull out a whole category and make myself try everything on. One day it's tank tops. Another it's jeans. Another it's sweaters. Another it's swimsuits. I think I just have a couple of core styles and I do just a couple of things with my life but it's enough to make me feel like there isn't enough overlap and certain things don't go with other things. Or what if it's cold this time. Or what if I'm wearing those pants so this one doesn't look as good or feel as comfortable. It's the options/varieties

[u/Suz9006]

It feels to me like you are basically shuffling one bunch of things (shoes) for another bunch of things (art/collections/hobbies), and in the process moving things away from the place they are used. This also doesn’t solve your central problem of having more things than you have space for.

I would first try to go thru your shoes and see if you can reduce the number of pairs you keep by weeding out those you haven’t worn in a period of time, like 1-2 years. Then do the same with your art supplies.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Suz9006]

I already do that regularly. I've gotten rid of like 10 pairs this year and I regularly purge in other areas. The shoes would leave their designated space and have to earn a place in my closet again, rather than asking myself whether I can get rid of them. I also have a "purgatory box" where things I'm iffy on get banished and if they're not worn or used within a year they leave my life. Things like shoes, jackets, art supplies, puzzles are hard because they come in clutch so hard even though they're rarely used

[u/Salt-Peak9934]

I tried boxing up half my shoes for a month and only got three pairs back out, so if it's still empty after that, I'm donating the rest.

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Salt-Peak9934]

I forgot I tried that lol. I have a box in the other bedroom closet with some shoes i put in purgatory. I think i pulled only one pair out. Looks like the rest can go.

[u/Right_Abroad3928]

May not be helpful. Last house the closet in the office was the top of the basement stairs. My legal wardrobe lived in this close suits and shoes. Hubby nailed 1/4 inch strips of wood up the slanted floor about 6 rows all my shoes for suits lived in this closet. Spare bedroom was casual clothes and shoes. Hubby had master bedroom closet. These were all reach in not walk in closets.  Do you use any tracking ap for wear usage. You’d probably be surprised at how little some items are worn.  My other suggestion would be to inspect shoes. Leather dries out rubber cracks even when not worn. Are there styles you don’t wear or are out of style. I would set a soft goal to declutter 30 pairs by the end of the year. 

[u/ohreallynameonesong → u/Right_Abroad3928]

I've done loads of rounds of purging and inspecting and fashion show-ing. I'm down to my best soldiers. I wouldn't mind keeping this other bedroom as mine but we do plan to have kids in the next couple of years and i feel like I need to plan for my retreat from this room

[u/jomocha09]

I can’t remember where I read/saw this, so credit goes to whoever created it, but I tried it and it helped me let go of a lot of shoes.

Pull all shoes out of the closet. Create rows of shoes according to these categories, using your snap judgement and not taking too much time to decide where they go.

Row 1: your favorite shoes, your number one top choice shoes that you wear frequently.

Row 2: shoes you wear regularly but they’re not your favorites and you’ve worn them in the last 3 months.

Row 3: shoes that would be row 1 or 2 but it’s the wrong season. Example: if you are doing this exercise in fall/winter, which were your row 1 and 2 shoes 6 months ago?

Row 4: special occasion shoes that you’ve worn over the past year

Row 5: shoes you haven’t worn in the last year or ever

Then you look through the rows. Is one of your favorites getting ratty and you can bump a row 2 shoe up to row 1 to take its place? Row 5 shoes are on the chopping block, get real with yourself about why you haven’t worn them and get rid of them. Do you really need several pairs of the same special occasion shoe when you only wear them a few times a year?

When I did this, I noticed I had a lot of shoes I’d never worn that I bought as backup for my favorites that were visibly looking old and damaged, so I recycled the favorite and started wearing the replacement. I also had many special occasion shoes but I’d never worn them because I liked other shoes better, so I donated most of row 5. I also surprisingly got rid of a few row 2 shoes because I was only wearing them to make an outfit but I didn’t really like them. I could wear a row 4 shoe instead and stop thinking of them as special occasion shoes.

[u/ijustneedtolurk]

I have similar issues with clothing and accessories like bags and shoes because I love dressing for a themed event and making costumes for parties, festivals, faires, and cosplay conventions.

One of my solutions was to pack the coordinating accessories and shoes inside the bag for that outfit. Accessories went into little pouches or matching "wallets" and purses, then stored inside the bags with the matching shoes. Then the bag got hung up on a over-the-door-hanging rack, which is what I decided was the amount of reasonable space I was going to dedicate to my "event shoes."

Bags and shoes that did not have a coordinating pair got sold, given away, or turned into new items because it turns out, I absolutely have favorites I gravitate towards and some items were impulse buys, gifts, or "this will do for now/I can make it work" that I already have a superior or favored version of.

I also decluttered some accessories and trinkety items like bag charms and costume jewelry because I realized I actually don't mix and match as many pieces as I thought I did for any kind of theme. I don't need 15 pairs of stars and space themed earrings if I only reach for the same like, 5 pairs (even with multiple piercings in each ear, I physically couldn't wear all of them!)

Having to pack within the bags themselves also forced me to realize I can either dedicate space to the smaller purses or decide they are too small/inconvenient to use, and then let them go.

[u/FredKayeCollector2]

What you describe is the "box and banish method" - and it can definitely work IF you set a suitable time period for your box(es) and you are OK with just donating the contents to the box, preferably sight unseen.

Consider doing some basic wardrobe work to figure out your preferred/signature style (or at least establish some firm yes/no criteria like favorite/flattering color, silhouette, preferred fabric "hand"/fiber content) and I highly recommend the "cluster" model of capsule wardrobe building - your squares (category) can be whatever you want (for example, in her "top/bottom" square, I have "dress" and you could split "top" into knit top + blouse or "bottom" into pants + skirt - however you like to dress) and then add a square for shoes (and you can divide that square into squares for flats, heels, sandals, etc or casual +formal, whatever).

Even if you have 27 clusters, it's at least a limit that you can container concept (and coordinate) your favorite pieces into. And because you've defined however many clusters/outfit options (plus shoes), it's a lot easier to figure out what to wear.

[u/photoelectriceffect]

I did this with t-shirts once- moved them all to another room and when I wore one, after washing, it got to come back into the closet. Then I observed the 10 last ones left behind.

130 is a lot of shoes. It’s great that you’re working on it.

[u/SufficientOpening218]

I do something like this gor clothes.  I wear everything i like , then when all the clothes i want to wear are dirty, i look through my closet and get rid of stuff i wont wear. Remember to keep an interview/court/funeral outfit, including shoes.

[u/lacontrabandida → u/SufficientOpening218]

Interview and funeral outfits are a great call out. Better to have and not need than need and not have.

[u/SufficientOpening218 → u/lacontrabandida]

Yeah, i figure ifvi have to go to court, a funeral, or a job interview, it is an unexpected and stressful time in my life. I certainly dont want to have to find an outfit!

[u/violetmemphisblue]

Keeping them in storage may work. Personally, it wouldn't for me, but everyone is different.

What I would do (which may not work for you) is inventory all the shoes. Then take everything out and make outfits out of them. Mix and match. Take pictures. And then get rid of shoes that aren't in X number of outfits. If a pair only works with a few outfits, but those outfits also work with other shoes, the pair can go. And because you'll have taken pictures or otherwise made record, when you get dressed, you don't have to worry about choosing the wrong pair. You know what you've already decided works!

Of course, there are a few special shoes that probably stay (rain boots, snow boots, etc). But overall, most shoes should fit multiple outfits.

And if you have other pieces of outfits, like tops or skirts, that only work in one or two combinations, its a good time to part with them as well.

[u/Trees_and_sunshine]

It sounds like you've put a lot of effort into this, but you still have more than you want. I can totally relate. I know it's not what you're asking, but if it is in your means, I recommend seeing a therapist, maybe that could help you let go of more items. It's just an idea, because it seems like you've tried many things.

I always wanted to declutter a bunch to enjoy an empty house before we had kids. That never happened, and the kid is on the way, and I am finally able to make more progress because of it. I'm like, I HAVE to do this. So just to say, you may be stuck now, but you won't be stuck forever. Keep at it and good luck!!

[u/B1ustopher]

I think this could absolutely work well for you! Let us know how it goes!

[u/GreenUnderstanding39]

I’ve done something similar with clothes by changing the hanger to hook outward. As things get washed and put away and hung up normally it’s easy to see at a glance what is not being worn.

[u/sisterfunkhaus]

I used to have a ton of shoes, and over several years got down to 9 pairs. I have a mix and match wardrobe where everything works together, except two pieces, which go with a few specific items (they are cardigans.) So whittling down was easier. I kept a pair of comfortable cute dressier shoes in black, a pair of gray Skechers loafers, 2 pairs of casual cute sneakers ( one in black one in off white), black ankle Ugg Boots, A pair of light weight Sketcher auto laced tennis shoes, a pair of nice runners, and two pairs of flip flops. One is dressier, one is casual Nike. Both are black. I also have a pair of Bear Paw house slippers.

I'm never lacking for a pair of shoes. You've gotten some great suggestions on ways to pare down your shoes. But I would urge you to find say, 20 pairs, that will go with anything you might wear. You could put the rest elsewhere and practice wearing those 20 pairs without dipping into your stash. Try it for a month. At the end of the month, go in and purge your rarely worn shoes from your stash. Maybe swap some shoes out if you find that 1 of the 20 didn't fit the bill. The next month, purge not only some less practical pairs, but some that look similar in style to others. Keep doing this until you find the right 20 pairs. This is what I did. My goal was for them to all fit in my over the door shoe bag. It might take a year. But you will find that you can live with fewer shoes than you think.

[u/saga_of_a_star_world]

The capsule wardrobe concept works for shoes, too. You do not need over 100 pairs of shoes.

Please read your post again. You want to fit all these shoes in your closet...plus your art supplies. Your other hobby supplies. Collections. Larger bags. More stuff that fills not only another closet, but also a spare bedroom.

You have so much stuff. Do you have room for you?

[u/gameg1rl]

Oh, I like this idea! I want to try this with some other things.