Today we kick off our annual Holiday Guest Series! Visiting is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, so a couple years back, we started a tradition of inviting some visitors here to Remodelaholic for the holidays — virtually, of course. So for the next few days, we’ll be sharing some amazing projects from our amazing visitors. Pull up a chair and sit awhile, make a new friend, and be sure to visit their sites to see more! (You can see our past amazing Holiday Guests here.)
Our first guest today is actually 3 guests in one! First, we have the lovely Sara from Sincerely Sara D to show off her amazing vintage mail sorter shoe cubby, and then we have a building plan to make your own, with plans by the talented Amy from Hertoolbelt and additional details and photos from reader Kristi, who whipped up a shoe cubby of her own, modeled after Sara’s. Give these ladies a warm Remodelaholic welcome!
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Vintage Mail Sorter Shoe Cubby
Hi guys, I’m Sara from Sincerely, Sara D. I am overjoyed to be here with you all today on Remodelaholic!
Although I believe I’m a misplaced southern girl (I love the sun and heat), I was born, raised and (still) live in the midwest. I’m mom to three cute kids, and a wife to an amazing man who puts up with my never ending projects and ideas. I blog about my DIY home decor endeavors, and I will paint anything. My painted faucets tutorial is one of my most popular posts along with my tutorial for perfect chalkboard lettering.
We moved into our current home a couple years ago, and one of the first areas I tackled was our mudroom. It’s a long, narrow space, and it’s our family’s main entrance into our home since it’s right off the garage. Our kids are pretty good at remembering to remove their shoes when they enter the house, but that can leave an ugly pile of shoes by the doorway. Luckily we hadn’t lived in our home long before I randomly came across an old post office mail sorter. It was love at first site at a local antique mall and a steal for $80! I had to have it and was crossing my fingers it would be the right size for my kids’ shoes.
The guy I bought it from was gracious enough to drive it home to me, but I had a lot of explaining to my husband when I drove up the driveway with a panel van sporting the words “mystery machine” in tow. He watched as the muddy, wasp infested mail sorter was unloaded – not quite seeing my vision. However, a little elbow grease, and the piece was cleaned up and a perfect fit in our space.
With three kids, we’re always running off somewhere – school, sports, piano or church. A DIY chalkboard calendar was a great finishing piece for this space to keep us going in the right direction and the perfect companion to the mail sorter. Two years later, and we’re still loving and using the mail sorter turned shoe cubby!
Remodelaholics, be sure to go visit Sincerely Sara D to see more from Sara, and to give her a big thanks for letting us share her photos and make a plan based on her brilliant upcycle!
Kristi was so inspired by Sara’s shoe organizer, that she headed to Home Depot for supplies and made her own! See how Kristi made hers, and Amy has a full (modified) building plan here below.
Ready to build one of your own? See Amy’s building plan on the next page –>
This is so exciting! Thank you Remodelaholic for sharing and organizing the plans for the DIY vintage mail sorter shoe cubby. I wish I had Kristi and Amy’s skills! The plans look fabulous. Way to go, ladies!
Thanks so much for letting us share, Sara!
I store a lot of jewelry supplies in plastic shoe boxes. I have been looking for some way to organized those boxes with easy access and this would be perfect!
Ooh, that would be perfect!
I was so excited when I realized there were actual plans and not just a repurposing of something most of us will never be able to find! I do have a glitch though. Most of these cute projects are not usable in my home. I have baseboard heat and no one ever takes that into consideration when making these projects. Maybe you ladies will keep that in mind and come up with a solution. I’m sure others have baseboard heaters too!
Hi Patti,
For this plan, I’d just suggest leaving the legs off and mounting the cubby on the wall above the heaters at an appropriate height (check your heater documentation for the info about that distance). You can use a cleat like we used on the headboard here: https://www.remodelaholic.com/head-of-the-board-headboard-tutorial/
Hope that helps. Thanks for the comment!
The plans turned out so well… I kinda want to build another one now! Thanks for including me in this awesome DIY!
Thank you for your help, Kristi!!
Thank you for the plans for this beautiful organizer. Do I spy that you also painted the electrical panel? I plan to start on this right away, and my panel is also right where it is going. It is such an eyesore! This should work great in our narrow hallway!
It looks gorgeous and perfect for what I want. It will be my first project but I’m really stuck on something. I don’t understand how to attach the dividers to the 2 1/4 ” top frame. Where and how to I put the brad nails in? I understand how to bang in the brad nails underneath as you have clearly marked this on the drawing. This also goes for all of the dividers at the top. Do I bang the brad nails in at an angle, going into the divider and up into the above shelf? Thanks for your help.
Hi Sarah,
On the top row of dividers, nail through the 2 1/4″ board into the dividers. On the rest of the dividers you can ‘toenail’ them in on an angle like you are talking about. Really, the top nails are to hold them in place until the glue dries.
What are pocket hole screws
I love this. I am not a handy person, so I will probably hire someone to build this for me. Thank you for including plans! This will definitely lower the cost.
We’d love to see pictures when it’s built! Thanks for the comment, Chana.
Do adult size shoes fit in these?
Hello,
I love this plan and want to build this as I have been looking for a vintage mail sorter for my entryway. Problem is they are either too expensive or too tall or wide. I have one question, I would like to build this and finish like the original in picture. Do you have instructions with colors how to make it look like the original photo. It looks vintage and that is exactly what I want! Hope you can help!!!
Would like to know if they would build me ONE? Just a little smaller size.
Hi Bob,
We don’t build these to sell, but there are talented woodworkers all around that do, and any of them can use our plans and make the modifications like you’d like.
What stain color was used for this shelf? Thank you!
My husband and I just made this for our mudroom and we love it!! As written it would have been slightly too wide to fit so we made it only 6 cubbies across (and made the cubbies slightly wider). I think the photo that shows the pieces of wood and all the cuts you have an extra board in there! Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks for letting us know! We’ll double check everything again. We’d love to see a pic of what you built! You can email us at [email protected] or upload a pic here: https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/
Hello, I am just gathering supplies to start the shoe cubby I read through the instructions fully for the first time and on step 3 second sentence, and subsequent steps….”use wood glue and brad nails to secure the dividers into place”. From where? If the row of dividers is directly above you cannot nail down, at they put in at an angle? From where? Everything else looks great. Thanks.
Hi, I am new to this furniture building thing, and I read that you need a clamp for pocket screws. I can’t figure out how a clamp would work with this piece. Any hints?