Living Room Progress

I ordered a rug for the living room. It has taken me months to narrow down my options and try to pin down a sort-of budget amount. I found dozens of beautiful rugs; all had to be shot down for one reason(size) or another(price).

I originally had planned on jute or sisal ala Young House Love and All Things G & D.

 

(Young House Love)

(All Things G&D)

This is actually the first rug Mister and I agreed on. 

However, upon touching a jute rug in person, I promptly changed my mind. I have sensitive skin and I know I will be rolling around on the carpet with the fur-babies, so plant fibers were officially out.

Since we have a flowered chair in the living room, I didn't think a flowered rug would look good. Which is unfortunate because there are some GORGEOUS flowered options out there. 

 

  (Pottery Barn)

 This one is lovely and fairly inexpensive, but it only comes in your basic size options and I needed at least 8x11, prefer 8x12.

 

(Overstock.com)

I think this was my favorite out of any of them and it matched the lime and turquoise theme I wanted to go with.  However, it would look disastrous with THE CHAIR. Grr. As would the lime and turquoise. So I toned down my colors and started my search again. 

I stole my wall color from Nicole at Making It Lovely, so I thought maybe her rug should be mine as well.

 

(Making It Lovely )

But Mister is not nearly as tolerant as Brandon and promptly vetoed the lovely Madeline Weinrib rug. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't realize how much a rug such as this one would set me back. 

Same with the fab Jonathan Adler rugs.

  

Okay, I know that's not a whole rug, but they've got those cranky photos that won't let you snag 'em. 

I love the idea of a geometric, semi-modern rug pattern with the flowered chair and the antique furniture. 

 

(West Elm)  

(West Elm)  

LURVE the zigzag option, but size was wrong again. 9x12 will cover either the fireplace surround or part of a doorway, 8x10 would be an island lengthwise. I wanted the rug long enough to only leave 6 inches between the rug and the walls and to bump the fireplace surround and hit the edge of the doorway. I want the furniture to sit ON the rug. That translates to 8'1" x 12'4".

One day, about a month ago I met my mother at a flooring store, because they are remodeling their kitchen (more to come on that). She wanted my opinion on the tiles and the flooring she chose. I started looking at carpeting samples and immediately fell in love with two options. Both Couristan, both pure wool, both pricey, but much cheaper than a "designer" rug. One option was a houndstooth that is not on their website. It was fun, funky, graphic enough to pop, but not overpower the room. I really liked it, but the color was a slightly yellow-ey tan and ivory. 

The second option was the Honeycomb carpet. 

(Couristan)

It looks slightly pink in this shot and maybe it is, but it looked lovely with the walls and the chair and the wood floor. I am not getting the border around the edge and I am having it serged, not bound. I waited to order it immediately because my mother thought maybe her flooring people could get me a deal. They couldn't, it was even more expensive than the first place I priced it. However, the woman at her flooring place gave me the name and number of their to-the-trade showroom and they agreed to sell it to me for about $400 less than anywhere else. One caveat; they simply source the product, so I have to have it sent to someone else to have it trimmed to size and serged. Again though, the guy she recommended is significantly cheaper than my other options. He will trim it to size for $7.50 and serge it for $2.50/linear foot. Everyone else wanted $5/linear foot. 

I finally bit the bullet and had them order it on Thursday. Friday morning the woman I talked to called me and said Couristan called her and told her there is a slight "bow" in the fabric. That it did not seem to be a problem when layed as carpet, but as an area rug, the pattern may not lay straight. I told my mom this and her response was "But you don't like bows"... Hilarious right? Um. No mom, a bow as in a slight skew. The woman said "Once you put all your furniture on it, you may not even notice it". If I am spending nearly a months salary on a rug, I don't want a maybe. I said "I need it to be perfect" and she told me "Now, nothing can be perfect". B.S. This rug is going to end up costing more than my couch or my television, for that kind of money it needs to be perfect. They ordered it in anyway and if it is noticeable, I can send it back, no cost. The new lot won't be in for at least a month, maybe six weeks. I finally make a decision and complications arise. Of course they do.