We have hard wood floor not carpets, have dogs so it’s never going to be some “you can eat off the floors” situation. We run a Roomba thrice daily, my shoes are kept in the bedroom so that’s where I put them on/take them off. So in general it’s the big open room with the kitchen/dining and living room and lounge area that are shoes on spaces, but I am not generally tracking gravel into the house. Y’all really ask everyone to take off their shoes at parties & all? Like a barefoot cocktail hour, barefoot dinner?
The Roomba vac makes an enormous difference, I CAN walk around barefoot without feeling grit on my feet. But it doesn’t bother me that the floor is not pristine, no. And cooking feels safer in shoes.
In other people’s houses I do whatever they want, obviously, but I would never tell someone to take off their shoes for my floor’s sake.
ETA: I asked my husband and he said “up north people take their shoes off at the door in a mudroom and put on house shoes or socks because they have wall to wall carpeting and it gets filthy so fast.” I don’t have a mudroom just a front door.
Y’all really ask everyone to take off their shoes at parties & all? Like a barefoot cocktail hour, barefoot dinner?
Generally I plan it outside if I can but, true, that’s an exception. It’s just not worth trying to deal with that: clean before, clean after, and don’t worry about it.
Amusing story though …… new friends, kids in scouts, “pinewood derby” crafting day where we all got together to help the kids build. I automatically took my shoes off. In the workshop. sawdust, dirt and nails everywhere. Didn’t even think until someone noticed and looked at me like I was an idiot. Oh. I am an idiot
Up north person here, no carpets in my house (they’re often considered old-fashioned here nowadays), but dang if road salt isn’t a scourge upon interiors. We have a mat in our entrance, and leave our shoes on a tray to contain the salt and mud, and even living in an apartment where I walk in interiors for a bit before entering our home, there’s frequently enough salt to buildup and stain our floors white.
The salt is absolutely necessary to melt the ice outside, but we have to mop our entrance multiple times a week, it’s 100% the primary reason Canadians are shoes-off, I’d assume the northern states are the same.
We have hard wood floor not carpets, have dogs so it’s never going to be some “you can eat off the floors” situation. We run a Roomba thrice daily, my shoes are kept in the bedroom so that’s where I put them on/take them off. So in general it’s the big open room with the kitchen/dining and living room and lounge area that are shoes on spaces, but I am not generally tracking gravel into the house. Y’all really ask everyone to take off their shoes at parties & all? Like a barefoot cocktail hour, barefoot dinner?
The Roomba vac makes an enormous difference, I CAN walk around barefoot without feeling grit on my feet. But it doesn’t bother me that the floor is not pristine, no. And cooking feels safer in shoes.
In other people’s houses I do whatever they want, obviously, but I would never tell someone to take off their shoes for my floor’s sake.
ETA: I asked my husband and he said “up north people take their shoes off at the door in a mudroom and put on house shoes or socks because they have wall to wall carpeting and it gets filthy so fast.” I don’t have a mudroom just a front door.
Generally I plan it outside if I can but, true, that’s an exception. It’s just not worth trying to deal with that: clean before, clean after, and don’t worry about it.
Amusing story though …… new friends, kids in scouts, “pinewood derby” crafting day where we all got together to help the kids build. I automatically took my shoes off. In the workshop. sawdust, dirt and nails everywhere. Didn’t even think until someone noticed and looked at me like I was an idiot. Oh. I am an idiot
Up north person here, no carpets in my house (they’re often considered old-fashioned here nowadays), but dang if road salt isn’t a scourge upon interiors. We have a mat in our entrance, and leave our shoes on a tray to contain the salt and mud, and even living in an apartment where I walk in interiors for a bit before entering our home, there’s frequently enough salt to buildup and stain our floors white.
The salt is absolutely necessary to melt the ice outside, but we have to mop our entrance multiple times a week, it’s 100% the primary reason Canadians are shoes-off, I’d assume the northern states are the same.