Help Donna Select Her Rug

 Hi Christine,

 I "won" a rug from Shaw (an HGTV rug- not any Shaw rug) (long story but in the end it is a single rug) when I entered a facebook contest for HGTV. My first look at the rugs was disappointing as i did not feel the patterns/quality would go in my house.  So while it won't go in my family room, should I consider getting one for my master bedroom or a bedroom that has no furniture other than a twin bed?? You can find the choices at Shaw but it must be one of the HGTV rugs. 

 

Master bedroom is 17 X 15 and I have attached a photo of a room that I have thought for many years was relaxing- reminded me of a bed and breakfast I stayed in.I like the idea of the maps and the coral color but I am open as long as it works in the 4 poster bed and the hickory floors and is animal friendly- like can put in washer or easy to take to dry cleaner=  no silk. I removed the dust ruffle when i replaced the floors but did not want to have another one made until i knew what i was going to do in the room.  Its about 22 or so inches long.

 

Pictures of master are attached- the bed and the floor stay- everything else can go. (even the TV) Walls are SW Khaki Shade but this can be changed.  Only one window so while the room is not flooded with light it works for me- i am sure it would look better or lighten up the room with window treatments. I need the step stools to get into the bed. 

 

The extra bedroom- is 11X12 and is painted Relaxed Khaki.  I have been looking for a daybed set up but everything is too country or too big so i have done nothing. The room gets used maybe 3 times a year.

 

The rest of house - has SW Svelte green in living/dining room, Halycon green in my office, macadamia and other similar colors in kitchen and den.  Grasscloth in entry way- that I really like even though i understand wallpaper is out of style.  Nothing formal or fussy anywhere. 

 

I so admire your creativity and straight talk and would appreciate any guidance you can give even if it is to turn down the "win".

 

i need to tell the Shaw contest reps something before mid January.

 

Thank you big time for your consideration.

 

 

Donna

First things first.  Grass cloth is absolutely NOT out of style.  Enough said.

I looked at all of the rugs.  I can see how you had a hard time.  They are polyester, and you have more of a "wool" caliber home.  They are also more of "transitional/ modern" look, and you are more of a "sophisticated/ traditional" girl.  With that said, you might consider using it in your guest room.  Let me show you a few options that would look good together.

The Ikat Panel rug, I thought would look good with bedding like this:

The Ballad Bouquet

"Rose Tree", I thought was most similar to your inspiration photo.  You will be disappointed to know that I found those two at Neiman Marcus.  For a lower price, you could try Macy's and get Ralph Lauren.   I sometimes like getting even one signature piece of bedding, like the Rose Tree coverlet above, and then you can always purchase the other bedding pieced from less expensive sources.  I don't like "matching sets" anyway. 

Another way to go would be with the more neutral "Patina" rug.  It might be less noticeable that it is an inexpensive rug.

You could put a rug like this with many different bedding styles.

"French Laundry"

"Olivia"

Again, for some less expensive options, you can find nice Martha Stewart Bedding at Macy's. 

OK readers, help Donna out, what rug do you like most?  Let's vote.  You don't have to be limited to the two I selected. If you see others on the Shaw website that you like better, let her know. 

Help Selecting a Rug...

I have a client that found this great photograph above.  We are going to have it made into a painting.  I know a great graphic designer that is also an artist.  She will take the photograph, make it look like a painting on the computer, have it printed on canvass and then add oil paints.  It is much less expensive than a piece of original artwork, but will certainly look like the real deal.  Anyway- I am asking for your help in finding a rug for her.  I have some below- I want to know what your favorites are.  The sofa is a forest green- solid color. 

#1.  Chandra Rug. I loved the colors that some of the new Amy Butler rugs had.  They bring in the forest green, and are so fresh and fun.  What a great statement. 

#2 Poppy Fields by Amy Butler

 #3 Temple Garland by Amy Butler

#4  Stripe Rug.  I wanted to give her a variety of looks as well as prices.  This is made of Derclon.  I am a wool snob myself, but synthetics are looking more and more like wool all the time.  This is also going to be about 1/4 the price. 

# 5 Lyrical Rug.  Here is another less expensive option, this one made of polypropelene. 

#6  This is a vine blue/green tufted wool rug from Dash and Albert.  It falls right in the middle with pricing.

Just a little reminder what that picture looked like...

#7  This is the Coventry Rug by Amy Butler.  I love how it brings in a punch of the gold from the bottom of the photo.  Certanily one of my favorites.

#8-  Just in case I am totally scaring Carey, here is a conservative stripe that would also work just fine.  Also from Dash and Albert.

#9  The Lyrical rug from above came in two colors and both actually work with the color pallet from the photo. 

So- there we go- After hours of searching, these were my favorites.  Anyone out there have a favorite of my favorites?  Have any other rugs to show her that I didn't list here?  We'll select drapery fabric after this that can help to unify everything.

Some Guildance for Viki

Hi Christine,

I need help in the worst way.  I have been trying to figure out what to do with my family room and a friend suggested your website.   I have really enjoyed looking at your website.

Finally after 16 years I have convinced my husband to remove the wallpaper border from our kitchen.  That is where it all started.  We have an open floor plan -- the kitchen and breakfast room is open to our family room. I changed the curtains in the kitchen and want to coordinate the rooms.  So I changed the pillow.  We spent two years looking for the chairs -- he wanted recliners and I wanted oversize chairs with ottomans. 

We found recliners we both love.  But I can't figure out how to arrange my living room and now my walls look bare and boring.  I need advice because I have one shot at my husband to make changes.  He doesn't like to change things in the house - he is about function.
The table between the chairs is just until I find a table but can't seem to find anything.  And my room is long and has openings.  I am not sure how to arrange my furniture.

Can you help me?

Thank you
Viki

Hi Viki,

Let's start with your furniture arrangement.  Yeah- it is really bad.  I do like the wall you chose to put the TV on- I think that is probably the best wall unless you wanted to purchase a large wall unit.  I would also consider not having the TV in the room altogether.  If you had a single focal point- that is always ideal.  Or- the TV over the fireplace is another option.  I find the split focal point frustrating.  For now- my advice will include you leaving it where it is.

The sofa and love seat pushed up against opposite walls is definitely the worst part about your furniture arrangement.  Your room does not lend itself to a parallel grouping, and it is too wide to have the furniture against the walls.  Pull the furniture in, put the long sofa opposite the TV wall, add a console table to make it look good from the back.  Create a more intimate seating area by pulling the furniture away from the walls. 

Add a coffee table or two- not chocolate brown.  You have too much dark brown in your room already.    The addition of the coffee tables will help with your seriously horrible negative space.  Read about what I mean by negative space in these posts.

Your rug is disconnected with the brown furniture and the room in general.  Replace it with a rug that can act as more of a unifier.  The rug above is from Homedecorator.com

Your drapes at one end of the room are different from your drapes at the other end.  They should all be the same, even in a large open floorplan where the areas function as separate rooms.  The pattern above is from Waverly.  Your brown furniture is coming across more like you wanted a safe non-committal color.  You have brown furniture- so act like it is part of your color pallet in a stronger way. 

I would paint your walls a silver sage blue color.  Keep it light, keep it subdued. 

Remember scale, scale, scale on your wall decor.  Also, remember variety, variety, variety.  You have three pictures,  (you need variety)  and all of them are too small (you need better scale).  See my advice to Julie on scale.    You should have a variety of wall decor items, and also a variety of numbers.  See my advice to Becca on variety.  You also have a problem with relationships in your wall decor.  See this post on relationships.

Add a lighting plan and some greenery and your room will be fantastic!

The Rug that Changed Everything

Hello Christine,

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog and appreciate your straight forward advice.

 

My sweet husband surprised me with a Turkish rug for Valentine's day. Actually I was quite horrified that he'd make a purchase like that without my approval! But, I'm trying to let go and make it work in our bedroom that I was in the middle of re-decorating. I'm so lost. The rug has a very fancy design and I'd like another pattern or color but don't how to make them work together.

 

So, could you please give me some advice? Curtains & Throw Pillows - What color or pattern? And any other suggestions.

I don't even know if I can turn this room around or not. It's really thrown me for a loop. However, the rug feels AMAZING under my feet :)

 

Thanks,

Ann

Ann-

You need to have a careful talk with you husband.  One of those genius conversations where you go away with him not being offended- and yet he understands that he is never to do this type of thing again.  Good luck.  ;-)

Power up the pattern.  This example is just like one that I had in a recent post where the patterned rug was not fitting into the room, simply because the room didn't have enough other strong patterns to balance it. 

Go with patterned bedding.  The one above is from Martha Stewart. 

Replace the wrought iron over your bed with a piece of art work that brings in more color.  Bring the eye up to the focal point- which should be your headboard area.  This piece is from Uttermost.

Your nightstands are too small, as are your lamps.  Replace your night stands with some Bombay chests, and get some lamps that are closer to 36 inches in height.

I like it when the lamp shade contrasts in color with the wall color.

Add more balance to your pattern with patterned drapes.  These are from Horchow.  A heavier color will also help. 

Replace your contemporary ceiling fan with a beautiful chandelier.  This will really change the mood of the room. 

After that all you need to do is replace your carpet with wood floors and then change your wall color.  Your husband will be thrilled to find out that the rug made you replace nearly everything in the room.  Perhaps it was a little more generous gift than he thought.  ;-)

A Favorite Source... or two

Rebecca left this comment yesterday from this post "The Simple Striped Rug":

Hi, I love this rug! Where is it from? Thanks!

I am not sure where the rug from the movie set came from- and the other photos are from Maine Cottage.  In addition to striped rugs, they are a great source for a style that I would describe as fresh and contemporary cottage.  They carry crisply painted bright cottage style furniture.  The large selection of paint colors make them an especially convenient source.  -I will also give up another favorite source for fantastic striped rugs.

I love Dash and Albert.  They are a rug company with a large selection of fantastic striped rugs- a terrific variety of unexpected color combinations that can act as an inspiring color pallet for a whole room.  The rugs in this post are from Dash and Albert.

Now- this is where- if I were savvy- Maine Cottage and Dash and Albert would be paying me...  ;-)