No shoes in the house!

No shoes in the house! But slippers are OK.

While it may be awkward to ask my guests to remove their dirty shoes when they come over, especially if they didn't grow up in a culture that expects it, offering them a pair of comfortable slippers makes me feel like less of a shoe-hoarding gremlin.

I personally keep slippers stacked in a small basket by the front door. The practice of having slippers for household members and guests is common in many Asian homes.

Camille Urbina finds the practice of wearing shoes in the house "physically objectionable." She lives with her parents in New Jersey, where in Filipino tradition, they keep a shoe-free house.

"We always had designated areas in which to put our shoes near the front door, and when we switch from our inside shoes to our indoor slippers," she said in an email. "About a decade ago, my parents invested in a bunch of really cheap foam slippers to keep for any guests who came over as well."