Thursday, December 1, 2011

Mood Board: Rug Rambling

Time for another mood board!

I went shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, getting some good deals on home decor items. Most notably, the Tilda Rug was on clearance at Crate & Barrel, plus they were running a coupon code for 15% off of your entire purchase - including sale items. Now, I've been patient... I have watched that rug for months, hoping it'd go on sale. Finally, it did! I deliberated forever and polled everyone I knew to determine whether the current 5'x8' rug was too small for this sad, sad space:

Current rug... too small?

Same rug, centered in the room
...Please excuse the clutter. One problem at a time! :)


Survey results: that rug is too small. Some people thought it was an appropriate size. Do you agree?


There are tons of "rules" written about rug size and placement of furniture, and the ones most people refer back to are: a) all legs of furniture on the rug or b) front legs of all furniture on the rug. The 5'x8' size was $199 - 15%. That's over $300 less than the 8'x10' size! At that point, this rug was becoming an investment. I really wanted the 5'x8' size to work, and layering it with a larger jute rug or something less expensive was even less expensive than diving head-first into the larger single rug. If I know myself at all, I'd end up spending that $300 anyway - somehow - on some other solution I end up liking much less. So, I pulled the trigger just minutes before midnight on Cyber Monday.
Lesson learned: If you're going to buy a rug, get one that's the right size, good quality, and a design you like. You're going to be looking at it for a long time!
[Photos: Crate & Barrel]
A close-up. Subtle but colorful!

Hopefully you've noticed another new addition to the front room - the coffee table! It's the Levinson Coffee Table from Pier1, which is on clearance right now for $89 down from $199. I've been lusting over metal and glass tables, since I knew the DIY ottoman (in the earlier photo) was cool, but too much dark fabric for that space. 89 bucks for a iron and glass table? Yes! I reserved it online at Pier1 ToGo (their online way of calling dibs on products for pick-up in store), I dragged Ben up to Greenwood to go get the table, and once the associates found it, they realized there was a small scratch in the paint. The scratch was the size of my fingernail, and barely noticeable! So, they took another 10% off of the clearance price for me. That totals $81 for this $200 table. Woot!
[Photo: Pier1] We left the bottom glass layer
off so Todd the bunny can sit under the table.
If you've been following along, I've been forever trying to come up with a good solution to work around that brown sofa, too. Besides that, that imposing 48" tv that has to stay here until we finish the basement. Lots of challenges, but I think I'm finally getting somewhere.

So on with the mood board already! Here is the plan in motion, with plenty of pillow options:

Although the final result won't look exactly like this, it'll be close. I'm excited about this room for the first time ever. Build the room around the rug. I get it now!

Breaking it down:

  • Table lamp - Posh Tots, Small Uma Crystal Table Lamp - $144 (Similar one for $40 at HomeGoods)
  • Side table - Oka, Low Table in Ebony/Brown - $185 (Mine is similar, from Value City Furniture)
  • Gallery frames - Ribba Frames from Ikea - $29 each
  • Artwork - Crate & Barrel, Focus Print I and II - $149 each. I'm DIY-ing artwork in this abstract style, called bokeh. If you have Photoshop or an SLR camera, you can too!
  • Area Rug - Crate & Barrel, 8'x10' Tilda Rug - $499 (on sale!)
  • Accent Chairs - Craigslist find, $25 each. I'll reupholster them in a linen-like fabric.
  • Pillows - blue from Inhabit - 1929 in Cornflower, $45; grey from 2Modern - Bholu, $99; green trellis from Layla Grace, Geo Print Green Pillow Pair - $118; yellow top from All Modern - Inhabit Cattails throw pillow - $60; orange from PoshTots, Cintron Scaled Pillow - $70; coral from Layla Grayce, Company C Pillow - $145.
  • Basket - Oka, Rattan Basket - $59 
What do you think - you like?

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