Slippahs to Stilettos

I love shoes. Who doesn’t? No matter how you’re feeling or if that dress you wore last year just doesn’t fit the same, a cute pair of shoes can make you feel amazing. I love all shoes from simple rubber slippahs that I wear all summer long till the early days of fall (or clearly when I am painting), to furry winter boots that carry me through the winter, or a pair of high heels that match only one dress.

When designing my new closet (full post coming soon) I had to find a special way to display my most special pairs of shoes. I had a dream that my closet would be a personal boutique that I could shop in every morning. I could not afford a custom closet and personally that is not exactly my style. I wanted to mix in some antique and vintage furniture in my new closet. I decided to find old curio cabinets versus a shoe rack to display my shoes. I started by finding two curio cabinets on Facebook Marketplace. One of them needed more work than I realized, but I still loved it. Original posts below. I purchased these for around 100-200 dollars each.

After painting the hutch to the right with leftover flat pink ceiling paint (Tip: I love painting ceilings with color!), the interior of the old cabinet came to life. There was much staining to this piece as it had been in storage for probably some time, so it needed a good cleaning and fresh paint inside and out. Tip: I like to use leftover flat paint as I would chalk paint on furniture. It covers well and if you are not going for a high gloss finish it will work perfect. The curio to the left needed some fixing to the glass shelves. Thankfully the sides of the rounded glass were intact and shown below. Both pieces had chicken wire versus glass in some areas, which tied them together and brought the perfect charm. Tip: If you find pieces with missing glass, chicken wire can easily add charm for a low cost. I do recommend adding a coat of paint to the chicken wire but be very careful to go light on your paint and watch for drips.

Today my shoes are displayed like fine China! I have more shoes accessible in rolling carts, but the shoes in these two cabinets are my favorites. I try to not reserve them for just “special occasions”, but anytime I want to feel great!