I made this nifty little sign and taped it up on the door between our entryway and kitchen. I couldn't think of a better way to get the point across!
The second rule is no dogs on the couches. We never let them on our bed but love to cuddle with them on the couch. However, I want this to be a nice house and it isn't very nice when the couches smell and shed like dogs. I'd love to show you a picture of our two new (used), dog-free couches but they won't fit in our door so right now they sit in the shop. I'm thinking we may try to bring them in through our big bay window. Oh the joys of farmhouses with narrow doorways!
I am looking forward to not having dirty floors (or at least not as dirty). I have tried for a long time to keep shoes off of our nice wood floors but we didn't care about the linoleum until now. I just can't keep up and I'm sick of trying.
What's the shoe policy at your house? Any exceptions? How do you enforce it? I'm ready to be rued if I have to - I'm so sick of the mess!
9 comments:
This can be such a problem our farm, too. The lunchroom and mudroom (where all the boots track) are never clean, it's simply impossible. But pretty much, we don't do boots beyond those rooms, and that works pretty well. The lunchroom and mudroom are on the backside of our house, and that keeps the mess out of the main part of the house.
Oh, and yes, I am a vet assistant and a student; I'm hoping to go all the way to vet schol, but that seems like a long time from now, since I'm only finishing my freshman year now.
Good for you!
We tend to take off our shoes unless we're working on something in the house, then Ed's going in and out and in and out and there are trails of dusty footprints from the garage, to the basement, to whatever room he's working in. It makes me nuts but I don't think there's any way to get around it.
Someday when the house is done for real then I'd like it to be a shoes-off house. But we'll see!
The other thing I want is our mudroom finished! I'm tired of Ed leaving his sawdusty hat, tapemeasure, pencils, phone, and jacket in the kitchen. Ugh.
We've always had a shoes-off-at-the-door policy, since the kids were little. There's a boot tray by the door, and several commercial type doorway rugs. We keep "house shoes" (usually Birkenstock clogs) for wearing in the house, because they are easy to kick off when it's time to go somewhere. It's nice if the outdoor shoes are easy to get on and off, too.
I once read somewhere that nearly all the dirt in the house comes in originally on feet. If you can stop it at the door, your housekeeping gets a lot easier.
Oh Boy, could I use that sign at our house!!! We have officially entered mud season and between 6 workboots (some with cleats!) and 8 muddy paws coming in and out regularly, you know what our floors look like!
It's a great idea, but really, how do you get them all to obey this rule--especially for the ones who can't read? I'm thinking even if I could get the guys to remove their boots, I'd still be the one wiping the dogs' feet!
When we got a new couch and loveseat for our family room a while back, the rule was "no dogs on the furniture" which lasted about a week, until my DH pretended that he "didn't see" Duke on the coach! Our dear old sheepdog can no longer hoist himself up on the couch, so that's not a problem anymore.
Sounds like everyone else is a lot more organized than me on this one! And as they say, it's hard to teach an old dog--as well as an old hubby--new tricks!
P.S. Jena~~~let me know how your sign works!!!
Lol I had to laugh... I expected a comment or two by now, not 6! Let's see...
Abutton - That sounds about like how our house was with just wearing shoes in a couple of rooms. Our entryway is small and our floor is linoleum that looks like wood so the dirt gets stuck in the fake wood grain and that is really hard to clean! Good luck in your studies. I would would highly recommend considering being an LVT (or RVT where you are?) if you decide not to go through vet school. You may even be able to pursue a degree in vet. technology on your way to a DVM degree without getting too far behind. Then you have options. The vet that I work for pointed out that I get to do all the fun stuff (blood draws, etc.) and although I don't have her income, I also don't have her student loan debt.
FD - That's kind of where I'm at, our home is close enough to finished that it is time to start making it a little nicer. I know what you mean with the guys, Brian is famous for leaving a handful of bolts, change, and hay chaff on our dining table. At least he won't be taking his workboots off there and leaving them sit by the table any more!
Joyce - Good idea, I need one of those boot brushes. We usually wear our slippers around the house, that works pretty well except in the summer when your feet sweat. Maybe with this new rule I'll be able to wear socks without them getting gross right away!
Ruth - I'm not too worried about Brian following the rule. The hard part will be making myself listen because if he sees me cheat, even once, then he'll start doing it too. I hung an old bath towel by the door so hopefully we can wipe the dogs' feet when they come in. Ideally we will have a big breezeway someday w/ dog beds and dog water bowls so they can be locked in there until they are dry/cleaner. We'll see. I'm just fed up enough that I think this rule will stick! ;)
We usually take our shoes off near the door. We're so used to it that it feels weird to wear shoes in the house. =)
I feel your frustration and I love your sign! Mud boots have to stay outside, everything else gets taken off in the mud room and sits on a rug, unless it is covered in mud (which ticks me off when they get regular shoes muddy...that is what the MUD BOOTS are for!) and then it has to stay outside. Still doesn't stop the kids though - they'll use the other door and track dirt through the house to the mud room to take off their shoes. :) GOOD LUCK!
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