Basically every day, our shoes/coats/boots/mittens/etc look like they exploded all over our couch/floor/the entire bonus room. THIS was the solution. It holds a surprising number of shoes on the bottom shelves (thinking about baskets - that would make this even more useful. It's compact and multi-functional. As other reviewers noted, the coat tree pole is a little bit wobbly and not too sturdy. But for holding a couple adult coats or a bunch of guests' coats for a couple hours, it has been perfect. The seat is surprisingly solid and firm for putting shoes on. An amazingly useful piece, perfect price and looks really nice in our home.