We take our shoes off, and encourage others to do the same. It was the habit around my home growing up. It's a lot easier to keep things clean if you take a moment to take off your shoes. It's also far more comfortable.

When my friend's family remodeled their home, they decided to have a path available through their house that was entirely tiled so that when their father walked from one end to the other for various DIY projects, he could tromp about with his boots and they could clean up after him easily. For the same reason, they chose to keep many rooms tiled, too. Apparently in the past, he ruined the carpets too many times with car grease, roofing tar, compost, etc. The women of the house never wear outdoor shoes inside.

I sometimes visit a friend (Myra) who's OCD about taking off shoes.:orly: She lives in a high-rise building in Boston. With a doorman. This is not a barnyard or dirt road area. It's well paved. Urban. Upscale urban. After crossing the brushy thingy at the entryway, I walk across a carpeted lobby. Then I take an elevator and polish the soles of my shoes further by walking at least fifty feet down the carpeted hallway.
I would guess that at this point, the soles of my shoes are cleaner than the soles of my feet.
In her 4x4 foyer she has a little sign asking her guests to please remove their shoes. There's even a little bench, put in at the request of her mother. Even Mom has to remove her shoes.
Myra's carpet, by the way, is not white, but slate grey.
I love the feeling of the thickly padded dense pile carpet on my bare feet,:) and it is her place, so she gets to make the rules, but sheesh! A sign even!:shakehead:

Lindy

ugg boots in my house, my families and close friends houses during the winter but during the summer, bare feet

i also remove my shoes at other people places if they have a no-shoes policy whatever season