I always find it funny when this topic comes up - I live in Canada where everyone has shoe free homes. I never knew people wore shoes in their home until I started reading DCUM - it seems very unusual and (sorry!) totally gross to me.

It is not a big deal. When you come to someone's house, you take your shoes off just inside the front door unless the host indicates otherwise. Since nobody cares about a pile of shoes at the door when you're in the house visiting, just leave them tucked neatly by the door. In your own home, your shoes can be kept in a closet near the door, neatly lined by the front door, in a basket, on a shoe rack... whatever you like best. It's REALLY not a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The concept of wearing shoes in the house is foreign to me. Shoes come off in the mudroom. Shoes kept in the garage. I always let guests know beforehand so they can bring socks, etc. I hate when I go to someone's house and they tell me to take off my shoes then and there if I'm not wearing socks. So I tell everyone beforehand.

For repairmen we have plastic shoe covers.

For real? And do they go along with this or laugh?

NP here, but a lot of repairmen bring their own. We actually just had a Verizon guy and an A/C repair guy in the past couple of months, both of whom put on those plastic booties before coming in.

Maybe they only do it if they notice that you are a shoe free house...

Anonymous wrote:The concept of wearing shoes in the house is foreign to me. Shoes come off in the mudroom. Shoes kept in the garage. I always let guests know beforehand so they can bring socks, etc. I hate when I go to someone's house and they tell me to take off my shoes then and there if I'm not wearing socks. So I tell everyone beforehand.

For repairmen we have plastic shoe covers.

For real? And do they go along with this or laugh?

Your house, your rules. It really is not a BFD. Or at least, it shouldn't be!

Anonymous wrote:Agree with PP - the pile of shoes by the door always reminds me of that exhibit at the Holocaust museum.

More drama.

Anonymous wrote:I dislike this rule primarily because I have plantar fascitis and must wear shoes. I just decline and explain why but I always feel uncomfortable

I do too, and still have a shoe free house. It does not have to be a big deal, unless you insist on making it one. Oh, the drama!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shoe-free is a cultural thing for my husband, and I've quickly become used to it. We keep most of our shoes upstairs in our bedroom closet, but we have one two-level shoe rack at the entry where we keep a couple pairs of our most commonly-worn shoes. We also have the coat closet at entry -- I keep our running shoes and large boots in there b/c I think they look kind of tacky at the entry.

And to the PP who commented about the smell... not sure where you have been in Asia, but in South Asia people most definitely do not keep their shoes outside -- someone would steal them, or they would get bugs inside them. People I know keep them in a rack-type thing by the door.

+1. I noticed that too and figured that PP has never even been to Asia! We live in Japan and you take your shoes off in the entry, neatly place them in a designated spot, and wear slippers provided by the host (who keeps a basket of various sizes in the entry). I shudder to think of the giant centipedes, banana spiders, and cockroaches that could take up residence if PP's imaginary Asian scenario were actually true!

We plan to go shoe-free when we're home. Not super hardcore - we won't ask adult guests to remove their shoes if they don't do so of their own volition - but for us and especially the kids and their friends, definitely no shoes.

PP who made that comment. I spent my time in SE Asia (Malaysia/Singapore) and Hong Kong. Every home I visited had a rack outside the front door where shoes were placed before going inside. These were high-end apartment buildings, so I'm assuming centipedes and theft were less of an issue.

I encourage my guests to keep their shoes on with the hope that it will keep them from noticing how dirty my floors are.

Anonymous wrote:Shoe-free is a cultural thing for my husband, and I've quickly become used to it. We keep most of our shoes upstairs in our bedroom closet, but we have one two-level shoe rack at the entry where we keep a couple pairs of our most commonly-worn shoes. We also have the coat closet at entry -- I keep our running shoes and large boots in there b/c I think they look kind of tacky at the entry.

And to the PP who commented about the smell... not sure where you have been in Asia, but in South Asia people most definitely do not keep their shoes outside -- someone would steal them, or they would get bugs inside them. People I know keep them in a rack-type thing by the door.

+1. I noticed that too and figured that PP has never even been to Asia! We live in Japan and you take your shoes off in the entry, neatly place them in a designated spot, and wear slippers provided by the host (who keeps a basket of various sizes in the entry). I shudder to think of the giant centipedes, banana spiders, and cockroaches that could take up residence if PP's imaginary Asian scenario were actually true!

We plan to go shoe-free when we're home. Not super hardcore - we won't ask adult guests to remove their shoes if they don't do so of their own volition - but for us and especially the kids and their friends, definitely no shoes.

In my bits = on my boots.

No, I'm almost always in socks or barefoot at home or under my desk at work. I just have been cheating on trying to be shoe free after putting in my bits and then having to rush upstsirs to grab something I forgot. So then it's a slippery shipper of enforcing the no shoe preference until the next time I mop!

Anonymous wrote:My problem in trying to switch to no shoes is that I am often running out the door and realize I need to grab something upstairs it in the kitchen. I wear lace up shoes or tall boots a lot so it's a pain to take on and off, especially while holding my newborn. So I leave them on.

For those of you with shoeless households, do you wear a lot of slip on shoes? Or are you just more organized than me?

Running in for something is fine. You can still go shoe-free the rest of the time. Do you wear tall boots all day? Even at the house? This just seems so uncomfortable to me, I'm a barefoot junkie.

Anonymous wrote:we are a shoe-free home but we don't apply it to guests most of the time.

ths is what we do except not "most of the time" but "all of the time."

Anonymous wrote:My problem in trying to switch to no shoes is that I am often running out the door and realize I need to grab something upstairs it in the kitchen. I wear lace up shoes or tall boots a lot so it's a pain to take on and off, especially while holding my newborn. So I leave them on.

For those of you with shoeless households, do you wear a lot of slip on shoes? Or are you just more organized than me?

Nope. I unlace or pull the boots off and run upstairs. It's a pain in the @ss but I'm really grossed out by dirty shoes so it's worth it to me. You could stick those shoe covers at either entrance and pull them on over your shoes if you're that into being shoeless.

My problem in trying to switch to no shoes is that I am often running out the door and realize I need to grab something upstairs it in the kitchen. I wear lace up shoes or tall boots a lot so it's a pain to take on and off, especially while holding my newborn. So I leave them on.

For those of you with shoeless households, do you wear a lot of slip on shoes? Or are you just more organized than me?