Do you enforce it with guests or just leave it up to them? Do you have a sign posted at your front door or anything? What do you do to keep shoe clutter at entryways to a minimum (basket, cubby, etc)?
We're renting a house and the owner is a little anal about everything. He didn't specifically ask us to have a no shoe policy, but when we did the walk through with him he did ask us to remove our shoes. Also, the previous tenant had a no shoe rule and even posted a "reminder" on the front door asking shoes to be removed. I don't feel like we necessarily have to follow in their footsteps (haha), but I'm considering giving it a try. The carpets are like brand new and very clean, and they're a light beige-ish color. Just curious as to how you handle guests most of all.
We do have a no shoe policy for our house or have indoor only shoes that dont go outside.
For guests if they see we arent wearing any they take theres off at the door. If they ask we say whatever they want to do it doesnt matter.
Indoor only shoes are mostly because Raym is supposed to wear shoes for the majority of the day according to his PT. SO he has croc sneakers that dont go outside.
Around here it's very normal for all houses to be shoe free. I can't remember ever having to ask, as everyone just does so naturally. Why anyone would want to track all the outside dirt and yuck into their house on their shoes is beyond me.
I have a major shoe clutter issues. I have shoe holder pouches hanging near the front door and cubbies in the foyer closet, but does anyone use them without reminders? Rarely.
We don't remove our shoes in normal weather. Yuck weather and winter we do. Should we? Probably. The kids prefer to go barefoot, so they take theirs off without asking. I'm the one that typically has shoes on now that I think of it.
ETA- we don't ask anyone to remove shoes, but they usually do. Maybe when the house is actually mine I will care more.
-- Edited by supergrover on Monday 12th of April 2010 12:23:56 PM
I don't allow shoes in the house and pretty much anyone that has come in takes them off unless they aren't staying long. I am not super high strung about it though. I don't actually ask people to take them off they just see that we don't have any on and that there are shoes on a mat by the door. If someone didn't take them off I wouldn't go all postal or anything LOL
We don't have a policy. Which is why our carpets are so nasty, lol. Well, that and spills, and the fact that the morons who owned this place last put carpet in the DINING ROOM.
Anyway, the kids always do take their shoes off when they come in. We have a tray that slides under our entryway bench and they keep their shoes there. Rainboots are in the coat closet, and Bill is supposed to put his shoes in there too, but he ends up leaving them everywhere. There is not enough clearance for adult shoes to go under the entryway bench. I usually leave a pair of flip flops next to the bench.
I generally take off my shoes and put on slippers or flip flops when I come in, but don't always. Bill never takes off his shoes or anything-he pretty much tracks dirt everywhere.
I never ask anyone to take their shoes off, and no one really ever does unless they do it at their own house.
My BFF and her DH do have a no shoe policy, but we all know they do, so we automatically do it-well, except for Bill because her DH is his BFF and he likes to annoy him by not taking off his shoes, lol. Anyway, if people don't do it, they will mention that they leave their shoes by the door, or will ask the people's children, assuming the adults will get the hint. At parties, they make exceptions though.
I think it would be nice to do though, honestly. The rugs would stay SO much nicer. I don't know about having a sign, but I do think that it is reasonable to ask people nicely if you want to have a no shoe policy.
We don't have a policy around here. I don't make guests who come to visit me take their shoes off. In the summer, we're usually barefeet around here anyway, but when we're not, I don't stress about it.
There's probably more germs on people's hands and clothes than on the bottom of their shoes anyway, and I certainly don't make people wash their hands when they visit, so why would I make them take their shoes off?
Besides that, I'd rather sweep up dirt than smell people's dirty socked feet, LOL
ETA: I forgot to say that if people have dirty shoes, they do take them off..that's just good manners
-- Edited by Juanita on Monday 12th of April 2010 01:27:27 PM
We don't have a no-shoe policy, but we have hardwood floors throughout. If I had carpet, then yes, I would. Our floors get really dirty as it is, I can't imagine how they would look with carpet. Don does not take his shoes off and we have a dog.
People that I know that have a no-shoe policy do not announce it, but it is ususaly pretty obvious, like all the shoes are at the door. I also just assume if they have carpet.
we do not have a no shoe policy. obviously if someone has dirty shoes they usually take them off. and rarely do the kids and i wear our shoes while we are just home.
We don't have a no-shoe policy, but we have hardwood floors throughout. If I had carpet, then yes, I would. Our floors get really dirty as it is, I can't imagine how they would look with carpet. Don does not take his shoes off and we have a dog.
People that I know that have a no-shoe policy do not announce it, but it is ususaly pretty obvious, like all the shoes are at the door. I also just assume if they have carpet.
we have hardwood floors too, except for one area of the house
we have a no shoe policy and have a friendly note posted on the front door so people can see it. All of our family, etc. know the policy by now and just take their shoes off so I could probably remove the reminder.
If we are having a party or something we don't enforce it since people are usually in and out so much (but my SIL and MIL still take their shoes off every time they come in and out).
How to reduce the shoe clutter at the entryway? I could use some seriously help here. I'm not kidding there are times that we have 15 pairs of shoes piled in the entry and it's a crazy, chaotic mess. I try to get everyone's shoes into the entry closet or back to their room (in Kate's case b/c she has so many shoes). The boys really only have 2-3 pairs each (tennis, sandals, boots).
We replaced most carpet with hardwoods several years ago and it is unbelievable the amount of crap that gets into this house despite the no shoe policy. We are constantly sweeping and having the hardwoods make it so much more obvious than carpet would - with carpet I would most likely have swept 1-2 times per week and that is sooooooooo not often enough knowing what I know now with the hardwoods. That dirt would have just been ground down in the carpet.
Shoes rarely make it onto our carpet even on party days as the only rooms carpeted are bedrooms and are off the main living area. I cannot imagine how much dirtier our carpet, floors would be if we let all the kids wear their shoes all the time.
We are a no shoes house. I wasn't always, but I have found it makes my house much less dirty. We have hardwood floors, carpet and tile. Honestly, it has made a huge difference for all surfaces. I also know that our feet walk in places that contain chemicals (like on grasses) and places like bathroom floors. It's just gross to me. Our shoes, unfortunately, are usually somewhat of a cluttered mess by the door, but it also signals people to take off their shoes. I give them the choice of keeping their shoes on though. Most people still opt to take them off.
Wow. I had no idea people would wear shoes in the house (besides slippers or inside shoes).
I can't think of anyone whose house I would go to and not take my shoes off.
I wonder if it is a wintery climate thing? We're so used to snowboots in the winter/rainy wet shoes, etc that we're used to removing them.
I will say, if someone comes to my house and is just going to be in and out (service people, etc), I'll make a point of telling them not to worry about their shoes but if I didn't say anything, they'd take them off.
If someone wanted to visit and not take off their shoes, I wouldn't care at all. Our house is certainly not that clean, lol.
I will say one of the main reasons we went to that policy was when we had Jake we could not stand the thought of him crawling all over our house putting his fingers and everything from the floor in his mouth and knowing that we had just walked on that very floor with shoes we had worn earlier in a gas station or fast food restaurant bathroom!!!
I'll see how it goes over. With renting a house, it seems there's added pressure to keep everything clean and new. We'll have our work cut out with the backyard since there's grass (we've never had grass), and the owner decided to plant new rose bushes (ugh, pita).
I'll need to get us some indoor shoes or slippers for the colder months, but I'm sure we'll be barefoot most of the other times. It will be interesting with our families because everyone is used to just wearing their shoes.
the thought of a "no shoes policy" baffles me b/c i've never seen that before.
i mean, i will offer to take off my shoes when i get to someone's house, but i'm rarely told that i should.
i love hearing about these little cultural differences. :)
We don't have a "no-shoes" policy either. And like April, I have never heard of one and don't know anyone who has one. Maybe it is a regional thing!
Truthfully, I think it makes a ton of sense to remove shoes before going through the house. But our habit of leaving shoes on is so ingrained that I doubt we could ever reverse it!
-- Edited by a_mastermom on Tuesday 13th of April 2010 07:24:14 AM
We have brand new light colored carpet and have a no shoe policy. We have a tile area in front of the front door before the carpet starts and that is where everyone leaves their shoes. We don't have a sign up but so far all our guests notice our shoes lined up and our bare feet and they automatically take theirs off.
the thought of a "no shoes policy" baffles me b/c i've never seen that before.
i mean, i will offer to take off my shoes when i get to someone's house, but i'm rarely told that i should.
i love hearing about these little cultural differences. :)
me too. We have tile floors, and I have a nueroma that makes it hurt when I am barefoot. We also have dogs that we try and keep up with, but, our floors end up with some dirt, and I would die if people were walking around in socks. Is that gross?
I do admire really nice carpet, but we dont have it.
