For big gatherings, I greet guests with “welcome, I’m putting purses and coats in here”, as I walk them to a nearby bedroom. I also point out where the powder room is.

I do like those but we will be sitting on sofas and upholstered furniture, this is my house, so no real place to put them.

Ok I going to say We will be putting coats and bags in here...no option!

Some people are overly-attached to their handbags though (for whatever reason), so be prepared for the one who says, "Oh, I'll just keep this with me." In that case, I think you have to just let it go.

When someone puts a purse on the coffee table, just ask that they move it. "I need to keep the table clear for XYZ" presents, food, whatever. Or try preempting the space with flowers or serving trays (not food) or whatever.

"Just put the bloody thing on the coffee table already, Liz!"

I think I'd let people put their handbags wherever they want and then when you need the coffee table just ask them to move the bags. Or as soon as someone plops theirs on the table just pick it up and set it beside the sofa/chair/whatever and tell them you need to move it because you'll be using the coffee table during the party and need to keep it clear.

I have a similar situation at our lake place - people come in and put their stuff on the kitchen island which is always fully in use when we have guests. I don't say anything but just move it later - usually to an extra chair in the dining area or back into the foyer. If my foyer was larger I'd have a table people could use as a landing spot but it's not so I opt for a chair people can use to take shoes on/off if they choose to do so.

And because we often have overnight guests I have people plugging their phones in at the kitchen counter. Those I also move as my counter space is in limited supply. I haven't yet asked that they plug their phone in in their guest room because there are ample, easily accessible outlets available to do so. More important that they feel welcome and that sounds rather unwelcoming.

I like Sushi's idea of making sure the coffee table is not available. I wouldn't like my bag taken and stored. I don't mind putting it on the floor or behind a chair.

I was just at a function and the women next to me kept her tote (yes, it was a tote) on her lap. She said to me that she had issues with putting it on the floor. The chairs were round and so the bags could not be hung on them.

Mother Love says, "Don't put your purse on the floor because low money is no money," but I am not sure what that means.

Supposedly it's bad luck to put your purse on the floor...maybe that is why the lady wanted to hold her tote.

I am probably guilty putting my handbag on a coffee table. It never occurred to me that this might be an issue. I’ve never really given it any thought, but now I will. I guess you can guess my response to this… I would let them put their bags wherever they want. Some people *have* to have their phone with them, and will put the phone in their bag between check-in’s. Hopefully this doesn’t happen much add a shower, but I bet it will.

I'm probably one of the ignorantly-clueless people too. I sure as heck wouldn't plop it on someone's dinner table or kitchen counter, but I can't promise I wouldn't put it on any other flat surface.

I totally get not wanting the bottom of the bag on eating or food prep surfaces but beyond that it doesn't register on me.

I'm with Dee, I don't want my purse out of sight, so what we do is have purses put on the floor next to a wall, or a designated table. Even a card table would be okay.

When the first guest arrives, before they sit down tell them where purses go. No need to move the coffee table.

Oh my goodness, if you are attending an event or party that has more then 4 people attending, purge your purse of anything valuable, put it where the host suggests or lock it on your car. Imagine 30 purses in the way during a party.

Sophia (Golden Girls) always had to have her purse next to her. Don’t be a Sophia before you are Sophia age. I loved Sophia.

Typically the various parties I host, showers, potlucks, some sit down meals, have 20+ people or more and I'm usually in the kitchen not watching the door. Others open it or people come right in. I like looking at my pretty coffee table with it's pottery bowls and not a giant handbag as the centerpiece. :-)

But I get that people need their bag and they could discreetly keep it on the floor although perfectionist that I am, don't like the mess on the floor either. I never say anything and go out of my way to make people feel very welcomed.

I've had LOTS of guests and I've never had anyone plop their purse on the coffee table -- I do think it's an odd thing to do.

I have deleted my comment. I do not understand those here who feel the need to indicate their own superior judgement over others. It is not the first time.

Haha, I get all sorts. Once, the first to arrive was a very large lady who was a handbag plopper and also told me she had some bladder issues and did I have any towels? So her seat had a stack of old towels and I hoped for no damage to my leather chair.

Dee I'm sorry you see it that way but I am only voicing here, I do not say anything to any guests, never will and everybody is different.

Not you, Bumblebeez. You are always kind.

I had my purse stolen at a party once. Yes it was a party in a college town with young adults, but you still don't expect your purse to be stolen. They took my keys too, so I couldn't get into my car. Luckily they didn't steal my car. Police had to give me a ride to my college apartment to get spare keys and they checked my apartment to make sure they didn't use keys to get in there. I slept with a whole bunch of furniture propped against the door, in case they decided to check out my apartment later that night.

So I'm one of those that likes to keep an eye on their purse, but I've never put it on someone's coffee table!

I don't know everyone here at all so i don't know anything, but I don't see anyone acting like they have superior judgement. I'm enjoying the various perspectives.

I don’t like to put my handbag on the floor but I would not plop it on a table either. I actually have had money stolen during a family party ( that girlfriend is no longer around) so I get people not wanting to let go of their bag. Could you try, “space is limited” and go with the posters suggestion of having a purse table perhaps with a coat tree if needed in sight of the party.

I imagine to many that the coffee table is perfectly normal to sit down a bag. What is rude to us is normal to others....

We had our builder add a "cloak room", fashioned after a friend's cloak room in their old Victorian. It is probably an 8' square room with hooks all around. People put their coats, purses, umbrellas, etc there.

I do have a coat closet that is visible from the main room and have used that before but right now it's filled with my stuff.

LOL that is one of the benefits of our cloak room. It is not a closet, it is a room... with a large opening but no door. It is always empty that way!

Coffee table is weird to me, and mine always has flowers, candles and the like, so no room. I‘m loathe to put my purse on the floor of a public place, but in a home? Why not?I’ve never heard of the bad luck thing, but I’m not superstitious.

Patriceny:............I sure as heck wouldn't plop it on someone's dinner table or kitchen counter.” Yes!! I just hate it when that’s done. Just think where that bag’s bottom may have been. ;>O

Dee, not sure why you deleted your post because I agreed with it. You didn't say anything bad at all.

Using the floor for purses doesn't mean in random spots. One little area tucked in a corner or along an empty wall. It doesn't look messy at all.

ETA: I need to look up purses on the floor brings bad luck.

I always wear a cross body purse or leave it in the car. I don't put my purse on furniture at other people's homes. I know what germs lurk on the bottom even though I wash my purses regularly. However I wouldn't say anything to embarrass a guest. I would just move it as needed to a safe location (and discreetly wipe the area).

I don't know. I need the things I carry in my purse. Things like tissues for my post nasal drip and frequent nosebleeds. Sanitary products when I was young, and yes, bladder pads now that I am not, plus the plastic bags I keep in my purse for disposing of those things that yes, I take home. Breath mints. And of course my phone.

Yes, I could go to the cloak room or other designated area to retrieve my purse, but I sure would rather not, and in the case of the tissues I must have them available at all times. I don't have a single pair of pants with pockets. I like to have my purse on my lap.

I am embarrassed to say that none of this has ever crossed my mind...either as a host or as a guest. When hosting, I am too busy to even notice what people do with their bags. I imagine if people bring it in they just stash it somewhere in my house. When I go to parties, I prefer to leave mine in the car & I harass dh to put my lipstick in his pocket. :) He usually has his celly on him, so I just leave mine. If one of our kids has an emergency they would call him if they couldn’t get me, and I’d rather not have it at a party anyway. I will definitely pay more attention to this next time!!

I would never put my purse on a coffee table or any other place there is food.

If you carry a purse, you are essentially toting a big bag of bacteria around with you everywhere you go. That's the finding of a new UK study, which claims that women's handbags hosted more bacteria than the average toilet flush....

"About a third of them have fecal bacteria on them," confirms Charles Gerba, a University of Arizona microbiologist who has studied bacteria living on handbags, plus all sorts of delightfully disgusting things like E.coli on shopping carts and germy officebreak rooms. Gerba's research found that the bottoms of handbags were the nastiest, likely because women placed them on the bathroom floor (that is what the little hooks on the back of the doors are there for, people!).

The UK study found that the handle was a bacteria hotspot, and the stuff in the inside of the bag like makeup or hand cream had the toilet-flush levels of bacteria.

https://www.today.com/health/your-gross-handbag-germier-toilet-1C10120964

The other thing I can't stand is when people put their hat on my eating surfaces like my island. Yuck.

I will often keep my purse in the car or if not, and if not given an obvious place to put it, I look for an out of the way place to tuck it on the floor, behind a chair or in a corner somewhere so I know where it is, but it's out of everyone's way.

One of the charity groups I belong to has meetings about 6 times a year and we've started meeting at our homes on a rotating basis and now it has evolved into a simple luncheon. There may be 15 to 20 women present and most of us place our purses on the floor in an out of the way spot, usually behind a chair.

One young woman did place hers on my dining room table and laid her car keys next to it. I didn't want others to follow her lead and I certainly didn't want the wood scratched so I nicely asked if she could take it into the family room with her.

I've never known anyone to get e coli or any other dastardly disease from setting their purse on a sofa or floor. If we never exposed ourselves to germs we wouldn't be alive right now.

Reminds me when we have our first child how protective we are from germs (except newborns) and by the time we have our second child, it's "whatever."

Do not put your keys on a table! It means you're a lady of the night and that's a signal you're available. lol

We almost always have a cat or two on a surface where we eat, so cat butt is omnipresent. I can't get too jazzed up about purses or other such items on my counters.

Uh, well that's a problem I have never had with guests and their purses. We have a hall tree in our front entrance and people put their purses on the seat of it.

Another person here who usually doesn’t think twice about where she leaves her bag -whether on a counter or coffee table or wherever. I guess I’ll think twice now.

I can certainly understand those who don’t want their bag out of their sight for medical or thievery or self-defense reasons.

I had money stolen from my purse at a party at my ex SIL's house many years ago. This was probably very early 80s. I remember the purses piled up on a bed in a spare room, and after I left and was putting things away later that night, I discovered that all my cash was missing... and in those days I didn't have any to spare. I remember being shocked and hurt that someone I had just spent an enjoyable evening with had done such a thing. It can happen.

I try and gather everyone’s belongings to shuffle to a designated spot when they arrive. Some like to keep their stuff with them and usually tuck it out of the way off to the side somewhere. I’m not a fan of extra purses, coats, etc. being on my island, tables, ottoman. Visually the extra bothers me. I find it kind of amazing what some of my relatives and friends can cram onto my ottoman and tray. Of course, since I love and like the people that come to visit I just overlook it. I also try not to get too hyped about germs because I could really get myself bent. (I live with carpet....) I do the best I can and go la la la laaaaa about the rest. When I go to functions I leave my bag in the car if possible.

We should talk about coasters and shoes, ha. ;) kidding

I have never given my visitors’ purses a single thought, but now because of you guys I will be watching and evaluating from now on...

If I go to a shower or some other seated party/event, I usually put my bag on the floor next to my seat. If it’s a more SRO type party, I find a corner to toss it in, close enough so I can access it to check my phone (habit from when we had babysitters!) or grab it if needed to bring to the restroom.