Do you wear shoes in the house? We always have but that doesn’t seem to be common here. What also isn’t common is a bench or chair to sit on to take your shoes on and off. Awkward.

Are slippers a thing?

Grew up in a "barefoot" house, though my dad resisted...

As a piano tech, my shoes stay by the front door in any house. While I hardly need slippers, MrsTuner has a whole range of options that she uses during the seasons!

I'd say for the homes I visit, it is probably 50/50 for those that wear shoes inside?

We've always had benches by the door - especially when we had a 'mud room' in one house. With my tuning kit, I have a long shoehorn that allows me to quickly slide carefully chosen shoes on at the end of the appointment. I don't wear finicky shoes as part of my tuning uniform.

Slippers or barefoot, but I don’t require that of guests. Or husband!

We were often barefoot in the house, but there was no rule against wearing shoes indoors. We tended to wear them into the house, go to our rooms, and take them off. I understand the logic in keeping outdoor dirt outside, but I've just never been able to incorporate it into my habits.

We keep this house colder than my previous abodes. I find myself much, much more likely to put on shoes or houseslippers reflexively to walk around on the cold floors, then to shed them reflexively when I get comfy in a chair and put a blanket over my legs. Thus, I have shoes strewn around the house, of both the indoor and outdoor variety, more than in the past. I'm not proud of this level of sloppiness, but it is true.

Ha! I see that my avatar, which I put up for Christmas many years ago and never put down, is visual evidence of that last post. It's late December and my mother is barefoot.

I live in a snowy region and my house has hardwood floors. So yes, I take my shoes off if they’re wet with snow and wear a pair of house-only shoes that I keep by the front door. If it’s dry outside, then I wear whatever shoes I'm wearing.

I have an oriental rug in one room. I find myself walking around it even if my shoes are dry or I’m barefoot. It must be because it looks like a work of art and I don’t want to step on it even though that’s what it’s made for.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Do you wear shoes in the house? We always have but that doesn’t seem to be common here. What also isn’t common is a bench or chair to sit on to take your shoes on and off. Awkward.

Are slippers a thing?

If it doesn’t seem common there, then it might be the type of flooring they have. I’d say that people who have light colored wall to wall carpeting and want to keep it looking like new are going to wear slippers.

Hot climate = kick off your shoes the second you walk in the house. I didn't own a pair of slippers until I moved to the PNW. Now I still kick off my shoes as soon as I'm inside, but I put slippers on when it's cold.

As for guests, shoes or not, it's up to them. We aren't a shoeless house. Though I will admit that I do appreciate it when I visit places that don't want you to wear shoes and they have a chair or bench and even a few sets of socks available for those caught unaware. I've visited places where I was forced to go barefoot where, had I known, I would have worn or brought socks with me because I ended up freezing.

In Canada (well, in my neck of the wood, though I have heard it’s a Canadian thing in general) folks don’t wear shoes in the house. It’s automatic when you enter someone’s house that you remove your shoes. About 50% of people will tell you not to, but the polite thing is to ignore them and take them off anyway. Slippers aren’t a thing, though it’s not unheard of for folks to bring their own. It’s not the norm, but I’ve seen it enough times that it’s not totally weird.

ETA: We have an antique school seat (without the attached desk that would have been behind) at the door for sitting. I inherited it from my aunt who used it for the same purpose.

We have baskets by the doors for shoes. It's not some absolute rule. We don't nag people who choose to keep 'em on. But generally, we walk around in socks, indoor moccasins, or bare.

I take my muddy barn or wet garden boots/shoes off at the door and put a different pair on, I had some issues with plantar fasciitis last year and seem to do better with my good sneakers on when I’m up and about. We always had the kids remove their shoes when they were growing up, so it’s habit for them, my daughter takes her off automatically and wears slippers around the house. I don’t make anybody take theirs off when they visit, though we do have a mat by the front door where I leave my barn shoes. I’m happy to kick my shoes off in somebody else’s hous if that’s what they do, but their floors better be clean. I’ll never forget being asked in a house with big dogs - the amount of dust and dirt and dog hair on the floor was so bad that my socks would have ended up cleaner if I’d spent the time walking around in the garden!

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
We were often barefoot in the house, but there was no rule against wearing shoes indoors. We tended to wear them into the house, go to our rooms, and take them off. I understand the logic in keeping outdoor dirt outside, but I've just never been able to incorporate it into my habits.

We keep this house colder than my previous abodes. I find myself much, much more likely to put on shoes or houseslippers reflexively to walk around on the cold floors, then to shed them reflexively when I get comfy in a chair and put a blanket over my legs. Thus, I have shoes strewn around the house, of both the indoor and outdoor variety, more than in the past. I'm not proud of this level of sloppiness, but it is true.

There is a reason this house is colder than her previous abodes, and its name is Quirt. I am blessed with an incredibly tolerant wife.

People in our house are strongly encouraged to take off their shoes at the door. There is a rug there that collects them. No bench or chair for lack of room. We are generally in bare feet, socks, or slippers depending on the weather.

DD wears her shoes only from the bedroom to the front door and back. Otherwise, she’s in ankle-high UGG slippers year round.

I regularly wear slippers in the house, but only on the ground floor and in the basement.

I have this pair of $5 rubberfoamy slippers I picked up from a Chinatown street side vendor that I have been wearing daily for 11+ years and they still work, still flexible, still comfortable. Probably the most durable, most cost-effective $5 I have ever spent.

But I am the only person in my household who regularly wear slippers in the house. Everyone else mostly walk inside the house barefooted.

In New England homes we often have a 'mudroom'. My last house had one we built where all shoes, and coats were deposited upon entering the house.

In my newish (coming up on 6 years!) little house, I have a bench and an old wooden soap crate on casters that the shoes go in.

I do this myself but but do not require it of guests.

Most guests ask, btw, which I love..But I invite them in with shoes.

I have set up a plan for when and if I spread out a very large antique Turkish killim on the hardwood floor - a small three level show/slipper holder near the front door. I also have a small antique horsehair couch in that entryway where guests could change out of their street shoes and into slippers on the rack.

I got six pairs of black velour-ish slippers from (was it Target or Amazon? I forget) stacked there. I got the idea from my best friend who is from Mainland China who has slippers for guests near her entry for the same purpose.

I like it too that the slippers I got are easily washed. Who wants to wear universally used slippers? Not enough for many visitors, of course, but I'm prepared for that killim's inauguration!

(I also have a pile of blue disposable "booties" for workmen - got the idea from the many who come equipped with their own to put over their outerwear when they arrive.)