Do you wear shoes at home? Or do have have shoes off at the door rule?

[cosymum43]

Do you wear shoes or slippers at home.Or do you go bare foot or walk around in socks.Do you have a shoes off at the door house rule just for your family or does everyone have to remove their shoes in your house.Perhaps you are flexible and let people choose for themselves. If you have a shoes off rule,do you provide slippers for guests to wear or do they bring their own.It is increasingly popular nowadays to have a shoes off rule and also more socially acceptable. Why is that?Vogue magazine said that slippers were now the number one household accessory.Why has there been a sudden seachange to wearing slippers and also having shoes off house rules.But ultimately is it not just about personal choice to have a shoes off rule in the house.
Is it not down to the each homeowner to make thier own house etiquette rules.However,some people feel can uncomfortable in walking around the house in just socks or bare foot especially in colder climate swhere feet can get very cold without slippers or shoes.
So should visitors be warned in advance that you dont allow shoes in the house so they can bring their own slippers, and/or should a good host provide a selection a clean slippers for the visitors to put on.People on boths side of the debate can get very uptight about this whole subject
when basically its pretty harmless thing to just slip your shoes off at the door.Unless there is a medical reason for wearing shoes in the house i cant imagine why anyone would actually choose to wear them
All of my family automatically kick our shoes off in our entrance hall. And if we staying in for the rest of the day we remove our socks and put them in a basket that i leave by the door and get straight into our comfy slippers.And yes the basket is emptied at least once a day and the contents put straight in the washer. So theres no nasty lingering smells.And i must say it just seems to be the customary thing to do in all the homes in our area.I have lived in many different parts of Britain and Canada and i must say its been just been the thing to automatically do before going into the house. And yes with the British and Canadian cold and wet weather it definately a case of wearing your slippers in the house.
And on an extremely practical level, i have a large family, and our carpets are only a few months old and perhaps i made a mistake when i chose the color, but our carpets are beige.And as we live in a coastal town the roads and paths are quite dirty, so the only way i can keep my carpets clean, i have no choice but to insist that, unless somebody has a medical problem or disibility, that all shoes come off at the door.No-body has ever got upset or offended by this , and our friends all bring their carpet slippers with them. In fact i bought all my four lovely childrens best friends their own pair of comfy slippers to put on when they visit. And they are left on their own special shelf by the door, just so they feel especially welcome and comfortable in our house.And yes lots of their mums have done the same for us.A little kindness goes a long way.

I usually go barefoot at home
DH and DC also
Guests : I'd PREFER them to take shoes off but won't insist

shoes stay in hall . slippers or bare feet in house , my kids tell all gursts to take off shoes heheheheheeh

ooops guests i meant

I'm usually barefoot/in socks at home but occasionally wear shoes in the house if I get home and I've got to go out again soon.
DP puts his shoes on when he's getting dressed in the morning, even if he's not going anywhere for ages. Very odd.

i would love the idea of no shoes, and try it often, esp if i have just cleaned the carpets, but no-one pays attention, least of all my DH!!! Slippers tho, i dont think so, we have carpet, people where socks, they can bring there own if they chose. As for removing socks tho? I would not go that far!

i personally dont wear shoes in the house, either barefoot of with socks.

lyra - DH does that too? odd!

Message withdrawn

I would never ask adults to take off their shoes. In the same way that I wouldn't tell them how to eat their dinner, or not to slurp their soup. They're adults. They can make their own assessment of the situation.

With children I think that the vast majority do automatically. I do ask them to take them off if they come charging in after playing football in the garden. Unfortunately boys often seem to leave going for a pee until the last possible moment if the football is particularly thrilling, so someone always forgets, or else I have to nominate a tree in the garden for these purposes.

Personally I think that the idea of buying specific slippers for your best friends' children is just a little bit barmy. At least make them communal like wellington boots. My own children outgrow shoes/slippers/wellingtons/football boots/trainers with the usual frequency. No way would I be paying for someone elses footwear too. My neighbours (one of whom is Japenese) do have a cupboard full of slippers in all sizes (all in the same style).

I go barefoot or just socks and insist everyone takes off their shoes as soon as they come in the house. i dont insist on socks being removed tho. most people i know also have the same rule
my dc tell people to take off their shoes when they arrive. my dd thinks everytime she goes inside anywhere shoes come off, so gets very upset when i tell her to leave them on in restaurants, library etc etc

We only wear shoes downstairs, not on the top two floors (living room, kitchen, bedrooms)

Most of our friends and family have similar so do the same. I don't insist guests remove their shoes, but obviously prefer it if they do.

I don't like the idea of all that street dirt beng walked over my carpets. My downstairs carpet is already quite marked, would't want that upstairs too.

We all take off our shoes by the front door and often our guests offer too. I will ask if they are wearing stilletoes or muddy boots as we have solid oak floor. We wear slippers or socks and are toasty warm with underfloor heating

I always offer to remove my shoes in other peoples houses - I don't know what is on the soles of my shoes and really don't like the idea of it all being trodden through my house.

I'm mostly in socks, as is my family, but I don't have a problem with my guest keeping their shoes on and I wouldn't dream of telling them to take them off.

I only put shoes on if I'm going out and would prefer guests to take hoes off, but not if it's a party and their shoes are part of their outfit. I don't know anyone who wears shoes in their own house, especially if they are staying in all day.

I've never 'got' slippers tbh, until a friend bought me some and my feet where so warm! I wouldn't ear them if guests came over though! I think of slippers as part of bedwear, like dressing gowns.

Growing up we had a marble staircase and hallways (not in this country obv!) that where lethally slippery in socks, my parents had a rule tat all children had to be barefoot (it was a hot country, no risk of cold feet!)

I don't wear them. Not because shoes make the floor dirty (although they obviously do) but because I hate wearing shoes. Socks in winter, barefoot or flip-flops in summer.

I'd never ask anyone visiting to take their shoes off though.

Dh always puts shoes on first thing, even if he isn't going anywhere, and I find that odd.

I don't take shoes off at the door as we weren't brought up to, I had never even considered it until we moved 'oop North where it seems a custom.

My dp always has done at home but stopped when the second dog arrived (there seems little point in trying to keep the floors clean anyway ).

Oddly though, my children do and always have done; where they got that from I have no idea.

I can't stand being asked to take my shoes off when I go to other's houses, I find it really odd..

wisteria, im from oop north and most of the people i know take their shoes off , its normally for hygene reasons. i ask everyone to remove their shoes, i dont want dirt from outside trailed thru my home, and beige carpets.

Haven't you heard of doormats?

Marvellous invention, I find it dispenses with the need to be exposed to other people's holey socks entirely.

I prefer barefoot at home.
But I never ask guests to remove their shoes.

hifi - I understand why you do it but it does seem to be a custom the further up into the Midlands I went, when I lived in the West Country, Leamington and South Wales I had never come across it. I do find it quite rude, as an adult to be asked to take my shoes off though (although always do without argument!!)

If I had dirty shoes then of course I would leave them at the door but I usually find a brisk wipe on the doormat will suffice

I wear socks or Ugg boots round the house, the dd's wear socks and I usually have to remind them to put shoes on to go outside as their socks end up pretty filthy. However, most of this is irrelevant as dh is a farmer and wears boots or wellies in the kitchen, (he has been know to pop through to check on the computer over a cream carpet in his s**t encrusted wellies) so I wash the kitchen floor about 3 times a day. As well as 2 dogs who are on and off the farm all day I am fighting a losing battle.

Strangely I will always put shoes on if we have people coming for lunch or supper as I don't feel like I am properly dressed without them and would not ask any one to remove their shoes (I don't have a problem doing it in someone .elses house though)

I hate shoes in the house. I also hate bare feet. So socks or slippers, please.

toratora - give it up , I wash the floor once or twice a week at the most - 'tis only a bit of muck