Rug Designs

I did not have very many rugs in the house because I realized I am way too picky. When we moved into the house we had a rug under the bed in the Master Bedroom and a rug under the couch in the living room.

The rug under the bed used to be in our old dining room. I found it AFTER Pottery Barn stopped making it, but I found it on e-bay! Score!

 

Dining Room - Old House

The rug under the couch is a Target find from years ago. It was a bad shedder at first and still sheds to this day. It has lasted a LONG time. It was only recently when I found big chunks missing from it. The toddler in the house dropped part of a sandwich that fell underneath the couch. Kates the puppy was attempting to fetch the dropped sandwich and tried everything in her might to eat the rug fibers away to get closer to that sandwich! We have a “no eating in the living room” rule for a reason. But Toddler Pfitzer thinks that rule is not for him.

Living Room - Old House

Over the weekend about 4 weeks ago, I cleaned the two rugs twice each and the “hole” Kates ate in the rug is not existent. YAY!

I mentioned previously that I eventually would like to get a rug for the Dining Room. I’m thinking a dark blue color. I’m actually learning about my style preferences through this all. I know I like blue, wood-tones, grey and white. If my whole house revolved around those colors, it would be awesome. Throw in some black and white with wood tones, and I am drooling.

Now, I am not trying to turn my whole house into what you might think is boring by limiting to four colors, but I keep those four colors in mind when picking out accessories.

While on the search for a dark blue rug, I am noticing my preference for patterns or lack of pattern. I definitely like the same tone on tone coloring but adding texture to the mix.

 (https://www.westelm.com/products/distressed-facade-rug-frost-gray-t3855/?pkey=crugs-promotional-event&isx=0.1.22551)

But I am drawn away from patterns on rugs. If the pattern is going to be repeated exactly all over the rug, it needs to be a LARGE pattern.

(https://www.westelm.com/products/distressed-rococo-wool-rug-platinum-t1765/?pkey=crugs-promotional-event&isx=0.0.1698)

For rugs, I rather not have pattern at all. It’s why I was drawn to the FLOR squares Kensington Blossom.

I also like the faded/worn look. It helps not complete a full pattern.

(https://www.westelm.com/products/broken-fragment-rug-t4233/?pkey=crugs-promotional-event&isx=0.0.8641)

I finally landed on a rug for the dining room. I bought it on a Memorial Day sale. It was a 9x12 size.

I had built it up in my mind how perfect it was. I was so excited. When it came, there was a let down of emotion. As a whole, it looked lighter. I was picking up pinks and cream just as much, if not more than the navy.

I slept on it and the next morning I rolled it back up. I called the company I bought it from and asked about a return. Because it was a return based on preference, I would have to pay for shipping and a 25% restock fee. If I bought a different rug from them within 30 days, they would refund the restock fee. I was okay with this… until I got the email with the exact cost! $160 for shipping! Um, no! I was about to be only refunded half of my purchase price. I was sick to my stomach thinking of wasting that money. So I went back home after work and rolled the rug back out and allowed myself to be opened minded. I still love the rug and can’t find another one I love like it. I just wish it pulled more of the navy color out.

I thought the black lines that make the mosaic pattern would help with that, but they don’t.

I think the size is perfect!!

I do feel the rug helps finish the room, but it has now made me nervous to pick out a rug! I hope my current rugs last a long time, because I don’t think I want the challenge for another decade!

And as soon as I say this, I have purchased two new rugs in the house! I've been back and forth on whether the table in the kitchen needed a rug. I left it up for chance of seeing something and knowing it was the one. I did just that when I wasn't looking at Target! I thought about it and waited. The next time I went to the store, I decided to take a look at it again, and it was on sale! This seemed to be a chance I was willing to take if it didn't work, because the return process would be simple. It came home with me that day and I liked it!

I wasn't concerned about this room, but again, the rug completes it! This is a jute rug and it has some spots that are becoming frayed, but I plan to "glue/fuse" them together.

And finally the latest rug purchase was for the living room. The entire living room is getting a makeover right now. It wasn't planned, but it all snowballed into action when we decided we needed to replace the ottoman/coffee table. The rug went to the curb and someone picked up before the trash came. I then revisited Flor.com and selected samples to help choose. They were having a great Labor Day sale, and I was able to make a selection and take advantage of the sale. I ordered it Monday night and it arrived Thursday night! 

With FLOR rugs, they are 19" square pieces you put together to form a rug of your desired size. If a stain of grape juice happens, you can remove the square and wash it under the faucet. Or if a dog chews a hole, you can replace the square and not the entire rug! I was nervous and excited at the same time. 

I picked a shade lighter than the one I was drawn to. (I use this same method with paint colors-choosing a shade off what I really want). The color rug I liked was the same color as the new couch. I wanted the couch to not get lost with the rug, so I had to choose a different shade.

I have yet to put the rug together because we are still waiting on furniture. I plan to put that rug down the day before the furniture is delivered.

Rugs are a hard item for me to select. Thank goodness I don't replace them often. Here's to another decade of rug life!

Dining Room

The dining room is constantly changing, but here it is in its current state.

The old dining room set we owned dated all the way back to my condo in Orlando. I kept it as a square in the condo, but put the leaves in to make it a rectangle in the larger house.  The buyer of our old house wanted it, so he kept it. It was a bar-height table which worked, but I was ready to get down to table-height.

Condo

First House

I bought the new dining set while we were living in my parent's townhome and we put their dining room set in storage and put our new set in her dining room. The table and chairs were not a set together, but I picked the table I liked and the chairs I liked. I've always been drawn to ladderback chairs.

The table has leaves to expand and we need them to fit everyone during the holiday's. I love having a big table!

If I could change one thing, I might have changed the color. I went for a dark color, as I love dark wood, but the new house has very little dark wood. I guess it doesn't blend into the floor or wall, but it definitely sticks out. But the color has grown on me. The thing these days is to mix colors of wood, so I am okay.

2015

I was back and forth on a rug. The rug from our dining room in the last house is now under our bed in the master bedroom. This table is larger, therefore needs a larger rug. I first thought I wanted a sisal/jute rug, but that became too popular. Now, I'm thinking of a rug that has navy in it so it can tie in the office right next to it.

Here is the rug I am currently liking.

Kensington Blossom by FLOR

I took my time decorating the house (still not done), but the first thing I hung on the walls were the candle sconces. But the space above the shiplap was bare and I didn't know what to do with it. I couldn't center artwork on the wall, because that wouldn't be center with the room. The staircase opening threw things off.  But I was fine with not having anything on the wall. Til one day Mom found a large cutting board. I had been looking for a large one to use as a table runner. I found this one locally and loved it, but it wouldn't work as a table runner. It just got lost on the table with all the decor on it. And if I was going to spend good money on it, I didn't want it to be hidden. So, it went onto the wall!

I like it!

As for the table, the decor has also changed on it. I got the large jugs at Hobby Lobby in the tinted green color. I have a few different sprigs to alternate during the seasons, but the fiddle leaf fig stems I found at Pier One have been my favorite and I have not rotated my other stems.

Pussy Willow

I love that our dining room is close to the kitchen, but open to the rest of the house. I could sit at our table for hours and eat and talk. Guess I need to plan more dinner parties!

Sources:
Dining Table - Pottery Barn Cortona Wood Extending Rectangular Dining Table
Dining Chairs - Pottery Barn Wynn Ladderback
Tabletop Jug/Vase - Hobby Lobby
Cutting Board - Local Shop (Brooks & Collier)
Chandelier - Lowes Westmore Lighting 9-light Hartford Oil-Rubbed (also used in many "Fixer Upper"s!)
Candle Sconces - Pottery Barn Juliana Hanging Iron Hurricane Item # 43-1868504

Patching and Painting

We've moved out of the house and there was a lot of work that went into it. I do feel really lucky that I had three months to prepare. I couldn't imagine squeezing it all into 30 days. I would have had long days and taking time off from work. For that I am grateful I had 3 months.

After taking everything off the wall, I had to patch holes. Most holes were just nails, and those are easy. But the holes with anchors scared me. Not all my paints are in flat finish. When you work with non-flat paint, it accentuates imperfections. I’m a perfectionist.

I perfected my technique in patching holes. I did three coats each. I sanded in between coats. I was pretty proud. I even took some water with a rag to wipe the excess dust on the wall. Painting over the dust isn’t pretty. Even in some spots, I took a razor blade to get the raised drywall off the wall. I did that after I already applied the first coat of putty.

The part that I dread is the painting. Touch-up jobs are much harder than doing a whole wall.

I had thrown out my dining room paint the builder left me, so I bought a quart of it. My holes were perfect, but the paint shade was off. I knew it the minute I started rolling. And you can tell where I rolled.

I didn’t get upset as I knew it could change by morning. I woke up, still disappointed.

Dining Room

This meant I’d have to paint the entire room. Good thing the bottom portion is wainscoting! (Note: While packing up the house, on the VERY LAST day, I found the dining room can of paint left by the builder!)

Painting the whole room was not what I wanted to do. This is why it frustrated me. Even when I use the same paint can from the time I painted the original walls, it still doesn’t turn out right. I love painting, but HATE touch up.

The living room walls were frustrating me. They looked fine straight on. The color matched. But when you looked from the side, you could see the roller marks. I kept trying to fix that area until I called it good enough.

Living Room

The week before we moved out, I had a change of heart. I bought a new quart of the living room paint and decided to tackle it one more time. The new paint worked! I guess my old paint had gotten old enough. Thanks goodness it looks better now!

The room I dreaded most was Little JCrew’s room. The bed system was mounted to the wall, when I painted his room, I never removed the 2x4’s so I painted them. This meant I’d need to paint that portion now that it was gone.

Same issue with the boat propellers. Those suckers were mounted to the wall good. But the anchor caused a large hole.

I used the trick about leaving the drywall paper around the hole to create a smooth transition.

Tips say to cut a square because that’s easier, but I didn’t. I just used chalk around the circle and put my scrap drywall up to it to mark the size.

I then scored the sheetrock and started removing chunks.

The boys were helping me at this point. Little JCrew was identifying all the triangles.

At first the paper curled on the ends. That was because it got thinner during the process of removing the chunks. In hindsight, I should have worked to straighten them out, but instead I cut them.

I then tried to use the plaster to get the paper down, but it failed just like it failed when repairing the drywall on the stairwell. So, I used the same solution, of SuperGlue.

Then I used compound and sanded. I repeated those steps. It actually sanded down the sheetrock paper thinner, so that helped smooth the transition.

I waited to paint. It made me so nervous.

However, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I did multiple coats of paint. Each layer that went on, disguised the drywall job I did.

Luckily, this is the new owner's office and he put a large wall system on that wall. It was really hard to tell unless you were looking for it. Glad it all worked out and all the holes were filled.

The bonus room was my next to biggest fear in regards to holes. The TV was mounted on the wall using large bolts into the stud. But I was able to patch it with no trouble and with new paint, you can't find it!

I learned how to perfect a skill but didn't master the drywall repair. I need more practice, but you won't find me making holes in my wall just for that.

Taking the Home Out of the House

Now that the majority of things are in storage, the house doesn’t feel like home anymore. It feels like we just moved in, with the exception of an awesome yard!

Today, I’m sharing what the house currently looks like with things off the wall, no décor and empty closets.

The living room still felt full because of the massive couch.

The rug is clean and rolled up. The pictures are off the wall and the “tower” as I call it, is in storage. 

Over this past weekend, Mr. JCrew's brother-in-law lent us his truck and we moved the big items. The couch, rug, ottoman are now of out the room.

The air mattress made its way into the living room now.

The dining room still has the table, but the rug is clean and rolled up as well. It has become my drop station since the foyer table is gone.

The kitchen has some empty cabinets. It’s been the last thing I was packing because of what we still use. We are making sure to eat everything in our large pantry, since we will have a smaller one. The dishes will be packed up soon and we’ll eat off paper plates. I’ve got the bubble wrap ready, just need to get more boxes.

The boys’ bedrooms are the most dramatic. Little JCrew’s room has mattresses only. I joke that the two little guys are sleeping on a king size mattress. They love it.

Mr. Brigglesworth’s room did just have his dresser and chest of drawers.

The dresser went to storage, while the chest comes with us. We'll use it for the boys' clothes. Now this room is my packing room. And thanks to Julie, I have a million boxes calling my name!

The new owner likes the pallet wall. He did ask questions about it as to why I did it. Kind of funny when I told him because I wanted to! Ha. But he said he liked it.

The master bedroom is empty. This room remained unchanged for a while, until we got the truck. I then took the clothes out of drawers and they are in makeshift drawers/bins until we move into Mom's house.

We did have the air mattress on the floor, but as you saw, it got moved to the living room.

The bonus room is also just as dramatic as the boys’ rooms.

It is completely empty. It was the room I wanted to empty first, but Little JCrew’s room won that contest. I sold most things in the room. The train table is currently at Mom’s house and the desk is in storage. I sold the couch, loveseat and bookcases (2 different sets). There was one bookcase Mom told me to hold on to because it was a good size to put in a closet someday. Great thinking, Mom!

And that’s it! The porch furniture is off the porch and spread out with my mom’s neighbors.They all openly welcomed rental furniture to use on their porch for the next year. It looks great! 

 The boys' big playhouse is over at Mom's along with other outdoor toys. Her tiny yard is filling up!

I’m kind of enjoying the emptiness of the house. It is weird but also calming. You don’t need a lot of things. Yes, décor makes a house feel inviting, but what makes it a home, is who you share it with. I’m making so many memories playing on the floor and finding unconventional toys to play with, that it really makes me evaluate all the “Stuff” we have.