Entryway - no shoes allowed!
anjismith
13 years ago
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13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBoopadaboo
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Shoes Off
Comments (122)This is my first post to this forum and the thread caught my eye because I have learned it to be a very contentious issue. First of all, I am from an area of Canada (Calgary) where shoe removal is the norm. The winters are wet, slushy, with gravel, salt and mud. For the most part, it is automatic to enter someone's home and remove shoes. A pile of shoes at the front door at a party, especially in the winter, is very common. I would never enter someone's home presuming I can wear my boots where I have walked in snow, mud, salt and gravel. For formal events like a cocktail party, people wear their boots and then change into indoor shoes that are dry. My mom hosted an annual Christmas Eve buffet which people would dress very nicely. Of course, we wouldn't ask the ladies to walk around in their lovely outfit without shoes, but it is a happy medium where people wear outdoor shoes and change into their indoor shoes upon entry to the home. When repairmen or the gas man comes to read the meter, they do not remove their boots and are not expected to do so. However, they go to great measures to wipe their feet. Many people also have mats outside the front door and inside. Summertime is a bit different. If someone is having an outdoor bbq and guests need to use the bathroom, generally shoes are not removed. It's almost a non-spoken convention. People just do it automatically, depending on the season. However, if the party is indoors, by sheer habit, most, if not all people take their shoes off. No one has to be asked. The person from the US who spent time in Calgary - I was raised there all my life. I have to guess you visited in summer when it was dry and not raining. If it was winter (unless chinooking), you most likely were wearing boots and I would consider lack of boot removal to be very rude. It's just not done. I moved to the US 4 years ago after spending a few years living in Korea. There, they remove shoes all the time and provide slippers at the door, because like someone mentioned, most Koreans sit on the floor to eat and they put their beds on the floor too. Because it was habit for me, I automatically removed my shoes upon entering homes in the US. I posted a question in a forum as to why people walked into my house with their shoes on and that is when I found out that many areas of the US, people do not remove shoes and they have various reasons. I was shocked people would be offended to be asked. Where I come from, no one had to be asked. It was just done. I had absolutely no idea that the host/ess would be offended by my doing so or that I was making myself too comfortable in their home. I was shocked that some people equated shoe removal to disrobing. Whenever I enter a home now, I ask if I should remove my shoes so to give the host/ess a choice, although the norm here in very dry AZ is to leave them on. I don't ask people to remove them here, although I would much prefer if they did. Since I have learned it's a regional thing, I am more accepting - although my husband and I do not wear shoes in the house. If I did, I would feel like I was drinking soup from the bowl or milk from a carton! My husband took a long time to "train", but now he does it automatically most of the time. For those whom are guests in home and feel their comfort exceeds the wishes of the host to keep their home in good condition, would you smoke in someone's home because it made you comfortable? Would you refuse to use a coaster on a beautiful mahogany coffee table because you don't want to? How are those issues different from someone wanting to prevent the costly task of cleaning carpet or hardwood floors? I was raised that when going to someone else's home, that it was THEIR home, to be on best behaviour and to be respectful of that. Since I am a guest, their rules are paramount and if they wanted me to leave my shoes on, I would do so because I'm not paying the mortgage. As it stands, I am on the "When in Rome" camp. I respected the culture in Korea, I respect the culture in the US and I would certainly hope that an American from a non-shoe removal area would respect the wishes of the host/ess in a Canadian home. My home is a different story and if I didn't know it was so darn offensive to some people, I would request shoe removal. I expect my husband to respect the culture when we visit Canada - and that is shoes off, unless told not to do so, although some from Canada have posted that they don't do it or expect it. I'm wondering if they live in an area like BC where there is little snow. From this long thread, which I can't believe is still going strong after over four years, it is obviously a regional/cultural issue. Those who are so adamant that their needs as a guest trump the wishes of the homeowner would not be welcome in my home. If someone's young child ran wild in my home, touched everything, broke things, I wouldn't invite them back. If someone started rummaging through my pantry or criticized the meal, they wouldn't be invited back. Why is respecting the wishes of a homeowner wanting show removal so different? Here's a photo of a very common sight in Canada in the winter:...See MoreShoes in the Entryway. Yay or nay?
Comments (46)I struggle with the "shoes off" in the house policy. In theory, that would be my preference. And certainly in bad weather, my kids all take their shoes off. However, I have four kids, and two of them are outside playing all the time. They come in and out for a variety of reasons, so requiring them to take shoes off each and every time just isn't manageable (especially since one of them has fine motor skills problems, so just tying his shoes is difficult for him). I usually take mine off when I come inside, unless I'm wearing sneakers and coming from the store where I have to make multiple trips to the car. That said, I also have three entry points. The kids go in and out through the garage, which is underneath the main floor. If they are coming in and staying in, they usually leave their shoes in the garage just outside the door (a huge pile which I'm trying to organize - used to be a big basket but too many shoes, so now I have an organizer to put together, but not sure they will actually put their shoes in each compartment!). I always use the front door and kick my shoes off at the front door - there is a basket there by the door, so if I'm going out again later, I leave my shoes there, but if not I bring them upstairs to my closet. I wear slippers in the house. We also have a mudroom but it is accessible from the back door. There was a time when my kids always used it after school/coming home from somewhere, but now my key no longer works in the lock so they always use the garage instead. The mudroom, however, seems to store whatever shoes they haven't left in the garage (as well as shoes that are not in use regularly, like cleats, church shoes, etc). They each have their own cubby, and a basket for shoes in their cubby. I find it perfectly normal here where I live to see a basket of shoes near the front door. The only houses where I don't see them are my friends' homes who have homes that are more formal (don't look very lived in), or if they have a mudroom or other main entry for family. I just read the two posts above mine and see that they both have four kids like me. I had to laugh at choclot b/c her battle sounds like mine! Mine each have their own cubbies and STILL I find their things all over the mudroom - coats laying on the bench instead of hanging on the hook, shoes on the floor *right next to* their shoe basket, socks they've taken off and left in their cubbies and then wonder why they have no socks after I do laundry! I do call them from wherever they are to fix their mistakes, but much of the time I'm off doing something else and don't notice right away. My kids are 8, 10, 12 and turning 14. My oldest has actually become very organized (she keeps all her shoes in an organizer up in her bedroom after years of using the mudroom), hangs her coat in her room, etc. My 12 y/o is a slob, but he is incredibly organized with his schoolwork, binder, etc and judging from what I hear from his friends' mothers whose boys are constantly losing things, forgetting to turn in schoolwork, etc, I figure I'll take that over him not putting his shoes away properly!...See MoreYour kitchen hardwood floors: shoes off or shoes on? I want to know!
Comments (54)Hardwood throughout my entire first floor, including the kitchen and all entry areas. Residents don't wear shoes in the house. Human residents, nor furry ones. :) Visitors are not given any rules upon arrival. :) Most people see you walking around in bare feet, or socks, or slippers, and immediately move to take off their shoes. Depending upon who they are and why they are there, I often tell them don't bother. For instance, if it's the HVAC guy and he's going to work in the cellar, I couldn't care less if he keeps his shoes on. As someone noted upthread, the nice thing about hardwood is that it does clean up very easily. I prefer the residents keep shoes off the floor b/c it does keep the floors cleaner, but there is no way I would ever make a guest remove their shoes. As far as damage - most of the damage to my floor comes from the toenails of the 20 pound furry lunatics who share my home. Yes I keep them short - no lectures on appropriate dog nail procedures please! They are young and love to run and play - nails dig in on cornering no matter how short they are. :) However there has been some damage from people in shoes who had rocks stuck in the treads. Most of it from the early days when the house was under construction because sadly my GC was an inconsiderate moron regarding things like this. TL:DR. It's hardwood. It dents. I do what I can to keep the dents to a minimum but don't stay up at night about it either....See Moreshoe storage suggestions- front entry
Comments (7)The narrow Hemnes Ikea shoe cabinet is just great for entryways, though you might need something else for the construction boots--big basket. Other option is a long, attractive bench with great looking baskets underneath. The trick to any of these storage options is to put a red stop sign in front of the rest of the house that no one can pass unless their shoes go inside whatever unit you have. :) P.S. Why not remove the doors on the console cabinet you already have and give everyone a section for their shoes? That's honestly the best solution. If you don't want to look at shoes, then get baskets that fit the shelves on the cabinet....See Morebird_lover6
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