Trouble in Paradise
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Stolen from MM--Asking guests to take off shoes?
I prefer shoes not to be on in my house, truly. We keep our shoes next to the door, so guests usually seem to take the hint and take theirs off as well. However, I never actually ask, and if they ask, I tell them that it's whatever they prefer (they usually take them off anyway).
It seems that it's a regional thing. Around here, it seems like 99% of people take shoes off/have guests remove them. I always take mine off, regardless of whether not they ask. It might be habit, it might be ingrained "politeness." Honestly, it sort of weirds me out when I go to a house that doesn't follow this rule.
So what say you, TIP? Shoes on or off?
Re: Stolen from MM--Asking guests to take off shoes?
I prefer shoes to be off. I do ask younger guests (children) to take their shoes off, and most people do.
I always take my shoes off, but no one in my family has the same policy. They all allow (and encourage) shoes in the house. It might be regional, but I think its more social. My family all wears workboots (well, most of the men) a lot and it is a pain to take their shoes off.
It is just the opposite with DH's family. His mom grew up with that sort of policy, so she's impressed it on her kids.
You simply ask the host upon entering, "Would you prefer I remove my shoes?" They can either say, "Yes if you don't mind," or "Do however you please."
If the guest does not ask upon entering and even if you have a no-shoes "rule" in your house, I think it would be very rude to ask your guest to remove their shoes, unless you know them very well. I think the guest should be left to do whatever they prefer in peace.
Eh...as long as its not muddy/snowy, I have no problem with it...and even then, not so much.
I have a carpet cleaner for a reason. It takes care of the dirt and mud.
Land since I am not going to provide sanitary foot booties to every guest who uses my toilets, the whole bacterial thing becomes a moot point.
so, you would trudge through a house (either your own or someone else's) with mud on your shoe simply b/c you can clean it up with a carpet cleaner? seems really stupid --- isn't it easier to take off your shoes?
The point of the post is do you ask guests to take off their shoes. And my response was "as long as its not muddy/snowy, I have no problem with it.
And no, I would get that upset if a guest, who has wet or muddy shoes, doesn't take their shoes off. There are SO many reasons why people might not want to take off their shoes and I am not one to get pissy about it, given I am the host and all...and IF my guests were to leave some mud on my floors/carpet, it's ok, since I have a steam cleaner.
However, unless their shoes are covered in mud I don't tell people to take off their shoes if they don't ask or do it on their own. I'm never pleased by it, but I don't say anything. I just vacuum after they leave.
And because I assume other people might feel the same way, I always dress appropriately in warm socks that are show-worthy.
We don't have any policies regarding footwear in our home. However, I don't find it rude to ask people to take off their shoes. Maybe it's because I live in a heavily Asian area - it's not uncommon for Asian households to ask for you take off your shoes. And that trend has spread to non-Asian households.
The only time I ever thought anyone had a rude policy was one friend's roommate who asked that we not step foot on a giant rug in the entry area (shoes or no), so that we all had to shimmy around the rug to get to the rest of the house.
Exactly and/or get rid of the carpet. The first thing we did when we bought our house was pull up all of the carpet and put down hard floors. Carpet is nasty.
I grew up in a house where you wear shoes inside unless they are snowy/muddy. My husband's family likes shoes taken off. It honestly stresses me out. Sometimes we're ready to go but I forgot something upstairs or we're asked to go get something, I stand in doorway in a panic wondering if I should run up the stairs in my shoes. I've finally reached the point of saying "Whatever."
I respect homes with no shoe policies, but it also seems a bit ...anal.
It's totally regional. The first thing people do around here when they come over is to kick their shoes off. Every child knows this: it is drilled into them as young kids.
Our floors here you can walk around in white socks and never see them (the socks) get dingy. We have a condo in Florida that we rent out. You can't walk around for half an hour before your socks start to go grey, and I know for a fact that those floors are mopped weekly and deep cleaned twice a year. My floors here in Ontario are vacuumed every other week or so and spot cleaned as needed.
If we have a party (a dress up kind of party) we tell people to leave their shoes on, but frankly, in the winter, people will bring their shoes to wear after kicking off their boots at the door.
Long winded but as a rule: shoes off.
Our group of friends mostly have the same policy. I honestly don't think it's rude to ask people to take off their shoes. And I had the carpet put down - I don't like hardwood.
I think hardwoods are nasty. I've rarely been to a house where people keep it clean.
well, then they have a cleaning problem. All that dirt you see on hard floors is just hiding in the carpet. Hard floors don't have to be wood.
Shoes on in my house, or whatever you prefer. Usually, no matter how much I sweep/swiffer/vacuum, your socks will have a fair dose of dog hair on them if you don't wear your shoes. I usually wear hard sole slippers around, or flip flops in the winter. We're kind of in the woods so dirt and leaves seem to get sucked in all the time.
When I go to other peoples houses I default to their house rules, and if I'm not sure I always ask as soon as we come in.
Currently Reading: Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes
I don't think it's rude to ask people to take off their shoes. I prefer to keep my shoes on though, even in my own house. Unless I've had an opportunity to wash my feet, I can't relax with my shoes off. (I have really stinky feet...they're lethal).
However, I do avoid stepping in certain areas of the house (like the playmat and rug in the living room) if I'm wearing shoes and just came in from outside.