Homes change according to the needs of those who live in them and the new habits that emerge, be they needs or fashions. Removing shoes at the entrance to the house seems to be a rising trend, which will bring some changes to our homes, in the ways of living and receiving guests.
In photo - removing shoes in the home
In photo - ART furnishing carpet
There are many people, in various places in the world, who have the habit of changing their shoes from the street to an enclosed place. A gesture undoubtedly dictated by issues of cleanliness, in many cases it also becomes an act of courtesy, respect and decorum, to the point of being part of religious rituals, loaded with profound meanings. Removing shoes is, curiously enough, a widespread habit in the most diverse latitudes. People enter places of worship of different religions (from mosques to Hindu temples) barefoot; among monastic orders, the norm of walking barefoot remains the gesture to maintain contact with the earth, and with the sacred.
In photo - Buddhist monks
It is an established habit in Nordic countries, say from the Germanic countries up, northwards to the Scandinavian countries, but it is also in the East. Old Europe is learning, little by little, thanks to ever more frequent contacts with distant cultures. Here in our country, we perhaps have to dispel a certain myth of elegance that just does not conceive of the slipper, since it is a pendant of ’dressing gown“ and therefore not allowed except in an intimate, domestic context. A bourgeois fashion that has supplanted - should we go in search of cultural roots - the sense of hospitality of the classical world, from which our culture derives, even if we have somewhat lost its memory. For Greeks and Romans, the guest was welcomed by washing his feet and offering him new clothes.
In photo - barefoot on a soft carpet
What is happening in our homes today?
To a trend already underway (think of the recent spread of concepts such as Hygge, from Denmark, or the Finnish philosophy Kalsarikännit) of enjoying the home as a place of relaxation and enjoyment of small things, one adds - unfortunately, it does not need reminding - the pandemic factor, which at least accelerated the transformations.
More than predictable, then, that the new habit of taking off one's shoes on entering the house will also become established for us “ordinary Westerners”. What will change? The entrance, as a point of exchange between inside and outside, is back in vogue. There will be room here for furnishing solutions to comfortably allow one to change, leaving one's shoes in order (and out of sight), to put on something clean to move around in. And this will also apply to guests. It will become fashionable, thus not only unanimously accepted but also appreciated. Green light therefore to benches, shoe racks, carpets to make walking barefoot comfortable, and maybe even a “welcome slipper”.”, who knows?
In photo - the organised entrance
We imagine that habits may also change at the level of common areas, in the case of apartment buildings, where it could become customary to leave shoes on the landing, unlike today. Of course, always with a focus on order and decorum. On the other hand, there is no shortage of examples, and perhaps it has not been thought that this gesture could also lead to greater respect for condominiums, avoiding noisy trampling, a major topic in neighbourhood disputes.
We will see how things turn out. On the other hand, don't they say “catching on” for fashions?
In photo - in pre-schools it is good practice to remove shoes
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