Yes, it’s yet another rambling rug post. What can I say- our old hardwood floors give us splinters (remember this episode when I got one in the badonkadonk while painting?). And rugs are definitely great building blocks for a room – so we lean towards introducing them on the early end whenever possible. And after dragging the ol’ 5 x 8′ yellow rug back out from the guest room for Clara to play on until we got a more appropriate sized rug for large & in charge Karl the Sectional, we finally found something that made us excited enough to whip out our credit card. Yup, we ordered this amazingly textured & bright rug for our living room from The O (yes I mean Overstock – I try to support those strange marketing campaigns where brands like Radio Shack try to relabel themselves as The Shack).
It’s cushy and bold and happy-go-lucky and supersized (just like Big Karl). And it’s family friendly thanks to pure wool materials and the nice soft surface that it’ll create for crawling and sprawling out. The description actually cracks me up. Here’s part of it verbatim: “Trip out on pure, green hand-spun felted New Zealand wool.” Hilarious. We can’t wait to trip out on it. Plus the 5 star reviews about everything from how great the color is to how plush the shag texture is had me at hello (each tuft is apparently as thick as a crayon or a stalk of celery- yes please).
At $424.99 it’s not cheap. At all. At least by our standards. But most things that we hunted down in that large of a size (it’s 8 x 11′) in pure super-thick wool (which is always what we prefer in a casual used-all-the-time living room for reasons of softness, quality, and no nasty off-gassing) were usually in the $600-$1200 range. Like this similar shag from West Elm that’s smaller for $700. So something in the low 400’s with $2.95 shipping (can’t beat Overstock shipping) was actually pretty appealing. Especially since we recently sold our slipcovered sofa from our last living room on craigslist for $600. Our grand total for El Rug came to $427.95.
In the end we just didn’t want to spend $300 on a cheaper rug that we felt “meh” about instead of investing a bit more into something we’d – fingers crossed – love and use for a long time (the color seems like the perfect balance of brightness without being too light and stain-show-off-y). Plus we’re still embarrassingly giddy to have snagged an 8 x 10′ jute rug for the bedroom at under $250 so that sort of created a little imaginary rug credit towards this one in our heads. Psst- Weird. The O must have just raised the price. Here’s a link to the rug now on sale for $499.99, but you can see from our screengrab below that it was $424.99 when we ordered it.
Now for the cleaning plan. Because we’re so not into high maintenance rugs. A friend of mine with three kids and a (giant) dog has a similar shaggy wool rug and she swears it holds up to stains and kiddos like nobody’s business. Crumbs, dirt, and dust supposedly come out with a quick vacuum so that’s definitely doable. And apparently you can subtly trim the long hairy tufts to “lift” a stain if anything catastrophic – like grape juice – happens. And it’s seemingly impossible to detect because I’ve stared at hers in search of the trimmed parts and can’t ever find anything.
As for how we chose the size, we just used green painters tape to tape out the dimensions on the floor of our 25 x 15′ living room to make sure it worked (should’ve snapped a pic of that- boo). And as for the color choice, it just felt like our dark sectional, pewter walls, and gray beams needed a nice bright rug to take the room for Cold Gray City to a Warmer And More Fun City. But we didn’t want something too light that would show off every “oops” moment that’s sure to occur over the next decade plus (thanks to one baby, one dog, and dreams of at least one more wee one of the human kind in a few years).
Now before we get any further I must declare that we’ll probably forever miss our too-small-for-the-sectional Favorite Rug Ever In The History Of The Universe (our old Moorish Tile Rug from Pottery Barn). Gray and yellow is such a sweet combination. We looked for other yellow rugs but they all seemed too thin or too light (or too expensive, therefore too precious for use) and we feared they just wouldn’t hold up to all that impending abuse.
But Old Yeller isn’t dying or anything. Because I totally couldn’t take that. Seriously. I love that rug like family. It’ll just be found hanging out in the guest room where it’s much more appropriately sized (a 5 x 8′ rug paired with a giant sectional like Karl in a cavernous 25′ long room just isn’t the best solution). Anyway, we can’t wait to meet Señor Shag-o when he arrives. Overstock is famous for fast shipping so we hope to share pics in a jiffy (wow, even typing that made me feel like my mom, who also says things like neato and dungarees).
Anyway, now that we have our living room rug pinned down (which will tie into our $5 art) we can start thinking about curtains and lamps for the console table that we’re planning to build for behind Karl. Plenty of light & dark gray + bold color + lots of texture + some pattern sounds like a good time to us. Have you guys ordered from The O lately?
Jessica says
Off topic, but Sherry what are your thoughts on spray painting wrought iron furniture? I found the cutest outdoor bistro set for our balcony but I would love to paint it white. Any tips?
Here it is:
http://www.target.com/Outdoor-Patio-Piazza-Wrought-Bistro/dp/B003YYVDMI/ref=br_1_4?ie=UTF8&id=Outdoor%20Patio%20Piazza%20Wrought%20Bistro&node=10963111&searchSize=30&searchView=grid5&searchPage=2&sr=1-4&qid=1300195658&rh=&searchBinNameList=material_type%2Cprice%2Ccollection_name-bin%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin&searchRank=pmrank&frombrowse=1
YoungHouseLove says
That’s perfect for white glossy spray paint! Just get high quality stuff (I like the $6-7 Rustoleum stuff with the trigger pull) and apply thin and even coats with drying time between them. And be sure to always keep the can moving and far enough away (around 8″) as you spray to avoid drips. If the metal is rough feeling it should stick to it really well without primer, but if it’s super glossy you might want to use some Kilz spray primer first. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jessica says
Thank you so much Sherry! I’m off to test out my spray painting skills on a lantern from Ikea that I mistakenly bought in green instead of white. Of course, I will use a fake candle inside! If that goes well, I’ll be pumped to tackle the bistro set.
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck!
xo,
s
Pauline says
How can you tell a rug you buy online is a good quality one? I’m currently toying with the idea of buying rug that’s 100% wool, that’s on sale and has free shipping (how can you beat that!)
This is my first big online purchase, I’m not sure how you tell if the rug is a good one? Any hints to be found in the details of the rug? No reviews which would have been very helpful.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Things like how it feels (density, softness, etc) can help! Also thickness or how the corners look (if they’re not ratty but bound well, etc) are good tip-offs. You mentioned there were no reviews, but that’s one of the things I usually rely on a lot. I don’t think I would have ordered this rug at all had it not have been for the 5 star reviews! I generally depend on them a ton when it comes to ordering things online (overstock has a bunch of them for almost everything they sell) since they can make or break the case. So if five people say “it looks even more awesome and expensive that I thought” that’s a good sign. But if five people say “the quality just isn’t there” I move on to something else. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Oh No!!!! I almost bought a rug just like this from a local store called Arhaus (gorgeous stuff!) but the sales associate warned me not to b/c it’s almost impossible to vaccum. Yikes. What do you plan to do for cleaning it?
Good luck!
Sarah
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
All the reviews said it was easy to vacuum and it held up great with kids and dogs so we’re psyched. We’ve also heard from a friend of ours that not only is vacuuming good for getting crumbs and dirt out of wool shag rugs, there’s even an easy way to get major stains out (we mentioned those details in the post, so feel free to read it for more info). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Beth says
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Sherri-Lime-Green-Bonded-Leather-Chair/5036228/product.html
Love the name on this one!! Part of overstock’s st. patty’s day sale. everything green seems to be on sale:)!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, love it!
xo,
s
Brandy says
MY INITIALS ARE BRS. Always have to make sure the “R” is in there. =/
Rebekah C says
Your napkin is on sale at Crate and Barrel outlet! Stock up! Buys lots! Make pillow covers!
YoungHouseLove says
Woot! Love it. I should just but 100 to be safe.
xo,
s
Jayne Mercer says
How about adding some decorative images or parts of to the coloured card. You simply peel of the backing and rub the on. They’re meant for walls etc but work on paper too. You could even add them to the glass on the front and get more of a 3D look. They’re easy to remove from walls and glass when you’ve had enough of them.
There’s some great ones at Stampin’ Up! They come in
different colours and sizes.
Their catalogue is here: http://204.228.150.61/catalogs/flash/en-US/2010-2011/definitely/index.html
Jayne
RLynn says
I just realized that the green color of this carpet is very similar to the green color desired by Sherry for the dining room chairs.That would be a great tie in from one room to the other.
Why does John always wear a cap inside when he is working on house things?
YoungHouseLove says
Very true! We’d love chairs this color in there. As for John’s hat wearing, it’s probably because his hair is crazy and he’s trying to tame it. Haha.
xo,
s
sonya says
I have a “green” rug (as in enviro-friendly,not color, haha!) cleaning idea for your wool rug. This is what my interior design teacher does because she is very green and doesn’t like to dry clean. When it snows, she takes her rug outside and lets some snow collect on top (not a lot, just maybe a 1/4 inch). Because the wool does not readily absorb water, the moisture will not soak it and the cold will naturally kill any germs. She then hangs the rug on a clothesline and beats it (probably with a baseball bat or something of that nature) to expel dirt and dust. This naturally freshens and cleans the rug! I had never heard this before and thought it was pretty genius. Of course, you have to live in an area where it snows, but if it snows even once, then you have your once a year rug cleaning solution!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s kind of amazing. Thanks so much for sharing!
xo,
s
lauren says
I love the rug…Im pretty obsessed with that color too…its chartruese-y!
Is it considered Jute? or shag? Id love to find something similar for our bedroom, as it matches our comforter..but likely dont need something that big.
Also, I love what you two do, and love the fact that you are making a living re-doing your own house….a girl can dream.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s a wool shag rug. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Renee says
I own this exact rug in this exact color and love it.
It is actually in my 21 month old sons bedroom.
It does shed. No matter how many times you vacuum it.
It sheds A LOT and has since the day we bought it 2 years ago. But it is still an awesome rug and feels oh so awesome under your feet.
ENJOY!
mominco says
We moved to a new city and a new house,we went rug shopping as all the furniture was sliding on the beautiful new hardwood floors…after a long hunt we found some very nice INEXPENSIVE ones at …of all places…Home depot.I really wanted a good looking cheapo one ,the size was 12 feet by 14 feet for $300 bucks + had a 10% off coupon….I get tired of seeing the same area rug year after year ,I have kept my family room rugs for about 5 years.At that price it so justifies getting a new one without the guilt attached to it.:-) So next time anyone needs rugs don’t forget to check there.
Suzanne says
I am dying to hear how the rug is holding up so far. I had a very similar looking shag rug from Pottery Barn and was warned that it would shed, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount of wool that was everywhere in my house. We vacuumed and swiffered constantly, but it was just a big hot mess. After 3 months I gave up and took it back to PB. They accepted my return no questions asked. Loved the look of the rug, but with two small kids and a dog, I just didn’t have time for all the maintenance. Please post a follow-up on this (sorry if I missed it) but I’m going to jump on this rug if you give it the thumbs up. Please & Thanks! (PS Clara is a doll!)
YoungHouseLove says
So far it’s been great. We vacuumed it twice after getting it and don’t have much fuzz going on about 5 days later. We usually vacuum once a week, so it seems like it’ll fit into that plan. But of course we’ll let you know if something crazy happens and all that changes! So far, so good though!
xo,
s
Suzanne says
That’s great news! You would know if you were in shedding-terror mode, trust me! Mine started Day 1 and never let up. YAY!! So happy to hear that you have been spared… you would really have hated pulling rug fuzzies out of Clara’s eyelashes… and mouth… etc. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah that would have been a nightmare! So sorry you had so much trouble with yours, but I’m glad they took it back without any questions!
xo,
s
orangesugar says
Does this rug shed like crazy? I have heard that about felted wool rugs. I love the way they look but I already have two huskies so I don’t need any more hair floating around.
orangesugar says
Didn’t read the comments before I posted my question.
YoungHouseLove says
No worries! So far it’s awesome. We vacuumed it twice when we got it which seemed to help.
xo,
s
aaroohii says
your rug looks exactly like the nimbus rug and not the majesta rug from O! please make sure u got the right one. http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hand-woven-Nimbus-Lime-Green-Wool-Rug-8×10/5323157/product.html?rcmndsrc=2
YoungHouseLove says
They do look very much the same, Aaroohii. We definitely ordered the Majesta one.
-John
Kate says
While hunting for an area rug similar to this but maybe a little smaller, I noticed The O is sold out of this rug. You must have inspired a lot of people to go bold in their area rug choices!
Mel says
Hi There! Not sure if you have a moment for a quick question. Is it too much to have a rug with a pattern and curtains with a pattern? I think that could be too much pattern but wanted to get your opinion. Thanks! Love your blog!
YoungHouseLove says
As long as one of them “falls back” (for example, if one has a lighter more subtle tone on tone pattern or one is much more large scale and bold while the other one is smaller scale) it can look amazing. Good luck!
xo,
s
Miami Mom says
Hi there, I was wondering if you have had any issues when vacuuming? I love the feel of a shag, but I thought that all those individuals tufts might just get suctioned into the vacuum? Does the vacuum just roll right over it?
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully it’s one of our easier rugs when it comes to shedding (other wool ones we own actually shedded more) but we do vacuum it about once a week and it’s simple. The vacuum goes right over and floofs everything nicely (that’s a technical term). Our vacuum doesn’t have a beater-bar which apparently is good (the tag on our rug warned that it could damage the rug over time to use one with a beater bar) so it seems to work really well. Hope it helps!
xo,
s