Everyone has different preferences about behavior in their house. Some folks are more formal and insist you dress up a little if you’re coming over for dinner. Some would balk if you brought over a nice bottle of wine. Some keep their shoes on all day until they go to bed, and some are offended by such a notion. It can be hard to tell what kind of house you’re being delivered to until you arrive. But one of the rules of good hosting is informing your guests of your preferences as soon as you can. If you’re a shoes-off house, you have to let people know.

Conversely, a rule of good guesting is abiding by those rules without further question. If someone is kind enough to have you over to their home, the least you can do is play by the rules. Not everyone is that savvy, though.