STORING MANY SHOES IN AN AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

Shoe storage doesn't sound like something that would warrant a blog post, but I often have to travel with at least four pairs of of the danged things, two of which are massive:  street shoes, hiking boots, steel-toed boots, and public shower flip-flops.  Add one other person to that traveling mix and suddenly there are at least six pairs of shoes.  In the small space of an Airstream Interstate, this can become a case of All Shoes, All The Time.  I got tired of tripping over the danged things in the middle of the night and having them tumble from overhead cabinets, so I decided to give them special accommodations.

For smaller women's shoes storage, I simply expanded on the idea I had for food storage in Airstream's triangular overhead cabinets, except this time I used my Container Store over-door shoe pocket remnants for some actual shoe storage.

Our model of Interstate has three drop-down under-cabinet doors for accessing the fresh water tank, the water pump, and the black tank.  I used one of the fresh water access doors for two pairs of smaller women's shoes.  

The procedure is identical to what I had done for the small individual food items - cut a row of shoe pockets, sew a sleeve into which a length of shelf-hanging bar can be inserted, and then screw the resulting assemblage to the back of the cabinet door.  

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Tevas and shower flip-flops (I walked 7 miles in those Tevas so far this week). Conveniently, both of these are now stored right next to the bed.  We have learned the hard way not to store shoes anywhere under the bed.  They become temporarily off-limits once the bed is opened up and someone is sleeping in it, duh.   

Two down, three or four to go.  Next I wanted to figure out what the heck to do with two large pairs of hiking boots and/or one pair of hikers and one pair of steel toes.

I had this wasted space on top of our black water tank that was annoying me (I hate waste).  I can't imagine what I'd store on top of a black water tank besides nasty shoes.  

Especially in our Gulf Coast region with its characteristic clay "gumbo" soils, hiking boots can get incredibly nasty.  I wanted some kind of a catchment device to store the mud, sweat and tears associated with a hard hike.

I found my solution in this Sterlite brand storage tote that I had bought previously at Walmart for about five bucks.  

It looks rather large at first sight, but check this out:

It had the perfect footprint (pun intended) for two pairs of hiking boots, and the footprint was all that mattered for this little project. 

I took a box cutter and chopped the top section off until I was left with a pan about six inches high.  

This can slide into place on top of the black tank in a way that does not interfere with any PEX water lines or electrical components.  The shoes are not very heavy and the bottom of the cut-down storage container has a large surface area, so it will not place undue weight on the black tank. 

In order to keep it from sliding around on top of that tank, I used adhesive-backed Velcro to secure one corner of it in place on the tank surface.  When I want to remove it, I slide one finger between the pan and the tank to release the Velcro.

Presto!  Easy access and it does not matter how muddy they get - it stays within the pan, which I can remove and wash.  

Well, I have to carry more than I would prefer, but at least now I have places to put most of them.