I have tried this a couple of times. I failed miserably both times, but I love the idea of it.

It is easy to take off shoes in cultures that are prepared for it - extra indoor slippers at the door, an expectation of shoes off everywhere, so you buy shoes that are easy to get on and off... a cultural thing. It is just as easy to keep shoes on in the house in cultures where that is a thing - like the US. Take off boots in the winter, and anything muddy anytime, of course, but regular-wear shoes in the house is fine. Note many boots are worn over shoes just for that purpose. The problem comes when cultures mix - also like the US. Then you get some people expecting to keep them on - and not prepared to take them off, either physically (sock issue) or mentally (do my feet smell?, are my nails clipped?) And some people who apparently clean their floors everyday so that taking shoes off is important to them. Carpet is more for bare feet, than hardwood, I think, but even then, the US shoe market is not made for easy-on, easy-off shoes for removing at the door all the time. It isn't really practical here because it isn't our custom and therefore we haven't developed ways to make it easy. BUT your house, your rules. If you insist (in the US) on having guests remove shoes, make it easy for them by putting extra indoor slippers at the door for them, and warn them before hand if they are new to your home. And guests should abide by house rules, unless there is a reason not to, which you explain at the door and then you and home owner decide what the ground rules are. I would add that culturally, the US has always been a shoe-wearing one. For those too poor to afford shoes, it was an aspiration, of course, not a reality, but there are iron shoe scrapes on front stairs of old houses, because people didn't take off their button-up shoes. Kids went barefoot a lot more, but even then, shoe-wearing became more common the older they got..The idea that if you had shoes and wore them outside, you wouldn't take them off just to come inside, is pretty much ubiquitous in the US until recently. Other cultures are showing us that there is another way. A better way? I don't think so. But it isn't worse, either, just different.

I didn't vote in this poll. I live in a place where it is customary to remove shoes before entering anyone's home. There are signs outside every door as a reminder, so I don't ask anyone to remove shoes, they just do. Dirty shoes stay outside, clean feet are welcome inside. (Besides, living in an apartment, shoes clunking on hard floors is inconsiderate to those living below.) It's just a matter of respect and custom here.

When I visit others, I take my cue by whether the person opening the door is wearing shoes or not. If there's a pile of shoes by the front door, I add mine, making sure I remember which slippers are mine when I leave. (We have very few stores here, so there can be several pairs of shoes/slippers all the same.) There have been times when my shoes are not where I left them, so I have to go find who has my slippers?

None of the above. We have wood or tile (easy to clean) floors throughout the downstairs, we take off our shoes before going upstairs.

I couldn't take the poll because there was an option missing - I don't take off my shoes and don't ask others to remove theirs either. However, I do take my shoes off when I enter someone else's home but I also carry slippers so I'm not getting my socks dirty.

In California & Alabama I never cared. Minnesota changed my mind. In the winter, it's a must. Because of that, it just becomes habit the rest of the year. I don't actually know anyone here who doesn't take off their shoes.

I keep my shoes on in my house and prefer that others do as well. I don't need them sloughing off their foot fungus all over my home.

I don't take them off immediately when entering, and I don't ask guests to.

I live in an RV...so a little dirt makes a big mess. I take mine off, but don't require others. Then again, others typically don't enter, or just stay in the kitchen/dining area. I also spent time in Okinawa and on the mainland...so isn't that culturally weird for me anyhow.

I do not wear shoes at home. I do not ask anyone to remove shoes. Only when my son worked at a restaurant. Leave those outside.

I don't wear shoes at work, let alone at home. Whatever makes your feet happy is fine with me.

My BnB is shoe free. My office house is not. But no one goes in my office house but me.

I take mine off because I'm more comfortable that way. Guests are not expected to unless they want to take them off.

i love barefoot, so no shoes at home, at the beach, when driving. at home the same applies to visitors.

No shoe rules at my house. If I take my shoes off it's simply because I want to go barefoot. Back and front doors wide open when I'm home. (I took the screen doors off cos I don't like them). Polished floors throughout. We used to have a few rugs but when my dog was a pup she weed on them and we never replaced them.

thanks for the helpful answers and your patience.. I see that I could have asked the question in a better way. Thanks so much for all the feed back and sharing. I like to take my shoes off when i come home for comfort and cleanliness.. I like others to take their shoes off., though I don't always ask people to .

I am not at all strict about it, especially right now since the carpet will be ripped out soon anyway. I picked up the habit when I visited India, and I rather like the custom.

None of the above.
All my floors are tile so it's easy to clean.

No & no.

Shoes track in dirt, dust, bacteria and leave prints and smudges. So shoes off at the door, please!

I take off my shoes because I find it more comfortable but leave it up to guests to make themselves at home as they choose.

If your shoes are of a type that would damage my floors then you have to remove them. Otherwise I have no problems with shoes of any kind but I often remove mine inside the house.

Makes a lot easier to clean the house after

It may be a British thing but it would be thought strange, even rude, to ask a guest to take their shoes off here, which is odd because most people wear socks anyway, and most use slippers in their own home. I think it is great that you at least have some variation, we can be very old fashioned and frankly dirty here, we could do with some mass immigration from Japan.

None of the above