Rugs, Revealed.

This post has been a long time coming.  I 100% blame the procrastination on the awful pain it is to put an 8 x 10 rug under a crazy heavy king bed, with a million supports beneath it.  Hubby and I just did not feel like tackling that task.  That meant the living room and guest room rugs were in place for a long time, and the rug for our master bedroom sat, rolled up, in our living room for weeks.

Thankfully, due to a fun Super Bowl party we hosted, we were forced to cross things off our to-do list...so we put on our big girl/boy pants, and maneuvered that sucker into place.

If you are new to my blog, and my rug issues, I have made it pretty clear that I have a fear of buying rugs, especially from online retailers.  1) Rugs are usually such an investment, and 2) 99.9% of rugs I want to buy are online, and therefore I can’t see or feel them before I take the plunge.  Well one day I threw caution to the wind and went for it.  Yup, I ordered three rugs from Rugs USA...all at one time.

I didn’t know what to expect, so I was super anxious for them to arrive.  Luckily, when I unrolled each one, I was more and more pleased.  They were all prettier in person than they were online, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to place the order.  {Plus it didn’t hurt that I got them extremely discounted at 65% off...which is the only way we could afford 3 of them!}

Now I know there are all sorts of "rules" when it comes to rug size and placement...but I'm pretty sure those rules are for people who can afford to follow them.  And we aren't those people. :-/  That means I bought a smaller 5 x 8 rug for our living room space...because really, my main concern was having a cushy rug under foot for relaxing on the couch, or in case some young kids were over and wanted to snuggle on the floor to watch a movie or to play. 

And the guest bedroom rug could probably be bigger too, but I just wanted something to give people's feet a nice place to land when they got out of bed.  Plus, it can also be swapped out for the living room rug in case we wanted a pop of color out there in the spring and summer months.  Like I said, we are working with a budget, people!

For our master bedroom, we had to go with an 8 x 10 rug because anything smaller would have looked ridiculous.  Since we bought two smaller rugs for the other spaces, we could afford to go bigger here.  I love the comfort it adds to our room.

I am so thankful our big purchase wasn't a bust!  I think they add a little something to each room.  And hopefully you'll be seeing more of them soon because I'm determined to pick up my house tour posts again!  I might even re-do the living space because it's changed so much from my original post.

Anyone else on the cusp of purchasing a rug??  Anyone else laugh in the face of rug rules??  {Please tell me I'm not the only one!!}

Taking a Risk...On Rugs.

So I did it...I finally purchased rugs online.  Am I the only one that struggles so badly with purchasing rugs?  I would love to buy one from an actual brick and mortar store.  I’d be able to see it, feel it and have a good sense if it would work in our house...but while I’m out shopping, I never find the right:  a) pattern/color, 2) size and d) price.  {Anyone catch the movie reference?!?!}

That leaves me with one option...rug shopping online.  I love “window” shopping for rugs on the Internet.  As a matter of fact, I have been stalking quite a few of them for over a year.  My sites of choice are Overstock and Rugs USA.  Their selections and prices are UH-MAZ-ING, but knowing that I’d be responsible for return charges {if necessary} to get the rug back to the store had me avoiding the "buy" button.  Eeeeek!

This fear has kept our living room rugless, and I was afraid our bedroom would suffer the same fate now.  Luckily, I put my big girl pants on last week, and I purchased, not just one, but THREE rugs for our home!  Whaaaaaaat?!?!  Yup, you heard me right...three!

First up, one for our master bedroom.  Since we needed a sizable rug (an 8’ x 10’, or something larger) to fit under our king bed, I decided to check out Flor carpet tiles first.  I figured this might be a great idea since I could create a “U” shape around the perimeter of our bed, and therefore not pay for the rug area that would be under our bed.  I measured out how many tiles we’d need and it ended up being about $270.

But thennnn, I saw this chevron ikat rug that I love on Rugs USA, and the 8’3” x 11 rug was only $10 more than that because of a 50% off coupon {WINT50}.  Woot woot!

After figuring out our bedroom situation, I moved my focus to our living room.  I measured things out, and figured that I could get away with a 5’ x 8’ rug for now because of how our couch is shaped.  I found two rugs that I love...one ikat and one herringbone, and couldn’t decide between the two.  Either could go in the living room or in our guest bedroom.  Since they were also 50% off {WINT50}, I added both to my cart and figured I'd swap them back and forth depending on what look we wanted to go for.  WIN-WIN!

Getting 50% off on my purchase allowed me to get 3 rugs for the price of one...it was almost a no-brainer!

And then wouldn’t you know it...the next morning I got an email from Rugs USA telling me that they were having a 65% off sale {NY2013, expires 1/7/13}.  Come on!  I just placed my order not even 24 hours before that!!

I immediately called customer service to see if they would grant me the 65% off discount, and they said sure!  Although there was a catch.  {Isn’t there always a catch?}  The prices of all the rugs I bought had gone up...so the discount would be taken from the new, higher price.  I did some quick math with the rep and realized that even though the prices went up, I'd still be saving an additional $110!  Yes, please!!  All three rugs for $450...not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Now...let’s just say a few small prayers, and keep our fingers crossed, that we like all the rugs when they arrive!!  #idontwanttopaytoreturnanyofthem #ahhhhhhhhhhh

Sneak Peek! {Part Two}

Today's post is a peek at guest bedroom #2.  When you see this bedroom, you'll understand why I have kept it hidden {well, until now}.  It is quite underwhelming and literally has NOTHING going on in it.  On a daily basis, I hunt through Craigslist ads for the perfect nightstands to refinish for this room...but so far, I have had no luck.

So even though this may be the most boring reveal ever {are you on the edge of your seat}, I'm going through with it because I promised myself I'd show our progress in real time.

So here is what the room looked like when we moved in...

View of the little corner in the hallway...and into the bedroom...

Further into the room...

View from the other side of the room...

And here is how the space looks after the floors were refinished...the blinds were hung...the walls were painted...a ceiling fan/light was hung...doors and windows were replaced...and a new bed and bedding were put in place.

View from the hallway...

Further into the room...

Queen bed and bedding...

View from the other side...

And again...

View from the corner...

One day, this will be a serene little escape for our house guests...until then, at least they have a place to sleep, right?!?!?  :)

Sneak Peek! {Part One}

While I was cleaning our house over the weekend, I realized that I have not shared any of our bedrooms with you guys.  Well, that is going to change this week...I'm going to give you guys a little peek into each space.  Please keep in mind that the rooms are so very bare in all these pictures.  I just want to share some real time updates of all the spaces in our casa.

Today I'm starting with guest bedroom #1 {better known as my parent's bedroom when they come visit}.  I love the color combo of yellow and grey in this tiny 10 x 11 room.  Okay, okay...maybe it's not "tiny", but it feels that way since we put a queen bed in there.

Here are a couple before pictures to refresh your memory as to what the space used to look like...

Entering the room from the hallway...

The big windows that let so much light in this room...

The surprisingly large closet {there's lots of space in both directions in that closet that you can't see from this picture}...

And here is the room today, after painting the room and the inside of the closet...replacing the doors, door hardware and windows...refinishing the hardwood floors...hanging blinds...putting a queen bed with new bedding in place...refinishing Craiglisted end tables to serve as nightstands...and buying some new lamps.  Oh, and I wasn't sure I was going to keep the lamps, which is why the tags are still hanging on them.  Please disregard. :)

Walking into the room from the hallway...

 Stepping into the room {yup, our little fluff ball loves being the in pictures}...

 The pretty duvet that inspired the paint color for my bedside tables....

From straight on...yes, it's not centered on the wall because of the space needed to swing open the closest door...

Standing by the windows...

From the corner of the room...

So that's the progress on guest bedroom #1 so far.  I can't wait to add more finishing touches to this space over time!

Up tomorrow...guest bedroom #2!  {Isn't the suspense killing you?!?!?  Haaaaaaa.  Totally joking.}