Yup, that’s how I’d describe our new living room rug. We have a case of happy feet. It’s even more plush and amazing than expected. But before we get to all the juicy rug pics we need to tell you guys how much we love you. The overwhelming support, kindness, and hilarity that you bring into our lives – not only on this morning’s big announcement post, but on the regular – is humbling, inspiring, and completely and utterly amazing. So smooch. I just virtually kissed your face. Oh snap.
Now back to Big Green (since it is St. Patrick’s Day)…
Although it’s so thick that you’d think tumbleweeds of green fuzz would be rolling around the house, we vacuumed it when it arrived and again the next day (just to grab any of those loose fibers that might have pulled out from shipping) and so far so good. No issues with green fluff everywhere or pulled tufts from the vacuum suction. Whew.
At 8 x 11′, it’s definitely a more appropriate size for our giant 25 x 15′ living room (as opposed to our old 5 x 8′ rug that now lives in the guest room). And once we build a big long console table for the back of the sofa (and the sofa comes forward about a foot more onto the rug) it’ll look even more proportionate. In other words, not quite as much rug will show since the sofa will move forward on the rug for a more balanced look once we have that console table built.
And of course once we upgrade to a deeper/bigger media cabinet, hang curtains, and bring in more art, the room will hopefully start to feel more cohesive and make a lot more sense. Because right now it’s just a big gray box with a fuzzy green rectangle on the floor. Haha. But it’ll be fun to see how thing evolve as we layer in all sorts of other stuff over time. Hopefully it’ll fill in nicely. Just think of the rug as a big furry grass-like foundation that we’re laying- er, planting.
Speaking of the fun green color, we’re so psyched about the happy-go-lucky tone. It’s just perfect with the gray sectional, pewter walls, and dark beams. All of a sudden it feels chipper and a lot less cold in there. Like a space that we want to kick off our shoes and settle into. It’s definitely not your mother’s persian rug (or your father’s neutral one) but we’re having a lot more fun taking risks in this house. Even if it means doing things that might not have mass appeal – as long as something speaks strongly to us, we’re in. There’s actually freedom in letting go of the notion that your house should please everyone who walks in the door. It allows you be more true to yourself and your place starts to feel more special. Plus it means that your rooms won’t be in danger of looking like everyone else’s, which isn’t a bad thing either.
We loooved our first house for how soothing and serene it was, but in all honesty, we smile bigger here. Cheesy but true. It’s just such a fun and happy house – even though we’re just getting started and every room is about 80% incomplete. We definitely think Clara has inspired this whole Benjamin Button-ization of our style (read more about that here). Basically we’re loving the looser and less serious approach to making this house a home – and we’re quickly learning that playful pops of color, texture, and pattern can definitely happy up any room. Especially when mixed with neutrals like gray walls/furnishings/beams or white furnishings & a jute rug. Because if everything is a color and a pattern it might get cray-zay.
To tie into this big furry rug baby we’d love to add eight green parson’s chairs to our giant wooden dining room table for some nice whole house cohesion (there’s that “neutral + color = love” combination again). We’ll find those perfect chairs someday…
Oh and when it comes to keeping Kermit clean (we’re loving that reader recommended rug name – don’t Karl & Kermit sound perfect together?), as we mentioned in the post about ordering it, a friend of ours with three kiddos and a big hairy dog has a similar shag rug in her house and she swears it holds up to stains and kids like nobody’s business since crumbs/dust come out with a quick vacuum and you can actually subtly trim the long hairy tufts if anything catastrophic happens to “lift” the stain. So far it’s been amazing (but we obviously haven’t dropped anything major on it yet) so we’ll tell you the truth if we hate it in a month.
You might also notice some new pillows on Karl. We got two of those ruffled purple guys for $16 at HomeGoods. We also brought in our two green pillows from the bedroom just to see how something like that might work with the rug (we think they’re a little too yellow, but not terrible), and tossed three Sue The Napkins over other pillows that we had lying around to see what real Sue The Napkin pillow covers might look like when I get down to business and sew some. The pillow situation will definitely evolve over time though (I love those teal tones in Sue, so blue pillows might make an appearance someday, perhaps in lieu of green ones).
But back to the purple ruffle pillows for a second. The ruffle detail is really fun, but isn’t it amazing that John didn’t veto them? He’s usually so not on The Ruffle Train. I think he likes the idea of spicing things up with bright colors like navy and plum and deep teal so he just did one of those “sure, why not?” things. Love that man. Or maybe he’s just finally catching on that a happy wife = a happy life. Haha.
Now we just have to plan our big console table build because we can’t wait to see Karl scooched out (that’s a technical term) about a foot away from the wall. A little less rug should look perfect, plus it means there will finally be a place to put drinks (namely my hot tea every night) and two table lamps for reading (which means no more floor lamp in the doorway). Yipppppeeeeeeeeee! Yes I just wrote that. And yes it has ten “e”s on the end. Can you tell I’m excited? Oh yeah and Karl’s embarrassingly pale legs have got to go. So creepy.
She whips her cellphone back and forth. She whips her cellphone back and forth.
Psst- John’s parents just gave us their old leggy antique dresser which is perfect for our bedroom (it’s been in the family for years and John’s dad actually bought it from a cousin for $100 decades ago). It needs some love but it’s going to look awesome. And it’s f-r-e-e. More pics soon (you can see a “they-scooped-us” pic of it here thanks to the Washington Post).
natalie says
hey y’all! i just recently started following your blog – charlottesvillians love it and so do i!
you mentioned today you were going to hang some art…. in the spirit of color and supporting local arts, you might be interested in:
http://johnhetzel.com/index.php?cat=1301012091377701&z_Gallery_ID=1290502101789139&listofgall=
(www.johnhetzel.com and click ‘freestyle’)
disclaimer: john is my husband, and of all his works, i think these abstract are brillant! once you see them in person, they really let your eye dance all around and the patterns and colors seem to always be changing.
anyhoo, keep on keepin – and i’ll keep on checking in! thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
GORGEOUS! What a talented hubby you have! We definitely plan to build up our art collection over time and love his stuff. Thanks so much for the link!
xo,
s
Bethany says
Not to sound creepy, but my feet want your rug. Wish I could buy one. That close-up picture of plushy fuzziness was almost too much for me, but I don’t have anywhere to put a rug that size. So sad. Anyway, I love it, you guys …. looks like such a comfy place to relax. :)
Kayla says
Guys, please tell us….how do you hide ugly stuff like heat vents, smoke detectors, thermostats? I never notice them in your pictures, so either your house doesn’t have them, which is impossible, or you hide them flawlessly. Please spill! Do you photoshop them out, that just doesn’t sound like you guys and your keep it real attitude!
YoungHouseLove says
We so don’t hide them, haha! The living room has vents in the floor so you don’t see them as much (one is under the media cabinet and one is under the window for example) and our smoke detector is in the hallway and our thermostat is in the other hallway. But they’re definitely here and we’re happy to have them! Function first. Then pretty rooms. Hah. But you can see a big heating vent in our bathroom post (about 4-5 posts back) in that last pic. Right smack under the window and visible from the hall. Can’t win ’em all. Haha.
xo,
s
Caroline says
This post cracked me UP! Particularly the plate on the ground, Clara’s complete and utter cuteness and Sherry’s reference to Willow Smith at the end. Love it.
Casey says
Love that rug, I’ve seen a similar one in our local Ashley furniture store and it was soo fun! I’ve also found some rust-y red bathmats in that same texture, which I’m thinking of using as doormats by my front door and by my deck door. So honest to goodness here…do they catch much dust/dirt/hair/etc? And if they do, does vacuuming easily pick that stuff up? Lastly, have you ever used bathmats outside of the bathroom? Is that a decor no-no?
Thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
So far so good with the rug! We can easily vacuum up crumbs or hair (with a baby and a dog we’re happy to have it!) but we’ll keep you posted if our feelings for Kermit change! As for bathmats outside of a bathroom, I just worry they’ll slip around and look like bathmats. But if you find some that stay put and look like little rugs it could work!
xo,
s
lauren l says
I think people post their reviews when they get the prompt from Overstock, which is to say right after they get the item. I’ve had the rug for over a year now. Best advice I can give is to not use beaters on your vac, often they can be turned off.
loving your blog,
lauren
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the advice, Lauren. Our vac actually doesn’t have beaters which hopefully means it’ll work well on the rug. Really appreciate the follow-up!
-John
karen says
Looks so comfy!
Oh man…i had a look at the other photo’s and #10 makes me gitty!!!! The photo’s from the Washington Post really do justice.
Karla says
I am sooooooo thrilled for you re the whole washington post spread!!!! Kermit is looking spectacular and I am hanging to see your console behaind the lounge!!!
When you’ve mentioned the console before I envisioned it to be on the side of Karl (near the white table), not behind him against the wall!!!!
We’re currently building a new home and I don’t want a huge coffee table in our lounge room but had been wondering what to do….. I just may have to steal your behind the lounge idea. Is that terrible?
YoungHouseLove says
Not terrible at all. That’s what we’re here for!
-John
Chris @ Foible and Folly says
Yeah, the rug is nice and all, but is it creepy that I thought Clara’s tongue wriggling was the best part? :)
Kelley says
The rug kinda makes me think of a line from the movie Dispicable Me where the little girl says “ITS SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!” if you haven’t seen it, you should!!
Ange says
Love it! Loving your new more colourful Casa. I was so happy to see Sue Napkin Pillow covers. I noticed you said “sew”. Sherry, I know you are also a fan of the no-sew society, so did you see a post over at CentsationalGirl? ‘No Sew Pillow Covers from Napkins’ http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/03/no-sew-cloth-napkin-pillow-covers/ Thought you might like! PS-Congrats on the book deal, Nate quote, being scooped etc. All very exciting!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! That blog rocks.
xo,
s
Kayla says
I’m embarassing. I just keep commenting. Oh well. I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with for a console table. We have a similarly shaped sectional that is huge and our giant ottoman helps, but isn’t always convenient for drinks, etc. We NEED a console table. Soooo looking forward to it!
Ange says
OMG! Scooped for sure! Just checked out pics from paper article, love, love, love gallery wall!
r8chel says
The rug coordinates nicely with your wall art, pillows, etc., but it has a bit too much of the dorm-room-carpet vibe for me. But… I’m glad that you chose what YOU would love, not what *I* would love! It looks great! :)
Blanca A. says
wow, that is gorge!! so much color, yet they go together so well :) love, love, love!! I keep hearing you guys are going to build a console for the back of the sofa, and i assume it’s for the back of the sofa that is up against the wall, sooo why don’t you guys just get/build a long floating shelf since you won’t be able to use the storage below? I mean you could but you’d be moving the couch around a lot. just a thought… :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve definitely thought of the floating shelf route, Blanca, but we’re thinking if we built it ourselves we might actually be able to craft some ways to make usable storage space somewhere – like bookshelves on the end, for instance. We’ll see where we end up once I actually get around to building it!
-John
katrina says
i like your blog, but every day about 70% of your pictures don’t load properly. they load a quarter of the way and stop. i haven’t had any problems with any other sites or blogs (and i read a lot!). just thought i’d mention it.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no – that’s not cool, Katrina! Has anyone else been having the issue? It’s the first we’ve heard of it.
-John
Jenski says
I love your house. I only hope I can convince my bf that “natural” and “wood” doesn’t mean zero color. And I love Clara’s tongue in that video! :-)
MeliseH says
I can’t decide what I like better about this post. That amazing rug I just HAVE to have now or that adorable little nugget playing with that phone! :)
Bethany Annechino says
I can’t decide if the best thing about that rug is the likelihood of multiple toegasms or how well it seems to match the green in Sue! Kudos!
Diana says
Oh my gosh – I think you just saved us a cool grand… I’ve been eyeing this rug http://www.capelrugs.com/pebbles-oatmeal-rugs at Capel forever but I think your rug might do the trick. I hope you still love it months from now because I think I might end up getting this one on Overstock too!!
Meagan says
We have been shopping for perfect Parson chairs too. Believe it or not, Target has a huge selection online. I am almost certain they have green. We ordered some in pattern and they are great quality!
Jane says
it is all so beautiful! I’m in awe. I had brighter colors in our last house and now our new house that we purchased in the fall (new to us..house is 1947) is going to be soothing colors. I think it is just fun to switch it up once in awhile.
My cats would love your carpet. I can see it now…when they feel the need to throw up, they’d make a b-line right for the rug. :)
grace hester designs says
OK so the living room looks nice and all but I can’t get over how cuuuuuute Clara is! I don’t even know her and I had this big smile on my face watching that video. Thanks for sharing!
Jana says
Congrats on the Post article and the upcoming book guys!! I love that you took a risk with the rug. I looks perfect and cozy in that space.
I really like this quote: “There’s actually freedom in letting go of the notion that your house should please everyone who walks in the door.” I recently realized that I was playing it safe in my design and not really being me, for that very reason. Seeing the wonderful color in your house made me wonder why mine is a sea of beige when I love color too! So I have been enjoying your tutorials on how to find a personal style, and am looking forward to making some curtains and doing other things to add color. Thanks guys and keep up the good work, by just being you! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Great quote, Jana! Thanks for sharing and for your kind words. Have fun finding color in your house too!
-John
Jana says
P.S. – The quote is from your blog entry. I realized that I didn’t make that clear. ;) Gotta give proper credit!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, there John goes proving he didn’t read my post yet! Thanks for setting him straight Jana! Haha.
xo,
s
Melissa says
Aw… I’m sad to think of some of that rug getting hidden away. How come it would get further hidden under the couch rather than get pulled out the same amount as the couch?
And like most others I adore the colour and tuft size of the rug. It’s lovely and I would like to touch it. Disturbing? yeah, I think so too.. I’ll go now.
YoungHouseLove says
We think if the rug gets pulled out anymore it will start to encroach on the TV table and disturb the nice little walkway between the two we’ve got going on right now. Not usually the biggest deal, but since we (including Burger) go that way to access the back door to the patio, it’s nice to be able to walk back inside without having to worry about tracking things in on a rug.
-John
Ana Silva says
Everything is looking great!
Abercrombie Wife says
Hey, I noticed that in the overhead shot of Karl that the short side cushions don’t seem as “comfy” looking. They look like they are never sat on. Since I am considering buying ole Karl I am curious. Are the cushions on that side just nit sat on as often?
YoungHouseLove says
If you’re talking about the sides of Karl, they’re not cushions – they’re firm upholstered arms. So they aren’t naturally comfy to lean against, I guess. That’s why we’ve got some throw pillows to add some cushion when you’re sitting next to them.
-John
Abercrombie Wife says
No I was talking about the other side of the couch. I don’t know if you looked at the picture, but the side with the chaise the cushions are more rounded on the edge and these look more squared on the edge. They just look like brand new cushions as the other look more of like you have lived on them a little longer. i realize that this may not make any sense to you.
YoungHouseLove says
Sure, it could totally be that some look a little more broken in since we use the chaise and the back side of the sectional more than the side that’s parallel to the chaise. Maybe it’s that! We hope when we have more big groups over we’ll break Karl in all over though. Haha. Hope he’s not mad…
xo,
s
Allykristine says
I had to wait till I got home from work to watch Clara’s video. Sooo cute! She changes her expressions on a dime! I love it :)
Her little shirt “HOOT HOOT I’M CUTE” is adorable :)
The HOOT part triggered a funny memory from long ago…we were in our 20’s, and a friend was getting married. It was Bachelorette night, and we got her all dolled up. She wasn’t very well “endowed”, so we concocted some fake ta-ta’s out of pantyhose and paper towels, and then put a sign on her that read:
“Buy me a Shooter, and I’ll show you my Hooters!”
(Man, I hope the same fate doesn’t await your sweet innocent little Clara :)
xox
Samantha says
I LOOOOOVE IT!! Looks amazing guys!
Missy says
I would like to see an entire post dedicated to Clara’s antics. 44 seconds was not enough of that adorable child!! :)
Lori @ Richmond, BABY! says
The room is really coming together. Love it!!!
Amy says
I love that you’re starting to add layers now! It’s looking good! And Clara’s little tongue in that video is so cute!!
Selina says
What happened to your teal green chandelier that you painted?
YoungHouseLove says
It was casting a weird blue tint on that corner of the room in photos, so we had to wipe it off. Only took a few seconds with a wet rag though. Whew.
xo,
s
Samantha says
P.S. Sherry, check out this no-sew option to make napkins into pillowcases!
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/03/no-sew-cloth-napkin-pillow-covers/
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo,
s
amymargaretc says
Love love love the rug!
Congrats on the Washington Post and the book :)
My husband is slowly getting used to me saying, “so, on young house love today…” or “when young house love renovated their bathroom…”
Thanks so much for the help & inspiration!
RobbieLee at Chickiedee says
That rug does look like toe heaven, indeed. I love the colors and the feel of that room!
Danielle D. says
LOVIN’ the Sue the Napkin pillows! You should definately get those made into real pillows sometime soon and maybe deep teal pillows along with the purple ruffle ones. Those two deep colors and that print would go to together beautifully!
Also, I see that you mentioned a new dresser in your possession…I was watching the Nate Berkus Show Tuesday (recording all them now after seeing how brilliant he is) and he remade a dresser into a kitchen island by putting a paper towel holder on one side and hoooks for ladles, kitchen utensils, etc on the other. He then reccomended to finish it off with a stone countertop of some sort. Perfect with those drawers for added storage!!
Have you guys thought about doing this for your new kitchen since it has more space than the last one?
http://www.thenateshow.com/photos/print/shop-your-house-no-money-makeovers/?layout=print
(3rd picture down on the link)
YoungHouseLove says
That Nate is a genius! Love it. We actually do plan to create a big island in our kitchen once we open that wall between the kitch and the dining room. Can’t wait!
xo,
s
Cristina says
How funny watching Clara at 0:27, she goes from hilariuos to serious in one second.. lol!!
The rug is super, and it looks so soft!
(I like the fact that in your new house you are going colors ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I know right? She’s such a drama queen! Haha.
xo,
s
Kel says
I’m loving the rug. You guys have great style!
lauren says
wow! This room is coming so nicely together! I was pretty worried at first and really not a big fan because of how dark the couch was, then how grey the walls were… but now that all this color has been introduced, I’m a BIG fan! I love that you guys share the entire process with us. So cool. :)
Hayley says
John, Shery, I love your blog. I LOVE the rug. But please stop naming everything, it’s getting a little irritating :)
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry if we’re annoying! Haha. We figure there are probably lots of things about us that might irritate blog readers (ex: I’m obsessed with ceramic animals, my hair is always in a ponytail, we can’t stop talking about a napkin, we’re also obsessed with our daughter and our pooch, we call our sofa Karl and our bed Ed, etc) but that’s just who we are! When we started this whole blog thing we did it for us (no one else was reading it for about 100 posts anyway, haha) so even though we’re nerds we like to just have fun and not take things too seriously – which might mean calling our green shaggy rug Kermit. Hope ya understand!
xo,
s
Jennie says
Loving the names – we do it too :)
We even named our Roomba … yup, it’s that serious.
jessica says
amazing how much the last picture in this post looks like the inspirational napkin!
Sera says
Stupidly good looking rug!! Inspiring stuff Youngsters…..again :-)
rhonda says
Don’t know if anyone has led you to Censational Girl’s blog but I thought you’d like to see how she made beautiful napkins into gorgeous pillow covers -without sewing! She used your fav – fusible web.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! Love that post and her whole blog for that matter!
xo,
s
Kelley says
You hit the nail on the head when you said, “There’s actually freedom in letting go of the notion that your house should please everyone who walks in the door. It allows you be more true to yourself and your place starts to feel more special.”
I’ve been struggling with this with my mom whose style is VERY traditional while I lean toward a mix of modern and vintage. She tends to look at my new designs and give me the “hmmm, not so sure about this” vibe and it’s so frustrating.
I’m slowly trying to ignore that and just surge forward with MY visions knowing that if me and the hubs love our house, then that’s all that really matters.
Keep up the fabo work and I’m loving Kermit. Glad to hear he’s easy to vacuum. I’ve always wondered if that was an easy or hard task on that kind of rug.
jenny says
I LOVE this rug (and it looks so stinkin’ soft)!
I have a question for you that is entirely unrelated to this post, though (sorry). A while back you linked to a baby boy’s room that had old barnwood in it, and I can’t find it anywhere on this site anymore. My husband and I just became adoptive parents (as in, 2 days ago), and we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare (ie 75 hours from the time we found out our adoptive profile was being viewed to the time we had the newborn baby in our arms…usually you wait for months and months!). I’d love to base Little Guy’s room on the baby room I saw here (I think). Can you help me? (Again, I apologize for the randomness of this post.)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- congrats! What an exciting and amazing time. That’s actually Katie Bower’s son Will’s old nursery. She’s the coolest chick ever. Here’s her post about that room: http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2010/09/nursery-reveal/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s (& j)
Jill says
I just LOVE you guys! I come here every day, more than once in fact. You deserve all the success (and happiness) in the world! I can’t wait to see the evolution of your home over time and enjoy your witty commentary. Yay, YHL!!
Shannon says
LOVE the rug!!! I’ve been looking for a great rug for our new aqua, lime and teal living room. That one would fit right in! I’m really like all the pops of colour in the new place, loved the old place too. But the colour is so cheerful. Congrats on the Post feature too.
XO
Shannon
Steph Stimson says
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Don’t you just love it when a plan starts coming together? ;)
Clara gave me the much needed giggles this morning with her short video…love the tongue.
Laura says
The rug looks awesome. Loving the color!!! Can’t wait for the gallery display reveal in the hallway! I spied pics from The Post and looked absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!! Super pumped!