Something that I have been wanting to mention for along time is the act of removing one’s shoes before entering a home.
We have a ‘no shoes’ house. We haven’t always had one. For me, for as long back as I can remember, I have never liked to wear shoes. I prefer to go barefoot and like to wear flip flops as much as humanly possible outside of the home. When my husband and I still lived in Oklahoma City, we took our shoes off wherever we ended up sitting down in the house upon entering…this meant we also had to ‘go searching for shoes’ when it came time to go somewhere. I don’t think the idea of removing our shoes at the door ever crossed our minds.
When we moved to Pittsburgh, we bought a house that had all hardwood and tile floors. It made since to remove our shoes at the door to a) not track in anymore dirt than necessary b) create some kind of consistent ritual to respect our home c) know where the hell our shoes were when we needed them! It makes sense to me. This house had an entrance hall that was approximately 17 feet long and 4.5 feet wide. We lined the left wall (left side on entering) with hooks for coats, scarves and keys. Below the hooks just past the swing of the door was a plug in electric radiant heater with a shoe tray in front of it where we put our shoes that were wet. Next to this, was an upholstered bench with space under it for shoes and a short and skinny bookshelf at the end of it for more shoes (mainly Elijah’s). There was a mirror above the bookshelf and on the floor next to it was a bin for hats and mittens and such when it was Winter time. This worked out for us and made life much easier.
As a side note…it is not that non-carpeted flooring gets dirtier, it’s just that you actually can see and feel (if barefoot) the dirt that is on the floor — carpeting is a godsend for those who do not like to vacuum/sweep!
We have now moved to another house in Pittsburgh and it has carpet — carpet that we have not yet removed (we are adamantly against carpet for cleanliness and health reasons). We were blessed with this house having a ‘double vestibule‘ complete with a closet and radiant heater. We now hang up our coats in the closet, hang our keys on hooks, put our shoes in the bottom of the closet or on a tray in front of the radiator, place mittens, gloves, hats and scarves in bins on the shelf in the closet. We do all this before we even open the second door in to the house! Having the second door also eliminates the draft from the front door and probably cuts down on our heating cost significantly.
How do we deal with visitors? Well, it’s quite obvious to someone that the vestibule is a place of stopping to ‘de-robe’ one’s self. We took down the sliding doors to the closet, so you can plainly see that we hang up coats here and put our shoes on the closet floor. The few people who have come over or stayed with us since we moved, haven’t had a problem ‘de-robing’ in our vestibule. Most of our friends do it at their houses anyways. I haven’t had to ask anyone to do it yet…
Berkeley Parents Network: Taking Shoes Off in the House
Ask TreeHugger: Leave Your Shoes at the Door
This following link I include hesitantly, because of the content behind the scenes (read: Fundamentalist Christians are behind this) — however the blog as it stands is fantastic…I apologize to 99% of my readers for the sidebar content of the blog. With all of this pre-link disclaimer BS (just a note, so that some of your don’t think I have lost my ever loving mind) out of the way, here is the link: Shoes Off at the Door, Please
We’re no shoes. I don’t ask guests to take off their shoes, but most do anyway!
Comment by feebee — February 3, 2008 @ 1:55 pm
Our next-door neighbors are from India, and actually leave their shoes outside, on the porch. I’ve learned to remove my shoes *before entering*. During the coldest part of the winter, shoes are left on a mat just inside. But what’s handy about this is that it’s easy to see who’s home, and/or if one of our kids is over there, just by seeing whose shoes are out.
Comment by Stu — February 4, 2008 @ 11:47 am
Thanks so much for posting the link.
Some of the other links you mention are great too.
I have tried to keep the content of the blog free from partisan views for the most part. Thanks for understanding that.
Have a great day.
Comment by Matthew C — February 5, 2008 @ 1:52 am
In Chicago (where I live) if you wear your shoes in the house, you’re trudging in all the dirt, urine, vomit, trash, disease, and God knows what else from the streets. It’s hard enough just to keep your house clean from the mess created within. Most of the western world observes this, Russia, France, England, etc. and they’re healthier. Amen to checking shoes at the door.
Comment by Cindy — February 6, 2008 @ 3:09 am
Cindy, I am sorry to say that in England most people dont take their shoes off when they enter homes; though it is becoming more common. I am doing my best to encourage it.
I dont think they do in France either, except perhaps in the Alps.
Comment by Matthew C — February 6, 2008 @ 11:00 am
Matthew: You are welcome for the link.
Stu: You know, I would love to remove our shoes before we enter, but in this house we don’t have a front porch, just the double vestibule setup, which though nice, is inside…how does one keep their shoes looking nice and not weather/element worn, if they are taken off outside the house?
Cindy: Thanks for stopping by hon. I think anyone who lives in a city with over say 250,000 people living relatively close together, should not give it a second thought about removing their shoes!
I say people should remove their shoes because of dirt and whatnot, but I am also the same person who will quickly pick up and eat food that has dropped onto the floor! Hmmmm…some how I am ‘ok’ with this! I guess, for me the removal of shoes is less of a hygienic/aseptic (gems, etc.) thing and more of a cleanliness/aesthetic (removal of dirt, appearance of clean) thing.
Comment by michele james-parham — February 6, 2008 @ 2:26 pm
Michele, I am the same about food!
People expect me to be a germaphobe because I hate people coming in the house with shoes, but I dont worry in the slightest about food that has fallen on the floor, and as bad as this is, I often forget to wash my hands before cooking.
Maybe if I had children I would worry more about germs.
Comment by Matthew C — February 6, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
Matthew: HA…wash my hands…ha…only if I am going to be cooking right after going to the bathroom! But we are dealing with a crusty punk person here! I don’t pick my nose before sticking my finger in the peanut butter (actually, I don’t stick my fingers in food, but I do drink from the bottle/jug/carton), but germs don’t really scare or bother me.
It’s funny how people are in their own home versus other peoples’ homes. I mean, I am really lax about things in my own house, but when I go to say, attend a birth at someone’s house, I wash my hands religiously! No one has to tell me to do it, I just do out of consideration for other people and because I believe that it will keep most germs at bay.
Comment by michele james-parham — February 6, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
[...] no real surprise that I belong to the shoes-off-at-the-door-club. I think it’s funny that I can be having a lovely [...]
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