How To Build A Custom Shoe Rack From An IKEA Shelving Unit

The IKEA cube shelves are a little too deep and tall for shoes. JP resizes a 4×2 EXPEDIT into a shoe rack optimized for shoes. On her site, she draws out a detailed plan and cut list. 

At the bottom row, she does 10″ x 9 1/2″ compartments for boots and tall high heels. The two top rows are 10″ x 5 1/2″ for shoes. These dimensions will need to be adjusted if you are attempting this on the Kallax.

Materials:

How To Build A Custom Shoe Rack From An Ikea Expedit Shelving Unit

The Expedit is no more. Try it with the Kallax instead!

As you know, the Expedit or Kallax is not made of wood but medium-density fiberboard (MDF) sandwiching a paper honeycomb interior. Cutting it down equals a lot of work, as you’ll need to reconstruct all the sides that face out. So if you’re a hacking noob, keep to the original dimension of 15 3/8″ if you can. It may save you a lot of headaches. Or you can try this hack instead to achieve a similar effect.

To reconstruct the 2″ thick Expedit sides, you’ll need to salvage the internal edge-strengthening blocks from the cut pieces by gently prying the pieces apart. Trim the edge-strengthening blocks to the new size and glue them into place for your new sides.

After the pieces are reconstructed, you can start putting them together again according to the new plan.

Fill any of the visible pre-drilled holes and your screw heads with hole filler.

Lastly, fill with shoes!

~ JP Danko, Toronto, Ontario

Do you have lots and lots of shoes? Try these custom shoe rack hacks.