Please Take Off Your Shoes
There are two types of households (okay there are probably more but humor me please): Shoes-on and shoes-off.
The K-Couple has a shoes-off home. To some this is completely normal, to others it’s strange. I sometimes feel like a criminal for stopping people at the door when they visit and asking for them to remove their shoes. I feel that having a shoes-off home requires explanation sometimes for understanding. The fact that “it’s my house and I say so” doesn’t fly with many.
Before I explain our reasoning, please know this, if you operate a shoes-on home, I’m not judging you. I did not grow up in a shoes-off home, but was taught to stop at the entry way and inquire whether I should remove my shoes before walking into someone’s home.
So why are we a shoes-free household?
- We have, and like, our new carpet and would like to keep it from getting excessive wear for many years
- We have, and hate, allergies. By hanging up our coats and stashing our shoes in the closet or psuedo-mud room, we keep a myriad of pollens and other allergens from entering our living space
- We also keep from tracking grass, leaves, mud, dirt, bugs, gum, oil, tar and yes, even animal poo into our house (85% of the dirt in homes is tracked in from outside [more here].)
- Some of the things that are on your shoes, even that you aren’t aware of, are harmful to us as well as our cats
- We feel like our house is cleaner and more comfortable without shoes
- We let people prop their feet up on the furniture or curl up in the chair… after all their feet won’t stain or tear them up
- Getting one’s toes stepped on by a socked-foot is much less painful than by a shoe, and I’m short… with a lot of visitors, it happens
- We occasionally lay on our floors and because of our shoes-off status, I was totally comfortable allowing my five-month-old nephew to scoot around on the floor (until I noticed that he blended in with the carpet because of his outfit… then I laid down a blanket)
- Kicking off your shoes is the first step in relaxing
- One of us asked you politely and you respect our home
If you find yourself visiting a shoeless home, like ours, bringing your own slippers is completely acceptable. In our home you’re also welcome to borrow a pair of socks.
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Posted on December 6, 2012, in K-couple, My Life and tagged health, Home, K-Couple, Shoeless house. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
probablyrachel 
Rachel I totally agree with you. I don’t in my home because taking off my shoes can be diffacult to do but would if I came to your house and you are absolutly right the carpet stays clean and good longer. Takes less work because you work outside your home and don’t waste a lot of time vacuming. I love all your ideas.
We are a shoes off home for many of those reasons as well. On very rare occasions we have let others wear shoes around the house. I have a pair of flip flops designated for in the house only, this is because our daughter plays with legos and it hurts less if you have a flip flop on! We don’t have new carpet but we relate to the health and allergy and cleanliness aspects!! I still vacuum daily ( with a 1 year old you have too) but I notice the carpet has a fresher smell than in a lot of shoe on homes.
I was thinking about this post the other night when I had to carry my sleeping child from the car to his bedroom without waking him. Shoeless household or not, sometimes the rules get broken…
We ask all our guests to bring slippers as shoes come off at the door in our house. we wear slippers
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