Shoes by the door

We've just never worn them in the house. Even in the States. First thing I do is take off my shoes. I hate them  and I would much rather be bare foot. Even slippers bug me, so you know its cold if I have them on my feet.

No heels for me since my accident , but that heel rack is so cool! I must show my sister.

I used to be a barefoot gal myself, until I stepped squarely onto a pushpin/tack.  That ended my barefoot days forever.

Quite a lot of people in the UK are the same - I was raised to believe that it was rude/bad manners to wear your shoes in the house and that when you are a guest in someone else's home, you should leave your shoes by the door (partly because of the possibility of getting dirt from your shoes on the floors and carpets).

Not everyone is the same, but it is quite common not to wear shoes in the house and to leave them by the door instead.

I don't know anyone in the UK that wears shoes in the house (though I can assume someone, somewhere does!).  Like you have experienced, most UK people I know think it is really bad manners to wear shoes in the house.  

My family in the US also is a no-shoes household and always has been, so the transition to the UK no-shoes experience was easy.  Now that DH and I are back in the US for a couple of years though, I find the opposite.  Everyone that comes over traipses through with shoes on - even as they watch us take shoes off.  I find it really rude and have struggled to get over it.  

Coincidentally, I have seen a few US agony aunt-type columns/forums lately talking about this issue.  No-shoes was definitely viewed as a European or Asian notion.  And the Americans writing in basically said that the host should go with what was comfortable for the guest so even if you were a no-shoes household, then you should let your guest wear shoes.  Ugh, I disagree.

Anyway, for the OP, I have found decent shoe racks at Ikea, Wilkinsons and Argos.  

First thing I do is take off my shoes. I hate them  and I would much rather be bare foot.

Me too. I just would go without shoes all the time if I could! Slippers are OK though for me, because I like warm feet.  And I'm always cold. But they're not heavy or constricting like shoes are. 

Seconding the mat thing someone else mentioned.  We take our shoes off as soon as we're home, and if they're wet/dirty, they go on the mat.  If not, they go in our closets.  Sometimes we leave our everyday shoes on the mat, but not multiple pairs.

Argos also has various shoe storage options for pretty cheap.  Racks, stands, tree-ish-things...  I can't vouch for them personally, but there's a review/comment section on the website.  My husband is thinking about getting one to organise his closet since his shoes are currently in a pile in there.

I lived barefoot in Florida.  That's after stepping on glass, stones, shells, sandspurs... I hate shoes!  If I were going for a drive and knew I wouldn't have to go inside anywhere, I'd go barefoot.  Alas, those days are gone.

I prefer if people take their shoes off indoors so as not to track dirt all over.  Renting makes me insist on this, but even in my own place, I'd like the shoes to stay at the door.  Who wants to have to clean that up?  It's the same with my husband's family here in the UK, though in the US at least I noticed it really differed a lot.  My parents normally took their shoes off at home, but a fuss wasn't made about it.  Then I've been in other homes where dirty shoes stomped all over.

Edit:  Whoops, didn't notice Argos was already mentioned/recommended!  Well, there you go.

I don't know anyone in the UK that wears shoes in the house

I don't know anyone who doesn't wear shoes in the house. Floors are for walking on. Shoes are for feet. Feet walk on floors.

I don't wear shoes in the house, but my man does.

Just to add, my reason for not wearing shoes in the house isn't through any perceived notion of filth, germs, etc... it's just because I put on pyjamas as soon as I get home, and shoes just don't 'go' with pyjamas!

it's just because I put on pyjamas as soon as I get home

 

it's just because I put on pyjamas as soon as I get home, and shoes just don't 'go' with pyjamas!

They really don't! 

Just to add, my reason for not wearing shoes in the house isn't through any perceived notion of filth, germs, etc... it's just because I put on pyjamas as soon as I get home, and shoes just don't 'go' with pyjamas!

I don't know, if we're judging by the number of people I saw on a daily basis trundling to Wal-Mart in their PJs, they might go just fine!  Especially if they're Crocs with socks on underneath.  Hopefully we're not judging by that though. 

Growing up we wore shoes in the house though we had a mat where we were expected to wipe them and we got in trouble if we tracked dirt into the house. After the earthquake when our house was rebuilt and had nice carpets we switched to a mostly shoes off house, though my parents each had berks that they'd wear inside.

Here we have a sort of bookcase that we ue as a shoe rack, just inside the door. We have more shoes than space though so mine tend to wander into the house.  My husband usually puts his shoes on and takes them off in the living room and then carries them back to the "porch" (storm room?) where the shoe rack is.  He wanders in and out of the house in his socks all the time and tracks crap in which drives me bonkers. I only go outside in bare feet or shoes.

For other people's houses in both countries, I look to see if there are shoes by the door or on their feet and if the answer to both questions is "no" I use my words and ask 

He wanders in and out of the house in his socks all the time and tracks crap in which drives me bonkers.

Mine does this too. Makes me crazy.

I don't wear shoes around the house because I usually want to get them off of my feet immediately when I get home. Then I throw on slippers.

That said, I've also never left them at the door unless they're wet/muddy. I also wouldn't expect anyone to take their shoes off in my house unless their shoes were wet or muddy. This is the way my parents were, though. My mom will walk around and do what she needs to do before she takes her shoes off and gets changed. My dad will have his shoes on around the house on the weekends because he's always in and out and can't be bothered to keep taking them off and putting them back on.

Whenever I went to friends' houses in Scotland, no one ever asked anyone to take their shoes off, except for my two Finnish friends, which I was told is pretty standard there (no idea how true this is!). But I always look or ask because I had friends growing up who lived in pristine homes where no one could wear shoes.

I always felt sort of weird about asking someone to take off their shoes! What if they want to keep them on? 

...it's just because I put on pyjamas as soon as I get home.

You and me both! 

Trust me, me not wearing shoes in the house has nothing to do with dirt or mud or wet or shite or anything. Because if you saw my housekeeping ability, you'd want your shoes on to run screaming as fast as you can - far far far far away.
So I don't care if anyone or anything wears shoes in my house.  I just dislike them on my own feet, and will almost always kick them off in someone else's house for the same reason.

  Shhhhhhh I will often kick them off at work as well. But I mostly have to wear steel capped safety boots at work and those really are constricting..... 

T, if anyone at my Tesco is to go by, you can always wear shoes with pajamas, hahahha