There are two things that we think are incredibly difficult to shop for: 1) curtains and 2) rugs. We have a hard time agreeing on patterns and colors. Rugs are especially hard for us because our old house has big, oddly-shaped rooms that require big, oddly-shaped rugs. Total budget busters.
A few weeks ago, we went rug shopping for our office and hallway. Here’s what we got:
The curvy diamonds remind us of some Moroccan patterned rugs we’ve seen at West Elm and Pottery Barn. For a rug this size, we were expecting to pay $500ish, but we we paid half that price. Why? Because this is not a rug. It’s carpet.
We went to a carpet store and asked if they could custom cut a rug for us. We picked this pattern, and they cut it down to size and did a binding edge with a matching fabric. Viola! Custom rug in a non-standard size for $250.
The texture reminds us of jute rugs, but it’s super soft. And really easy to vacuum, which is huge for us since our dogs are shedding like crazy.
Speaking of which… In case you’re wondering how our painted floors are holding up to 2 dogs, check it out:
Our floors went from smooth-and-glossy to scratched pretty much the day after we brought Margot home in December.
We’re OK with it since painting was always a temporary solution. Just thought we’d throw it out there for any dog owners who are considering painting their soft wood floors. All the more reason to throw down some rugs.
We were a little worried that the patterned rug would clash with our patterned curtains, but we like how they look together:
As The Dude would say, “That rug really tied the room together.”
In other office news, we painted the trim and sealed up the brick wall.
Here’s how the brick looked before sealing:
The dry brick was shedding even more than our dogs. We’d dust in the morning and by the evening, there would be a thick layer of red and white chalk all over the furniture and floors. We couldn’t keep up with the vacuuming and dusting, so we decided to paint the wall with a clear coat of masonry sealer. Here’s what it looked like after one coat:
It looks much less dry and pasty. The red of the brick pops more, and — yay! — it’s not shedding anymore. We’re not sure if we’re going to do a second coat because the first did such a great job.
Here’s how our desk is looking these days:
New notepad from Anthropologie:
Recycled leather pen holder:
New printer — this is only living on the desk temporarily until we figure out a better place for it:
The black dresser is also temporarily in the office until we find a better spot for it:
We still need to make frames for our art. The prints are just leaning against the wall for now. It’s starting to look pretty finished, huh?
Also looking finished: our hallway. We fiiiinally painted the trim and threw down a runner so it’s officially done.
We ordered a custom runner from the same carpet shop. It didn’t photograph well because it’s still all curly from being rolled up. We were too excited about sharing it to wait.
This runner looks a lot like jute from a distance, but when you look closer, it’s a tan and light blue pattern:
The 2′x12′ runner was also $250. We couldn’t find any runners this long in stores, so we thought it was a totally fair price. We’ll post better pictures in a few days when the rug has uncurled itself. Stay tuned for that. We’ll be back soon with more updates!
