RUG ADDITIONS

Thank you so much for all the kind words on my post last week.  

Not sure how this week slipped by me, but here it is Friday and we have a jam packed, fun filled weekend ahead of us.  My parents are coming in town to visit and to watch the school talent show, several basketball games and a baseball game.  They don't know it yet, but they might even get to babysit while we sneak away for a neighborhood derby party. 

I delivered one last load of items to a home today 

that I've been working on for the past couple of months.  

I'll share some before and afters very soon. 

Since I don't have any work to share this week, 

I thought I'd show you a couple of new rugs I picked up at Bargains and Buyouts last Fall.  

First up, this navy and cream dhurrie rug.  

I was shopping with a friend and we picked up this one, 

which was originally for her daughter's room.

When she got it home, her daughter wasn't a fan, so I bought it from her.  

It works perfectly in the boys' room. 

Technically, it's just one boy's room now.  My older son moved to the bedroom on the third floor so he could have his own space.  However, he waffles back and forth between sleeping with his little brother and sleeping all alone in his own room.  It's kind of sweet.

There was quite a bit of wide open floor space in this room, so the rug helps break it up a bit. 

My memory fails me, but I think I picked this orangey/rust colored dhurrie up the same day.  

It works great in the hallway leading from our bedroom to our bathroom.

The best part, each rug was under $50.  

You can check out some of my other Bargains and Buyouts finds here and here. 

I hope you all have a joyous weekend. 

It's going to be sunny and in the 70s here this weekend and I get to spend it with family and friends.  

Doesn't get much better than that!

FAMILY ROOM CHANGES

  I mentioned last week in this post, that I did a little rug rearranging around here. 

Let me introduce you to the newest addition to the family room.....

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I had the family room 

(+ the kitchen, dining room and foyer) repainted.  

The family room is now BM Seashell.  

I was craving a more neutral feel.

I switched out the colorful drapes for something a little more simple. 

I just cut a drop cloth in half, hemmed them with hem tape and clipped them up with rings. 

They work fine for now.

I'm itching to add some more navy to the room.  I have my eye on a few pillows from etsy.

I love the rich, vibrant colors in this rug.  It looks red and a tad purple in these photos, 

but it is definitely more of a burnt orange and navy.

I removed the skirted slipcover from the ottoman. 

The cream fabric that was underneath won't be safe for long.  

I'll have to come up with Plan "B" soon. 

I'd love to add an old wooden trunk as a coffee table, but the kids (and Willee) 

love using the ottoman as extra seating.

I added a bit more green back into the room also.  Every room needs a little green.

The new 9x12 size works much better than the previous 8x10 West Elm rug that was in here. 

This rug screams cozy to me.  While I'm definitely not looking forward to winter, 

I can't way to get a fire going and curl up on the couch with a good book. 

I got the rug from nycrugs on ebay.  This was my first time buying from this seller.  

The rug was a fair price and shipped quickly.

It was listed as new with tags.  I noticed a small stain on it once we unwrapped and unrolled it.  

I emailed the seller right away and sent a pictures.

It wasn't a big enough deal to pack it up and send it back. 

They ended up crediting me $100.

The other ebay seller I have bought from several times is newyorkruggallery.

I know buying a large rug, sight unseen, is not for everyone.

But so far, I have been very pleased with all my on-line rug purchases.

UPDATE:  I can see comments that are posted on my blog, but they are not coming to my email.  
I have tried everything I can to troubleshoot the problem and have gotten nowhere.  
I normally like to respond to comments via email, but for now, I will just reply to the comments. 
Sorry!  I promise I haven't been ignoring you if you commented. 

CLEARING HOUSE

It is about time to do another clear out around here.  

I had a big tag sale back in the winter and it sure felt good to get rid 

of some of the things I'd been hoarding hanging on to.

I have a few more things I need to part with.

What do you know, I've changed my mind once again about a rug in our home.  

I know, you're shocked!

I decided that the West Elm Jute Chenille Rug 

(which I still love) was a tad too small for the family room.

I started my rug hunt back in the summer.  Nothing was really jumping out at me. 

9x12 rugs aren't necessarily easy to find.

I finally settled on a traditional rug I found on Ebay.

A post about it coming up next week.

The West Elm rug moved to "The Nook" off the kitchen.  Its perfect there. 

That leaves me with one extra rug.

This one......

Here's a better picture of it (when "The Nook" was the dining room).

It is approximately 8.5' x 10.5'.  

Price: $150 - SOLD

  Local pick-up only.

Once I did the rug rearranging, I needed to do some window treatment rearranging.

You know how it goes, you give a mouse a cookie......

I ended up taking down the drapes I had in the family room. 

They were made using this Latika Festival Fabric.

I will show you what I temporarily replaced them with next week.

I have a set of two dummy panels.  They are approximate 20" wide x 96" long.

They are pinch pleated and include drapery pins.

Price: $100/pair + shipping - SOLD

I also have three (3) double rolls of Schumacher grass cloth wallpaper. 

It's a coral/orange color and it's gorgeous.  

I had plans to use it in our office/den, but I decided to go a different direction.

I am having a hart time parting with it.

Price: $40/double roll or $100 for all three (3) + shipping

Lastly, I have six Ballard Herringbone Burlap Panels for sale.

Four of them are 96" in length and the other two are 108" in length.

They are new and still in the package. 

These were going to be used in a client project and we changed our minds.

They retail for $99 (96") and $119 (108")

Price: $50/panel + shipping 

Please let me know if you are interested in any of these items.
You can contact me here.

If sold, I will update this post.

DINING ROOM & OFFICE DESIGN

I recently completed designs for a dining room and office. 

The couple live in a beautiful home just a few years old. 

Their decor and paint colors are fairly neutral.  They were looking to liven things up a bit.

They had their eyes on a beautiful dining table and buffet. 

Other than that, they were open to ideas.

Here are my ideas...... 

For this design, I started with the rug. 

I love a good traditional rug that will last forever. 

They were open to mixing up the chairs.  

I also provided two lighting options.

I think the red lanterns would be perfect in this space.

Here are my ideas for the office.....

They sent me several different room layout options 

and wanted me to help them decide which one would work best.  

I settled on the one I thought would give them the best working space and optimal TV viewing.

They already had a desk/hutch and they wanted to add more desk space.

I suggested softening the windows with drapes.

I also recommended adding some colorful local maps and personal travel photographs. 

A nice upholstered swivel chair would be perfect for this space too.

This project is on hold for now, while they take their time making decisions.

I really enjoyed working on these designs and wanted to share them.

Other than squeezing in a little work, I have been in full summer mode; 

staying up late, sleeping in, spending time at the pool, soaking it all in.

I hate to think this way, but my oldest child only has six more summers 

until she graduates from high school.  Yikes!  

I don't want to look back on this time and wish I had been more present.

So forgive me if my posts are few and far between.

I hope you're having an amazing summer!

Thanks for stopping by.

IT WASN'T THE ONE (ANOTHER NEW RUG)

I will have to eat my words from exactly one year ago today, 

when I declared to all the world that I had found  "THE" rug for my foyer.  

This rug, to be exact.....

Unfortunately, it turned out to be "THE TEMPORARY" rug for just about a year. 

I loved the colors and the size was perfect, but the quality was not that great.

Our foyer gets a ton of traffic and my kid spill things A LOT!

The good news is that my sweet little puppy chewed a hole in the carpet in our playroom.

Oh wait, that was not good news.  I was not happy about that all!

However, because of the new hole in the carpet (well two holes if you want to get technical),

I had a place to put the multi-colored chevron rug.

You're following me, right? 

 I put the rug upstairs in the playroom, to cover up the holes in the carpet.

Which leads to the even better news, a new rug now resides in the foyer. 

This rug, to be exact.....

I ordered it from this ebay seller. 

I know it's always a little risky buying something like a rug without seeing or touching it, 

but I'm so glad I took a chance and ordered this one.

With a new rug, came a new color for the front door.

I used Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue.  

Our door was painted a deep red color

and I was never truly in love with it. 

The brick on our house is a deep red/orangey color and 

the door blended it, but I wanted it to stand out.

It stands out now!

Now that I'm in the changing mood, I've got my eye on that powder room.

Stay tuned.......

AROUND HERE

I have been busy shuffling kids back and forth, hosting sleepovers, getting caught in the middle of water gun fights, doing crazy amounts of laundry and trying to squeeze in a little work.  

This working from home gig, while school is out, is proving to be more difficult than I imagined.

I plan to do the best I can while focusing on soaking up this time with my children.

I have managed to get a few things done around here.

I switched out the lamp in "The Nook" for this new vintage thrift store lamp I found last week.

I actually got a pair of these.  You know I love a good pair!

I finished up a new gallery wall going up the stairs.  

My phone is still in the shop and my I-phone just doesn't do this project justice.  

As soon as I get my camera back, I'll show you the whole thing.

I also added this rug to our house. 

I am in love with it.  Even my six year old said "This  rug is beautiful!.

He then proceeded to do cartwheels on it with his dirty feet.

We like to break things in right away around here. 

I'll show you where the rug ended up soon.  

I thought I could manage 4-6 weeks without my camera, but it sure makes blogging difficult. 

Hurry up Canon!

DINING ROOM PROGRESS

Just to keep it real, here's what it looks like when I suddenly 

get the urge to to rearrange the whole first floor of our house.

Once we got everything somewhat in place, I immediately noticed a slight problem.

You see, in order for the table to be centered under the lights (which are yet to be installed),

it needs to sit right here.

Since I can't move the rug over any further to the right, the left side is a tad too wide.

Following me?

So I did what any impatient DIYer would do, I took matters into my own hands, literally.

I started by taking off the rug binding on the entire left side of the rug. 

Not an easy task, but I only ended up with only a few cuts and scraps.

Next, I got out the trusty Kitchen-Aid scissors. 

Most definitely not the proper tool, but my only choice.

Next, well there is no next, because my hands were so tired 

from cutting 12 feet of this thick sisal rug, I had to call it a day. 

Mission "Make Rug Smaller" will commence today 

and hopefully I will have an update for you tomorrow. 

I didn't even google "how to cut up and re-bind a rug", so I'm winging this one.

Wish me luck!

Any last minute advice?   

IT'S THE ONE! (NEW RUG)

The new rug I ordered from Joss and Main for the foyer arrived on Friday and I was so excited, 

I had to stop everything to drag it in inside and put it in place. I'm impatient like that!  

I am always a bit nervous to order anything sight unseen.  

You never know if the colors on your screen are going to appear the same in person.  

Fortunately, the rug is exactly as I had hoped. 

It fits the space perfectly and the colors are spot on!

Here's a view from the foyer looking into the living room and kitchen.

This view is from just inside the front door, looking into the kitchen with a peek into the living room. 

I love the way the chevron pattern varies in width

. 

The colors really help marry this space with the rest of the first floor.  

A view from the living room. (Ignore the pile of junk on the stairs). 

Another view from the living room.  (Also ignore that mirror, I'll get to that later this week)!

Even my little guy likes it!

I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July. 

I am looking forward to celebrating with friends and family.

Keep cool and be safe!

HOPEFULLY THIS IS THE ONE (NEW FOYER RUG)

I've been in a bit of a rug rut. After deciding to quickly retire this 

William Sonoma Home rug from from the foyer, I have been on the hunt for a replacement.

Surprisingly, I've been very patient and have resisted the urge to buy several rugs

 I "liked", but didn't really love. I am hoping after today, my search is over.  

I hopped onto Joss and Main this morning and this rug stopped me in my tracks.  

I didn't even scroll to the bottom to see the rest of the options. 

Bam, Add to Shopping Bag immediately!  

Chevron Contour Rug

You see, the thing that grabbed me about this rug, okay, three things to be exact:

1) The colors (a nice mix of warm and cool colors - my favorite combo)

2) The pattern (a chevron - a bit trendy, yes, but it's not quite as graphic as a two color combo)

3) The size (7'3" x 9'3" - couldn't be more perfect)

I suppose I'll find out in about a week if it's THE ONE!  I sure hope so, because I just saw that tiny print at the bottom of the description that says "NON-RETURNABLE".  Oops!

Keep your fingers crossed that it was meant to be.  

Also, if anyone is interested in this 6'x9' William Sonoma Home Rug, e-mail me here for the details.  

I sure do love her, but I think it's time we part ways.

SOLD!

Still working on my Haven re-cap, but in the meantime, you can check out these fabulous posts from Carmel, Cassie and Michelle.  They pretty much sum it up perfectly. 

Are you a Joss and Main or One Kings Lane stalker too?

RUG REARRANGING

You know how when you make one change, it leads to another change, and then another change and then so on and so on until your kind and patient husband finally inquires "When will it ever stop?"

Truth be told, honey, NEVER!!!  And how about we call them improvements, rather than changes.  

Okay, good, works for me too.

I mentioned back in this post that I thought my dining area needed a rug.  

Well, I found one, in the family room.

It really does ground the space nicely and it seems more inviting to me. 

I also had a change of heart about this rug that was in our foyer.  

I love the rug, but it was clearly not meant for a foyer in a house with three kids. 

Deep down I knew it when I bought it, but I was really hoping it would work out.

When you have to politely ask people to walk around the rug, not on it, 

you know it's time to make a change, I mean improvement. 

This was my temporary improvement.  I found it at Homegoods and I thought it would be perfectly.

Most importantly, it's the color of dirt, it is durable and it has a fun stripes in it. 

I lived with it for a month or so and then one day I decided it would look better on the back porch. 

So off it went.

 Now my foyer is rug free, as is my family room.  I can live without a rug in the foyer for a while, but I need to get on my family room rug search pronto.  It's just not cozy at all in that room without a rug. 

Here are a few I am eyeing:

I love this neutral chevron rug from West Elm....

I am also digging this sweater rug from West Elm....

Although with the couch being brown, this one might be a tad dark.

I also think the Pottery Barn Chunky Wool and Natural Jute rug would be a good option.

Let me sum it up for you, as my husband summed it up for me - now we need two rugs, one for the foyer and one for the family room.  My reply - yes, but now we don't need one for the dining area or the back porch.  Don't you like how I take the "glass half full" approach!

 How about you, making any changes improvements in your home?