Love me, love my shoes

A good friend of mine dropped by here and emailed me from Jakarta, asking if my real name was not 'Marcos' :-) , responding to my earlier email where I told him a girl can't have too many pairs of shoes. Interestingly, he pointed out that 'at least they are neat and orderly' and had wondered if they were just made neat for the photo shoot. Well, this may be nightmare-inducing knowledge, but for those who are looking for new ideas to lengthen the life-span of their shoes and not keeping things neat just for visitors, here's what I can share:

1. I keep a wooden shoe rack outside the main entrance. Here are all my flip-flops and shoes that my friends and family can use when they want to go to the swimming pool. The rationale behind this is: if you can afford to lose them, they can be left outside


2. The mat outside the main entrance is not meant to hide the house keys. That's where we wipe our feet before coming into the house (assuming shoes are removed only after entering the house)


3. I keep a chair near the front door so that no one steps into my living room with their shoes on. They sit down in that chair and remove their shoes, pretty please. In Real Simple: The Organized Home, Kendell Cronstrom wrote about the foyer, described as something that 'might seem like little more than a hallway with a front door attached, but in some ways it's the most important space in your home'. I agree with Cronstrom's suggestion that a pleasant foyer will let visitors and family know how much you care about your home - and them. I dont have a cooridored hallway that looks like a more designated foyer area. However, inspiration came in the form of a 3-panel bamboo screen from Ikea. Using it creates direction yet maintains the open-plan style of my living area. I leave my shoes there overnight (or more, in the case of my gym shoes) to air them before I transfer them to my shoe rack in the walk-in.

Airing the shoes keep them fresh and shoe-trees help keep shoes in shape. I've got my favorite cobbler who resoles and reheels my shoes when needed. More?

1. Brush/wipe off dirt from shoes immediately. Unless you have a butler/valet who does this things for you, get used to it.
2. Once a week, run a feather duster over your shoes (you have to run it over your bookshelves anyway)
3. Find a good personal rythm (monthly, once in 3 months) take your 'shoe collection temperature'. Give em a polish. Polish not only makes them look good, they also repel water. Not everyone can afford to go 'singing in the rain' and throw away their shoes after.

OK Paul - NOW you can call me Imelda.