Mah Rug's Here

eBay rug has lived here with us for a few weeks and I like it.  I had a hard time finding one at least 14' long but only 30" wide and that wasn't an arm and a leg. This is a new wool rug so it's not all worn and yummy and vintage like I would prefer but with two people and two animals walking on it daily, it should flatten our and start to get a patina (can I use the word patina in reference to a textile? probably not).

eBay Won't Let You Down

eBay holds treasures for all of us. When in need, turn to the 'Bay.  I've been lucky and have had nothing but smooth transactions. I know some have been burned...items not as described, bad shipping, etc.  I hope my luck continues, as this perfect runner is on my watch list.

Overdyed Rugs

How gorgeous are these overdyed rugs? I've seen people DIY this and I am very curious!

  I need a 16' long runner and this would be just the ticket, if they weren't $6k!  Boo!


Anyone have a good source for a long runner?  eBay has some lovely vintage options but they are all $$.

A few changes

I moved my giant starburst mirror into the living room:

Burt models the finished runner

Finished it off with some black nailheads:

If you haven't had enough of my entry yet...

I know, I'm kinda obsessed with it. I decided to try a DIY stair runner. There are only 5 steps from the front door to the 1st level so I figured I could handle the installation. 

I picked a flat weave wool rug off Overstock (or, I guess it's "O.Co" now). It's about 2.7" by 10 feet, which left me about 12" of length.  It's flipped over the top step here and I think I might secure it down and leave it rather than try to cut the wool.  I also used some carpet padding on each step for softness.

As you can see, I used a staple gun to nail this baby down. Just keeping it real around here. I'm going to add some black-finish nail heads to hide the staples for a finishing touch.

Stair Runners

Stair runners are cool. I want one.  These are all super-duper.

via http://www.elizabetheakins.com

via rugsatsva.com

I smell another project a-brewin!

Yard Sale Score

A house down the street was having a "downsizing sale" this morning so we swung by on our way to another tag sale.

This rug was rolled up with a sticker that said "free with any purchase". Music to my cheap little ears! I bought a beat up mid-century dresser for $30 that I intend to rehab (photos to come) so this rug came home with us for FREE!

The seller kept pointing out that it's worn. I was like, lady, worn is IN! Anthropologie would be selling this for $500.

Small Entryway Solutions

My indoor/outdoor rug has arrived! It's a little smaller than I hoped but it covers most of the grody tile in the entryway (which probably needs a good scrubbing, too).

One of my next projects is stripping the chipped paint off our metal railing.  It's pretty grubby in person so I was thinking of stripping it to see what it looks like au natural and then perhaps re-painting.  I swear, if it's not one thing, it's the other in this house.

Indoor/Outdoor Rugs Save the Day

I was thinking about ripping out the floor in the entry way and retiling. Then I remembered I am DYING to re-do our kitchen so the money sunk in to a tiling project would be best directed to the kitchen fund. (Rather, Jake pointed this out and I grudgingly agreed his was right, this time.)

Instead, a rug can cover most of the weird slate tile stuff. Off I went looking for a 3 x 5 indoor/outdoor rug in a neat print. Why indoor/ourdoor? We use our front door often, and traipse down the stairs to teh lower level a lot.  Plus, we have a dog that loves to tear crap up so something a little more study is wise.

Here are three great options.  Once of which is coming my way this week!

Martha Stewart Faux Bois

Ballard Designs as seen over on Little Green Notebook

Another Ballard Designs choice I considered

What do y'all think, is a polypropelene (aka plastic) rug tacky?

Versatile Rugs

Hello everyone, my name is Chelsea and I am a rug freak! The joy of having hardwoods throughout our house is the excuse to buy lots and lots of rugs. I think I might be pushing the upper limit of rugs, though. I have two in the living room, two in the guest BR, one in the master BR, two in the office, one in the kitchen and two in the dining room. That's TEN rugs just upstairs.  There's another downstairs in our rec room.  I need an intervention, for sure. (Just left Jeff VanVonderen tell me that my family loves me like crazy..)

My latest purchase is the West Elm Jute Boucle Rug in Chocolate: For an 8 x 10, it's only $229, though they get you with the extra shipping charges for over sized items.  Boo to that!

So far, I'm pleased with it. It's actually pretty thick and chunky.  I was expecting a finer weave but it's nice a texture-y.  I laid my cowhide rug on the top -- photo to come!

Runner Rug

I'm thinking of adding a runner to our entry stairs and these cotton ones from Dash & Albert might work.



There are also some jute runners from Company Store that may be an option, too. Jute would likely wear better in a heavy-traffic area.