Archive for March, 2011
Bedroom Rug Hunting
Short story: we bought a bedroom rug!
Now for the long story. Because we’re nothing if not wordy and over explain-y. We’ve known that our giant master bedroom was in need of a nice big rug to anchor some of the more showstopping pieces, like big ol’ Ed the Bed and our New Year’s Eve ball-esque pendant light from Ikea. And a piddly little 4 x 6′ rug at the foot of the bed with two faux sheepskins on either side of the bed just weren’t doing it for us anymore. Maybe to some people a 16 x 16′ bedroom (which is actually 16 x 21′ if you include the sink nook) isn’t even that big. But to us it’s straight up gargantuan since our last one was just 11 x 12′ box with a tiny closet with no attached bathroom. Speaking of that room, it sported a 6 x 9′ jute rug:
So we knew that our new bedroom would call for at least an 8 x 10. Just to be sure we taped things out on the floor with painters tape (such a good way to visualize rug size before pulling the trigger and buying anything) and agreed that an 8 x 10′ would indeed do the trick. We’re actually planning to place it horizontally under the bed, but we’ll explain more about that in our next post.
But back to the rug hunt. With our sights set on a size, the discussion then turned to what type of rug we wanted. We’re huge fans of natural materials when it comes to rugs (which don’t stink/off-gas, and are naturally durable and usually pretty easy to keep clean). So we pretty quickly narrowed things down to two options: a big white shaggy wool rug (kinda like a giant faux sheepskin) or a nice natural jute rug (of the softer braided varieties). And after a lot of staring at the bedroom and squinting, we decided that both for easy-care and design reasons we were really excited to go for something jute. We had a bunch of them in our last house (still have the big one that was under our bed in our current sunroom and the two that used to live in the old kitchen and third bedroom stacked at the foot of our bed looking too small). We’re fans. They’re so durable and easy to keep clean (even with a dog and a baby). We just shake them out or vacuum every once in a while, and their coloring and natural fibers just seem to hide dirt and even repel stains, thanks to the straw-like material.
Plus jute is notoriously hundreds of dollars cheaper than wool. And you know that kind of thing is definitely a factor for us. And the more we thought about it, the idea of a big white shaggy wool rug sounded nice and plush underfoot, but we worried about stains (anything white that can’t be tossed into the washing machine makes us nervous) and we also thought since Ed the Bed is white that he might pop more when resting on a not-white rug.
Why didn’t we consider something bolder or more patterned? With our loud-ish duvet and a few other not-necessarily-safe choices (like our giant dandelion-ish pendant light, our greeny-yellow curtain panels, and our graphic four-poster-bed) we wanted to allow things like that to be the star, while the rug fell back and worked as a “best supporting actor” of sorts.
Long story short long, we narrowed it down to three surprisingly affordable choices (we’re always thrilled to find 8 x 10 rugs under $350 or so). The first one was from Overstock for $224 with $2.95 shipping:
The second one was from West Elm on sale for $229 with $25 shipping (in “flax”):
And this last one was from Pottery Barn on clearance for $199 plus $25 shipping:
After a lot of deliberation we decided that we were most enamored with the subtle tone-on-tone diamond pattern of the PB one. And it didn’t hurt that the price was the lowest one (although with pricier shipping than Overstock, it pretty much made them even when it came to overall cost). Easy enough right? Decision made.
But then I realized that we have a Pottery Barn in town (not true for West Elm or Overstock) so I called to see if we could pick it up in the store to save shipping (or get it shipped to the store by the site to save that loot). But annoyingly enough it was only listed for that clearance price online and was $249 in stores (still on sale, but not by as much). So there was no way around that shipping fee if wanted the $199 price. Boo.
We decided that in order to save $25 bucks we should just go ahead and order it online (even with the $25 delivery surcharge it came out to $224 and not $249 like the store pick-up price) and that way it would come right to our door instead of having to borrow a bigger car to go get it. But when I got to “online checkout” I saw that unlike buying it at the store, it couldn’t be returned if the color was totally different than what we expected. Which admittedly could be mostly remedied by checking one out in the PB store near us before ordering, but sometimes different “batches” have varied coloring.
But that wasn’t the game changer. This little red sentence was:
Whaaaa? It’s early March. I’ve heard of three weeks of waiting, but three months? That’s a quarter of a year. I’ll probably have at least ten more gray hairs by then. And Clara could be walking. And Burger will be at least 2 dog years older. Plus they had them in stock at the PB store near us (we called and they actually had two). And those are 100% returnable. And there wouldn’t be any shipping costs. Or waiting 3+ months for it.
So we decided that paying $25 more was worth the instant gratification, borrowed John’s sister’s SUV, and drove out to Pottery Barn to make it ours for $249. No shipping and no waiting required. It still felt like a darn good price for a giant 8 x 10 rug, especially considering the original price was upwards of 300 and it has that cool subtle diamond pattern going on that makes it feel a lot more special than the average jute rug.
Now it’s home, half rolled out on the floor. And it’s so soft! Approximately 50 times softer than the one that we used to have in the bedroom. Woot. We also think it all went down the way it was supposed to because we questioned whether the Overstock rug was too orange (you can never tell if it’s their pics or not) or if the West Elm one was too cool looking (it almost looked painted in the pictures) and the PB one is juuust right with our warm wide plank floors now that we’ve got it home. Pics to come!
2, 4, 6, 8, Who Do We Appreciate?
Planning!
And why do we appreciate it? Because we get burned when we don’t do it. At least we did on the frame arrangement we just hung above our sectional.
Here’s the story. We’ve always planned to take the big empty space above Karl and do a grid of large picture frames. We sort of envisioned it as a larger version of the frame grid that we hung above the couch in our old den…
… but instead of 8 x 10″ frames we’d use oversized 20.5 x 20.5″ Ribba frames from Ikea for more impact (since we already own and love four of them – and they’re just $19 a pop).
After some rough math and holding up a couple of the Ribba frames that we already owned, Sherry and I determined that we wanted to do a grid of six frames (two rows of three) to fill the space in the middle of wall, allowing for some empty space on either side for two table lamps that would sit on the future console table that we’ll eventually build to go behind the sectional. Note: we moved the 5 x 8′ Pottery Barn rug into the guest room for my in-law’s stay, and it will eventually live there permanently, we just brought it back into the living room until we upgrade to a bigger rug, since we’re currently guest-less and Clara appreciates having a soft place to play.
Anyway, back to the frames. We went to Ikea, bought six new Ribba frames (they sometimes vary slightly in color, so we figured it would be safest not to mix and match old frames with new ones, and we have a ton of other spots for the four that we already own) and headed home to begin the whole hang-it-up process. But first we made this iPhone video of Clara in Ikea. The girl is hilarious. Look how much fun she had:
Ok, now that you’ve seen the cutest thing that ever happened in the history of the world, we’ll get back to the whole framing thing. When we got home with our six new Ribba frames from Ikea, I suggested that we tape up some paper to figure out how high we want them to hang and how much space to leave between them. After all, we both know these things are worth planning out. And luckily the paper that comes in the frame is almost perfectly sized to help you figure this out. So we started with two sheets to see how high to hang them.
This is where things veered off course (thanks to me, I’ll admit). Sherry suggested that we tape up the other four sheets of paper to make sure we liked how all six looked together. Maybe I was just an eager beaver and wanted to get to drilling. Or maybe I decided we should blow it off because we had already accidentally thrown away one sheet of paper to complete the all-six arrangement. Whatever it was, I reassured Sherry that it would look just fine and we didn’t need to be all paranoid and hang the remaining three sheets to double-check everything. Famous last words.
She believed me (albeit hesitantly), so I started drilling. Insert happy testosterone filled sound effect here (there’s nothing like a little afternoon drilling). It wasn’t a fast process to measure, mark, and double check everything to make sure it was all lining up, so maybe an hour or so later I had five out of six frames hanging on the wall.
That’s when Sherry broke the news that the arrangement wasn’t big enough. We needed eight frames. As much as I hated to admit it (for more than one reason), she was right – the five frames looked too small on the wall (and adding the sixth wasn’t going to help). They floated awkwardly and just didn’t have the impact we wanted.
**I’d insert a picture here of giant Karl sitting awkwardly below those poorly placed frames but I was too pissed/disgruntled/ashamed to snap one.**
This was all my fault. Had I taken the time to tape up all of the sheets of paper we would’ve realized it before I put a single hole in the wall. I even would have taken a picture of the taped-up configuration to show you what a learning process taping them all up on the wall can be, and how grateful we were to have taken the time to complete that first to save a step. Duh, John. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
The next step was to take down the five already-hung frames with a big ol’ sour face and begin re-measuring everything so that eight frames would be centered above the sectional (and on that middle ceiling beam). Then came the not so fun process of not only removing the ten screws that were already in the wall (I was doing two per frame to be safe) but marking, drilling, and screwing in an additional sixteen. And since we already had two old Ribba frames that happened to match – finally, a lucky break – I was able to hang all eight frames in place without another four-hour-round-trip to Ikea, leaving us with this:
We definitely needed all eight frames. They should be just right when we add table lamps on either side of the arrangement after I build an über long console table.
We’re still debating exactly what to put in them (maybe family photos? maybe something more graphic?) but we’re certainly glad to have the whole frame hanging part over with. Even if it involved a lesson learned the hard way. At least it was a mistake that only took time and energy (and a bit of humility) to fix. You know, as opposed to a big wad of cash. Oh and speaking of time and energy, there are still some holes and pencil marks from the first attempt that need patching. Sigh.
Wait, who am I kidding. That’s Sherry’s department. Have fun with that babe.
What about you guys? Surely we can’t be the only ones who’ve made the mistake of not planning well. Or maybe we are. But we’d love to hear some of your stories if you’ve got ‘em. Bad planners unite!
Psst- Speaking of frames, we found a really cool one for displaying kid art (or any art that you like to rotate out without taking it off the wall and removing the back). Check it out over here on BabyCenter.
Fab Freebie: Deco-rating Help
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – look below to see who won!***
The winner of the $300 gift card toward the MyDeco Boutique as selected by random.org is… Beth-BTW (who uses virtual mood boards sometimes, but usually flies by the seat of her pants when it comes to decor planning). Congrats!
This week’s prize comes from mydeco.com, a site that helps you design a space you’ll love in many ways. For starters, they catalog products from hundreds of retailers in one search-able spot. But they go above and beyond too: allowing you to create mood boards, collect your favorite items in online folders, and even virtually decorate your home in 3D using thousands of finishes and materials. Oh, and most importantly this week, they’re helping one of you with $300 (!!) to spend in the mydeco boutique – a hand-picked collection of designer items, like these below:
- PRIZE: A $300 gift card toward the MyDeco Boutique
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “THAT’S MY DECO!” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: … share what techniques you use when planning to decorate a space. Do you rely on some of these tools like mood boards, inspiration folders, or virtual room planners? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants a bit more? (Oh, and we’d love to know what you might spend that $300 on if you were to win too!)
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, March 9th at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
- PRIZE SHIPS: The United States
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday as an update to this post. That’s right, come right back here on Thursday morning for the announcement of our winners. Good luck…
Note: We weren’t paid or perk’d for hosting this giveaway, we just like rewarding our lovely readers! See our Giveaway FAQs page for more info. Pics from mydeco.com.
Channeling Queen Latifah And Jet Li
UPDATE: Woot. Their server seems to be back up and running. So feel free to pop back over and check out your stylish celebrity counterparts.
We’ve got a few projects in progress over here, so until we have something to show for them we thought we’d share this quirky little quiz. And just to be clear, I’m the one channeling Queen Latifah and Sherry’s got Jet Li.
Yep, it’s another scientifically proven quiz that promises to help you pin down your decorating essence (like all of these that have come before it). Though this one scores a few bonus points for being almost entirely visual, which means you get to enjoy some eye candy slash inspiration while it’s diagnosing your brainwaves.
Although not many people would consider this next question’s visuals as “eye candy.” Instead, I like to call this the “Which Village Person are you?” question.
In the end, the results aren’t terribly accurate or helpful, but they’re still fun nonetheless. I was pinned as “Winsome Charm”… which I’m not quite sure what to do with, except maybe take it as a compliment (so… they’re saying I’m charming?).
The best part of the results are by far the celebrities that they believe to be your style equivalents. This is where Queen Latifah comes in for me, along with Tom Hanks and Robert Redford (again, can I take this a compliment?).
Sherry, on the other hand, somehow turned up as “Asian Bauhaus” and got results that claim she likes to “cook grand meals” and is “never clumsy.” Both of which I assure you are hilariously untrue. She also got a list of celebrity comparisons consisting of Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, and Madonna. Which elicited some snort laughs from the wife (which only happen when she’s really really entertained).
Results aside, feel free to have some fun and kill some time taking the quiz yourself. We’d love to hear your results (especially your celebrity equivalents) and how spot on (or far off) they were.
Psst- We weren’t paid or perk’d to share this quiz, we just thought it was thoroughly entertaining. I mean what guy doesn’t LOL when his wife is compared to Chow Yun-Fat?
Dance Party
Seeing as this fun little $22 lamp from HomeGoods is one of our favorite Sue The Napkin colors, which we plan to use as our whole house color inspiration (see them all here) I had to make it mine. It’s really cute in person, but it’s kinda ugly with the paneling behind it. Haha. Sorry ’bout that.
I knew it would look all purty when it’s glowing – and cast lots of fun shadows on the wall. You know, like this:
Except try to imagine it without the soul crushing wood paneling. Slowly but surely we’re working up the energy to tackle the kitchen. Every day that I have to stare at that paneling gets me one day closer to running to the store for primer.
Anyway back to our new lamp and the title of this post. This picture explains it all:
That’s right. My new lamp gives me disco fever. I love it. And it’s Friday. Let’s dance. Off to learn some moves from the adorable Finnish guy who made this How To Disco Dance video:
