I have a small mudroom. We live in a rural area with all kinds of weather and a small army of children (4) so we have a LOT of shoes, boots, slippers, sandals, etc. I had to eat to corral them and had piles of filthy footwear all over the floor to the point one couldn’t open the door all the way. THIS ITEM SAVED US. We had NO room for a rack on the floor and those over the door shoe organizers are useless for boots. (As a family of 6, we have about 20 pars of those alone.) Someday, I’ll renovate this 1/3 of our home but for now, this vertical, round shoe rack is perfect. It was PAIN to assemble but listen people, my 10 year old did it. He’s a smart kid but not a genius and has little tolerance for distraction so if he can do it so can you. We’ve had ours for 8 months, and it’s been abused. My overweight mother has leaned on it and held it for balance, it’s had a few full back packs hung on it, and I’ve fully loaded it with ALL the footwear it can hold, plus sunscreen, bug spray, flashlights, gloves, hats, you name the accessory and season-it’s been on the rack. It hasn’t fallen over, broken, bent, or failed in any way. So, as the title states, it DOES wobble. By that I mean, depending on how it’s loaded, the pole sections are not quite straight all the time and the baskets may tilt one way or another but they’ve never slid down, spilled their contents, or given way. I have done no reinforcement anywhere. The one thing I DID do when I installed it, based on the advice of another review, was to use a 8in x 12in piece of thin panel wood (1/8 inch thick) at the top between the pole and the ceiling to disperse the force of the pole evenly. I was able to make the tension very tight this way without putting a hole in my ceiling or having to locate the joist and potentially place it in an inconvenient spot. I have it right where I want it, and it’s never moved despite being bumped, jostled, pushed, and slammed with the vacuum. I’m ordering another one to put in my daughters room to hold her immense collection of baby dolls and stuffed animals. I’m sick of the bins and stupid hammocks and of course the usual all-over-the-floor “storage” options for those. I already tested this rack out as an option for her “babies” and now that I’ve seen this thing’s durability I’m ready to get one into her room. It might finally meet its match in there when she tries to climb it, but hey, if it survives, I’ll update my review accordingly.
