Shoes off please…
I used to shake my head and sigh when I’d see a shoes off sign or walk up to a home and see the front door lined with shoes. I’d cringe and wobble trying to take my shoes off to please my host. My childhood home could have rocked a welcome sand sign because we lived in our flip flops. Sandals and sand were just part of the beach lifestyle my mom created. Be free was the unspoken motto, shoes on or off however you’d like to be.
When I became a mom I wanted to share my childhood traditions and create a beachy home for my family. Once my daughter started crawling I realized the need for a shoes off house rule. The most used part of my house became the floor and I saw everything with fresh eyes. Dust, crumb bits and sand. Oh the sand was everywhere! I did the one thing that drove me bonkers and insisted family and guests keep their shoes at the door. Goodbye shoes mean hello clean floors and a smiling mama. Viola you can save time by sweeping up less dirt and scrubbing away unnecessary germs.
I had a total aha moment last year when planning a family trip to see my brother and his family in Kauai. I was getting pumped about the food, sightseeing and aloha spirit of the people and land when it hit me – shoes off!
During my giddy trip excitement and sleep deprived daze I connected the dots and realized I am bringing aloha to my home by adopting some of the trademark customs. Slippahs, flip flops, Crocs are all welcome to stay put on the front step. This is the traditional Hawaiian custom and leaving footwear at the door is a sign of respect to your hostess in the islands. Now I’m happy to share another part of the beach lifestyle…its shoes off at home and at the beach!
Our house will soon be host to summer BBQs and more but friends please remember our beach house must – please remove your shoes, Mahalo!
Yep. The laidback feel of the Aloha spirit in Hawaii should be present all over the world. I’ve since moved back to the mainland due to work but lived on Oahu for 3 years and loved the culture and environment there. My home when on Oahu, like all others, too was a shoes off home but I, like many, had a little dirty secret. Hawaii was surprisingly dusty especially when the tradewinds kicked up and all of that dust and dirt blew into the home I lived in and the homes I visited/showed during my short real estate career there. If cleaning (which in itself is a full time job in Hawaii) was missed for a while that resulted in everybody having dirty feet and since everyone including myself wore slippahs the problem was 10x as bad so even if the slippahs were kicked off at the door some of that dirt made in because it was on everyone’s soles. I do remember how many times I would show homes and realize the soles of my feet were black as sin as were the home buyer’s feet and a good washing was in check after a day of showings. Heck, I even noticed it on other realtors I worked with and even on House Hunters and Hawaii life on HGTV. Well dressed realtors but dirty soles! Still love Hawaii and hope to get out there at least once a year.
Thank you for sharing! I just giggled because it’s so true. We all have our shoes off in Hawaii and from the sand to the lovely tradewinds to pets, etc. I often found myself needing a foot rinse several times a day. Even with all that the simplicity and freedom of the culture and shoes off custom are so worth it. I hope to bring the Hawaiian life to my Cali life as much as possible. I love House Hunters and the Island life, next viewing you know I’m going to check out their feet 🙂
We do the shoes off bit in Canada for practical reasons and it just feels “freeing” to be home and shed a few layers. When I visited Oahu, Hawaii it’s ingrained into the culture like most of the pacific regions and Asia to remove your shoes and every house had a huge pile of slippers outside the door. I went to a house party and everyone took their slippers off, it was great to see 30+ people, adults and kids, just walking around in bare feet having a good time. When the party was over other than tons of dishes to wash the floors were squeaky clean and hopefully everyone went home with the right pair of slippers!
I love to hear about other cultures and their practices at home. My brother lives in Hawaii and there’s something just peaceful about seeing the shoes lined up at the door. It’s like a welcome greeting to the party inside. On another note, it’s almost comforting because it puts everyone at the same level….we all are just barefoot and having fun 🙂
That is an interesting way to look at it. All of the guests are at the same level when they are barefoot at a party. On the mainland people would have on varying pairs of fancy shoes and heels. In Hawaii, one might break out the nicer leather slippers for arriving at a party but it’s coming off at the door anyway. As for the slippers being lined up that’s the Hollywood look. In reality it’s a huge pile of slippers scattered everywhere, heck I found my other slipper 10 feet away when leaving the house at night 🙂
I prefer flip flops to the finest heel, flat or other shoe. A girl can never have too many flip flops 🙂
Aloha!!! With all that this word embraces including the love of shoeless feet indoors. But you do still need to keep the floors swept up since bare feet will feel any crumbs etc. And stepping on pieces of Legos or playduh or dolly jewels can really hurt the feet! You need to get a sign/ceramic tile: “Mahalo for removing your shoes”. Love to you and Enjoy Practicing Aloha everyday. Xo
You totally nailed it…clean floors are still a must but there’s something so peaceful about being shoeless. We all need welcome sign sharing the “aloha” found inside our homes!
Being shoeless really is peaceful…and more comfortable too! Living in NYC makes it easy for me to have the same mindset even though I don’t have any kids yet…with everything on the streets here, the last thing I need is all that dragged onto my floors. Besides, who really wants to wear shoes around the house anyways?
I love my summer shoes, well all shoes, but there is something so peaceful and natural when you let yourself just be free. City living doesn’t have to impact the cleanliness of our homes, such a good point. Keep the city germs outside! Thanks for dropping by!