You can tell we live in a northern climate because we have a row of coats at the front door. We didn’t originally, but I am slowly training Martin in the ways of the snow and rainbound world, and the importance of a rack of coats at the door is a key part of this. When we first moved in, Martin would carefully go upstairs and hang his coat up in bedroom, like a good South African. There are two problems with doing this – one is that the coat is very likely wet, and putting it in a closet is a bad idea, and the second is that you will spend your life tramping up and down stairs in your coat, a hot, bulky, and unnecessary activity. He has finally come round to convenience of having a coat right there at the front door, especially since our coat hooks are right above a radiator, which means they’re often toasty warm as well when you get into them.
Now if I could get him to adopt the imminently sensible arrangement of changing your shoes when you come inside, I’d be very happy, but I think that may be asking too much. In this he is very English – never unshod except in the bath.