Voting Time

Our house has these lovely hardwood floors,
which I sort of have a love/hate relationship with.  They are beautiful, and I love how look.  I am sure they're technically cleaner than carpet, but with carpet one rarely sees tufts of cat-fur blowing through the room like tumbleweeds.  And this floor has even broken Pyrex, which I have dropped on linoleum without breaking, and my favorite Christmas ornament became festive smithereens our very first Christmas here, so the floor is just a tad bit unforgiving.  It also scratches like crazy.  When we first moved into the house, we were really good about being vigilant about people taking their shoes off, but between parties when people just walk in and guests who are carrying food in and can't take their shoes off while their hands are full (and the occasional person who doesn't really care anyway and are on their way to being dropped from invitations anyway), we've grown a bit lax and our floor has just taken a beating.  If it was just wear and tear, I wouldn't really be that concerned because I like our friends more than the floor, but the scratches really damage the floor, and it's going to be expensive to have to refinish.  But, I hate welcoming people then saying--"oh, and you can't wear those shoes in here."  It sounds so militant.  So, I've decided that

1.  I need to include a request for soft-soled shoes or for guests to remove shoes at the door in the invitations themselves.  I have a basket of slippers at the door for people to use if they choose, but standing on this floor in bare feet can REALLY be tiring, so I want to give advance notice.

and 2.  I need to make a sign for the entryway asking guests to remove their shoes.

I've been looking at ideas online, and so far my favorite contenders are:

*  "Abandon shoes all ye who enter" (which appeals to my Latin major/literature dweebiness, but might be sort of obscure)

*  "Welcome--Thank you for removing your shoes"

*  "Please remove your shoes.......feel free to take a better pair on the way out"

I want a sign that is welcoming yet gets people to remove their shoes.  I can do it with machine embroidery and I thought putting shoes actually ON the sign would make it clear (though the first one would also definitely need a dragon).  Which would you go with?

Comments

Mandy said…
Personally, I like the last one. It makes the point whilst still being jokey.
Perhaps there is a dragon wearing shoes.
May 8, 2013 at 1:37 AM
Daniele said…
Abandon shoes all ye who enter! LOVE IT! :)
May 8, 2013 at 7:05 AM
RobinH said…
I must admit I also like the abandon shoes sign, but the last one might be more effective. And I have the same issues with hardwood...though I mainly enforce the no-shoes rule in the winter, when people are tracking in slush, sand and salt...in addition to the dirt issue, a little water on the wood floors makes them so slippery, I'm surprised we haven't had guests laid out flat yet. (And in the summer, the 'pool rules' whiteboard has an instruction 'no dripping in the house'...which I still have to reinforce at every party.)
May 8, 2013 at 7:44 AM
Meredith said…
I have wood floors too and I love them, minus the dog hair dust bunnies floating by. I have to say that they are scratched and dented in places and I am okay with that, I let people wear what they want and someday I will get them refinished.
Hugs,
Meredith
May 8, 2013 at 9:42 AM
kayT said…
Say you are trying to be more Canadian (as I understand it, outdoor shoes are never worn indoors in Canada). This might at least get their attention as it would sound so odd?
May 9, 2013 at 4:25 PM
Dana said…
I saw one once that said "Stocking Feet Please." I thought that was a positively stated, yet firm way to handle it. :)
May 9, 2013 at 8:00 PM
Book Dragon said…
I like 9 but instead of scrub maybe it should say refinish! But, as I'm partial to dragons... that's the one I like.

We have same problem with cat hair. And litter. Never realized how the carpet contained the litter until there was nothing keeping it from the rest of the house. sigh

I like the advance warning...I'd make sure to wear fun socks (without holes!)
May 24, 2013 at 1:30 AM
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