I've brought new life into shoes by buying 'Scuff' repair dye next to the shoe polish. For my son's shoes I recently dyed his maroon dress shoes black when I realized the polish would just disappear off the scuffed toes. I've also changed the color of dark brown shoes that got water spots on them to a dark black as well. It hid all sorts of imperfections.
I made a little shoe holder. It is made out of wood and it is rectangular with 2 layers. Each kid gets its own spot. So the littler one Ben gets the bottom rack and the older one Becka gets the top.