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SHOP $220, getopenspaces.com
Welcome to The Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.
Let me start this off by admitting to something: I have a shoe problem. It’s the kind of shoe problem that leads me to look for unconventional storage solutions, because, between my roommate and me, we have enough shoes to stock a Foot Locker, and we don’t have enough space in our apartment for these shoes to go anywhere that looks good. Or at least, we didn’t.
You know how in The Bear, Carmy has so many clothes that he stores his selvedge jeans in the oven when it’s not in use? Yeah, that’s me with my shoes. You try living in a New York City apartment as a fashion editor who firmly believes that footwear can make or break an entire outfit. I’ve tried the method of putting all my shoes in a giant storage container and stuffing ’em in a closet. I’ve tried to lay them out in an aesthetically pleasing way, and when that didn’t work, I tried to get shoe racks that climb so high they nearly brush my (super high) ceilings. Nothing had really worked, until—until—the day I complained about my shoe woes to my colleague, and she said something that changed my life. “Have you tried Open Spaces?”
SHOP $220, getopenspaces.com
The design is seamless.
Even before the Open Spaces Entryway Rack arrived to my home, I knew I would like it. Aside from it looking as good as it does (we’ll get to that later), the fact that it’s crafted from steel meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with flimsy, plastic shoe shelves from Amazon anymore, the ones that break when I would so much as put a hefty Doc Martens boot on ’em.
Because the Entryway Rack is steel (and heavy), I will say, you might want two people to carry the box inside and build it when it’s delivered. Being the stubborn person I am, though, I chose to build this on my own. I’m the kind of pers0n who is definitely not afraid to quit halfway through a task when it proves difficult, claiming I’ll call a TaskRabbit tomorrow, but I was pleasantly surprised when I built this whole rack by myself in, like, under 30 minutes. All the tools you need come with the rack, and from there, it’s just a matter of being able to hold the individual pieces of steel steady enough to lock some screws in.
And, guys, don’t worry—this isn’t one of those wacky pieces of Wayfair furniture with vague instructions. I don’t like building furniture, but brands like Open Spaces—which makes it easy as it can possibly be to follow directions, connect poles, and screw some things together—make it way more approachable.
SHOP $220, getopenspaces.com
It holds more—and does more—than you think.
To state the obvious, I use my Entryway Rack as a shoe rack, but the name of it suggests it can do so much more. So I put its versatility to the test. When you purchase your Entryway Rack, you can choose to get it in a set with two Medium Baskets in the same shade—or purchase those baskets separately. These look like wire baskets but are made from the same steel as the rack itself, so they’re pretty damn sturdy.
When I first set up my Entryway Rack, I did actually use it as an entryway rack. The two baskets completely transform the way you can organize things on it—I put my wallet and keys in there, along with my mail, some books, and a bunch of other stuff that would be lying around the apartment otherwise. It’s actually amazing how much this rack can hold. Sometimes I feel as if it’s an optical illusion; the rack looks so small and compact, so how is it holding, like, half the shit I own?
You’ll never guess how many pairs of shoes can fit—comfortably, might I add!—on this rack. Guess. It’s more than you think. Right now, I have a combination of boots, sneakers, flats, loafers, and sandals on my Entryway Rack, and when I count ’em up, they come to a total of … 18 pairs! And if I put the wire baskets somewhere else, that number might even climb to 20 pairs. Do you even have 20 pairs of shoes? What if I told you there was an easy, chic place to store all of your shoes and you wouldn’t have to think about them twice? You would do what any rational person would do and shell out 220 bucks for this rack.
SHOP $220, getopenspaces.com
And it looks fantastic.
Perhaps the very best part about this shoe rack is that it doesn’t really look like a shoe rack. Or at least, not the traditional kind that you want to stash away in the mudroom, beyond the eyes of houseguests.
Whether you choose the Entryway Rack in Dark Green, Cream, Black, or Navy, you’re getting a damn sleek, contemporary, stylish piece of home decor that’s just as functional as it is cool. It can go anywhere, from your actual entryway to your living room to your bedroom—wherever you need some storage, the Entryway Rack will fit right in.
SHOP $220, getopenspaces.com
Photographs by Joe Lingeman. Prop styling by Heather Greene.
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