A question about American (and Canadian) homes!

[ubermanx]

In all seriousness ... if that is even possible ...

Lights out. In fact, it drives me nuts that the kids turn on the light in the hallway to pass into the room immediately across from the room they left. Trust me, enough light is escaping to illuminate the hall.

Shoes off at the door. I understand this is a cultural/regional thing and in fact most Americans do leave their shoes on in the house. True?

Coffee table in the official living room. It even has "coffee table books" on it. But downstairs in the "rec room" or where we have the good TV and the bad couches/sofas/chesterfields we have a padded table/chest/ottoman that houses blankets inside and a variety of either coffee cups or feet on top.

And no, my neighbour is not whacky. He is an old, white, cigar smoking, racist with a really sweet wife. But man o' man she can't sing. Windows break when they sing along at the piano. So much for being serious.

- Marty

[SainthoodDenied]

I live alone so there's hardly no lights ever on even when I'm home. It's just after midnight here and I'm in the living room with only one light in the house on and it's a table top lamp. I do have a small coffee table, it's what my laptop is on.

[Rallygirl]

At our house,..

Ideally, the lights are off unless we are in that room and the lights are actually needed. But even after fifteen years of marriage, MY husband still needs work on this one. I honestly believe he might be afraid of the dark. If I am out with friends at night, when I come home it is like the rapture in our house with EVERY light on.

No coffee table. Coffee tables remind me of old lady houses.

Shoes on all the time. First, I find walking barefoot to be uncomfortable. Second, we have two cats and one large dog; whatever is on my shoes cannot possibly be worse than whatever the furry family members leave behind after using litterboxes and dragging itchy butts across the carpet. Also, we don't have children, so nobody is crawling/laying/rolling on the floor except the critters.

[huedell]

I hate reading threads that remind me that at 44 years old I'm still comparatively living by pre-adult house rules.

[HardyGirl]

At my house:

I do leave the living room lights on even when I'm in my room (in the back) for safety reasons. I have been known to leave the kitchen light on, when I'm cleaning up in there between commercials.

I do have a coffee table although it's in front of the big picture window in the living room. I have a big ottoman in front of the couch, so it's OK to put your feet up.

I used to be a stickler about no shoes on in the house, but I've relaxed somewhat over time. But most of the time you can hear me shuffling about in my slippers.

[Mikey]

My electric company sent me a promo box of all kinds of free electrical stuff including power strips, swirly florescent light bulbs, extension cords etc.

Anyway, they also sent a few automatic LCD night lights.

They're pretty cool.

They're round about the size of a half dollar and plug right into the wall --- and automatically come on when they detect movement.'

Works great in my stairwell.

[megomania]

My electric company sent me a promo box of all kinds of free electrical stuff including power strips, swirly florescent light bulbs, extension cords etc. Anyway, they also sent a few automatic LCD night lights. They're pretty cool. They're round about the size of a half dollar and plug right into the wall --- and automatically come on when they detect movement.' Works great in my stairwell.

How do you it's not a ploy to bug your house and steal your personal info? :-)

[Mikey]

If anybody thinks my personal info is worth stealing they're seriously barking up the wrong tree

[Hector]

We used electricity a lot...that's why our Pacific, Gas, and Electric bill is sky high, lol.

Outside lights on at night. About three or four TVs on most of the time. We have three electric bathroom bidets. We use the dishwasher all the time. I cook quite a bit, so the food processor is used, toaster, oven, blender, washer & dryer, etc...

When the house is alone, besides, home security activated, the TVs still stay one...and kitchen lights and living room if we know we are coming back late.

Having said that...our water conservation has been pretty good, as we stopped watering the lawn and backyard, we also deactivated the water sprinkler system. And our toilets are all water saving type toilets.

Mom sleeps with a dim light on. But my sister and I like complete darkness in our bedrooms while sleeping....however, that's impossible for me...for once I turn off the lights of my room...I see the modem light on, the router light on, the my various other components with lights on, such as HD hub, HDMI switcher, DVR, Playstation, etc, lol...

[torgospizza]

Shoes off at the door. I understand this is a cultural/regional thing and in fact most Americans do leave their shoes on in the house. True?

The first thing I do when I get home is take off my shoes, but I take them off by the couch, since that's where I put them back on in the morning. As far as the lights go, they only time they're on is when I'm at home and awake, and that's only the room I'm in.