New Spring and Summer Area Rugs for the Family Room and Living Room

I'm just popping in today to share a quick peek at the new area rugs I found for our living room and family room. Here in Boise it's very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter, and I've found that what's underfoot can affect how we respond to those extremes. So I've begun switching out some of our area rugs for the seasons. I've searched high and low to find well made and good looking, yet very affordable area rugs that I don't mind having rolled up in our attic for six months out of the year. 

Last fall I purchased this large 8'x10' deep sumptuous shag rug in rich warm colors that complement my decorating in the living room during the cooler months of the year. (This photo is from last Christmas.) This plush rug was only $398 at our local Lowe's and brought instant color, warmth and coziness to our living room.

However, during our hot high desert summers here, I've learned that bare hardwood floors with smaller and lighter weight area rugs help us feel cooler. This is the same room with the 5'x8' jute area rug I bought on clearance for $120 from our local Pier One Imports on Saturday. (As you can see I still haven't unpacked this room since the new floors went in.) 

I originally purchased a different sisal rug from Overstock.com that I'm now giving to my daughter. Although that rug was beautiful, it had yellow and green grasses that washed out the sofa and walls and made them look dingy. This rug has both gold and gray grasses woven throughout that seem to marry the armoire and sofa well while complementing the Manchester Tan walls. 

 I love the informal look of natural jute and sisal rugs for summer along with the textural layer they add to a room, but I'd read many reviews that said they were difficult to vacuum and keep clean because of the thick weave. This rug has a relatively tight flat braid that my vacuum glides over more easily, and I have a Dyson handheld that makes quick work of vacuuming the fringe. (The thick grassy fringe is one of the things I loved best about this rug.) 

Though nothing about our cottage can really be considered formal, the living room is a more formal room in our home that gets less traffic and wear than others. So I feel comfortable leaving more of the hardwood floor exposed and unprotected in there than in more high traffic rooms. 

And I already feel cooler.

Here is my (headless, oops) husband and Tucker checking out the new family room rug. Our family room lives hard with the whole family watching movies and munching on snacks and just hanging out informally here in general. Add to that the dog and the door leading out to the deck and yard, and we needed a sturdy, tough, easy to clean rug that will protect the new hardwood floor. Believe me, it's not easy finding a neutral rug with those requirements that you also really want to look at everyday.

This 8'x10' indoor/outdoor rug, purchased at our local Home Depot on Saturday for $119, fit the requirements for us. It's drag-outside and hose-off tough, but still looks nice enough for our summer family room. I love how it brings together the creamy walls and white TV console with the brown leather furniture and how it adds some texture and pattern to the room. 

I also originally purchased a different rug for this room online from Target. Luckily, it was an easy local return to the store because, like the first living room rug I ordered, it was less than appealing. I've come to the conclusion that for large size rugs, computer screens just can't adequately convey true colors and returning them is a pain in the rear. As difficult and limited as shopping is here in Boise, I'll still be sticking with purchasing rugs locally from now on where I can see them in the store before bringing them home.

Since we have the final rug sizes, I ordered custom cut rug pads for all our new rugs from rugpadusa.com, whom we've been happy with in the past. The high quality felt pads cost as much as some of our inexpensive summer rugs, but it would be crazy not to protect our new hardwood floors properly, and we consider that money well spent. 

Now that I have my neutral summer backdrops in place I'm looking forward to adding more layers and textures throughout our house. I'm planning on taking it slow and including only items that we really love. There are four boxes sitting on the dining room table waiting to be unpacked (just a start) and I'm excited to get started making our house uniquely ours again.

I'm so glad you stopped by to see our new spring and summer area rugs today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

  

I love to party!

Savvy Southern Style

What's Been Going On Around Here

It's high time we had an update around here! 

I hope you're all enjoying a nice spring. It's been a busy one for us so far. My husband and I spent the weekend helping our oldest daughter and her fiancé prime and paint the 
four bedrooms in their new house. 

We had a lot of fun but, boy, am I pooped today! 

On our home front, things are starting to get back to normal after having the new floors installed. The family room floors are finally done and happily curing. I've decided having floors installed and finished on site is kind of like giving birth; if we women didn't eventually forget the pain, we just might never voluntarily go through it all again. 

But, seriously, we do love our new floors!

There's not much going on outside around here yet. Local wisdom says not to plant your annuals until the snow has melted off of Shafer Butte. Since it keeps melting and snowing again up there, I'm playing it safe and waiting for next month.

 Spring has made a tentative showing indoors, though, with some flowers, a birdhouse, and a favorite ceramic bird.

The photo clipboards above the sofa are sporting some pretty spring art.

Free botanical prints from A Daily Something.

Tucker is back to looking at me like I'm nuts for walking all around the house pointing my camera at everything like I've never seen it all before a million times.  

When I say things are starting to get back to normal at our house, I really mean just starting. My chalkboard is still wearing its winter menu!

I did manage a bit of spring decorating in the dining room, too, though. And we also rearranged the furniture a bit when we moved it back in. We moved this homemade cupboard from the entryway into the dining room where there's room now beside the new table. I always wanted a buffet in the dining room! 

You can see my new green glass candlesticks from World Market peeking over the tray. I fell in love with their pretty sparkly spring green color and they're one of my favorite possessions now, but my taper candles are still packed away! 

 We are enjoying all the room beside our new table, and how we can easily fit six chairs here now. Walking between rooms feels so much better now.

Here's a close-up of the top of our new industrial/rustic/farmhouse table. 

 We ended up finding the perfect affordable sun blocking solution for our south facing window at Lowes with this lined bamboo blind. It even has a narrow black stripe that looks great with our black Windsor chairs.

I also like the way it picks up the other textures in the dining room and how it balances out the visual weight of the buffet and chalkboard on the opposite wall.

The best part is how I can close it part way to block the sun while still enjoying the sheer white cafe curtain below it as it softly billows into the room from the breeze through the open window. I just love curtains billowing in the spring breeze!

Did you notice the empty corner cabinet and the glimpse of our bare hutch in the next room?

Bare as can be! And the poor orchid all alone there on our old dining room table as it sits waiting for its new home at our daughter's house. If I didn't love the lack of clutter so much just now, I might be a little embarrassed to show you I haven't unpacked yet.

And the living room is just as empty! Well, not empty, just not decorated. I think I haven't unpacked yet because I'm simply enjoying all this calm after the chaos so much. I haven't even felt moved to add a colorful pillow to the sofa. Every once in awhile, I just walk in here and look at the beautiful new floors and feel utterly satisfied!

I'm not sure how long this will last. I ordered a couple of new area rugs, and maybe when I get them I'll be inspired to unpack and decorate again. 

By the way, how do you like the new furniture layout? It's so much more open, and we're really enjoying it for now. 


Before I go, I want to share some exciting news. My dear friend (really one of the nicest, sweetest bloggers in the whole world) Sharon, of Elizabeth & Co. has opened an Etsy shop where she's now offering the most gorgeous handmade wreaths you have ever seen. This is just a tiny sample of her exquisite creations.

ElizabethandCoWreath

Aren't they simply breathtaking? Way to go, Sharon! Best of luck with your newest creative endeavor.


I'm so glad you all stopped in to catch-up with me today.

Have a most wonderful week, everyone!

How about a fun spring party?!

Between Naps On The Porch
Mod Vintage Life
The Scoop
Cozy Little House
From My Front Porch To Yours
Our Home Away From Home
A Stroll Thru Life
Coastal Charm
Elizabeth & Co.

Our New Dining Room Table - A Sneak Peek

Hello friends! 

We've been doing some spring cleaning around our yard while we're on hold waiting for the family room floors to be installed. I know it must seem to you like this has gone on forever! It's a fact of life that contractor schedules are a delicate and mysterious thing, and we've learned to happily go with the flow. We actually took advantage of having extra time while the family room sits demolished for a week to repaint all the trim back there.

I do have a bit of exciting indoor news to share today, though!

As you probably know if you're a follower of my blog, I inherited this 75 year-old maple drop leaf table about thirty years ago. I painted and refinished it, and it's been well loved and used for many family meals at our house over the years. However, as you can see in this photo, at 54" round it's always been a bit of a tight squeeze to walk around the table from the living room to the back rooms of our house, a regular necessity due to our shotgun floor plan.

 Back in January of last year, I asked your opinions about table shapes in this post. I cut a large rectangle of cardboard and put it on top of our table to see how we liked it. We loved that we could fit more chairs around this shape without having to add extra leaves and how we had more room on the sides to walk. So it was decided we'd get a new rectangular farmhouse style table. 

Whoa, not so fast there, Nellie. 

It turns out that almost all tables have aprons around them that would keep the 27"- high arms of our Windsor chairs from fitting beneath the table top, and we really wanted to keep our six comfy very sturdy maple chairs. We thought about building our own farmhouse style table to fit, but those big solid wood tables are so darn heavy! So, we've been shopping for the just-right table for over a year. If we found one without an apron, it wasn't wide enough between the legs to fit two chairs side by side or maybe the table was too short or maybe it was too long or too narrow or too something. 

You get the picture. Gosh, we're picky!

We were becoming pretty much resigned to keeping our old table, when yesterday we finally found one, and here's a sneak peek! 

This is all I can show you today because just out of camera range our house is still piled high with all the stuff from getting our floors redone. A mess, in other words.

See how two of our black arm chairs fit under the table top side by side between the legs with room to spare? We can now fit six chairs here, and even eight in a pinch. No more lugging heavy leaves and extra chairs to the table when all the kids are here for Sunday dinner. And the ends of the table are just right for our big wicker mom and dad chairs. This table is 72" long and 39" wide, which is just right for six uncrowded place mats and platters of food down the middle, but still narrow enough to walk around. And unlike our unusually sized round table, I can now purchase standard size table cloths and runners. And (maybe best of all) you wouldn't even believe the great price we got on the table on sale and with a coupon. 

Can you tell we LOVE our new rustic industrial farmhouse dining room table!?!

Source

This table isn't heirloom quality furniture like my antique maple table, but it's sturdy, heavy, well made, and the exact size, shape, and eclectic farmhouse look and feel we've been wanting. The finish on the metal legs even matches our new pewter chandelier. We're doing a big ol' happy dance in our dining room today because the long search for a table is over!

For now, our round family heirloom table is pushed into the corner awaiting its fate. It will be either going to my daughter's new house in her own dining room or upstairs in our loft as a game table. Wherever it ends up, it will always be cherished.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us that our floors will finally be finished this week. I'm getting excited to unpack our boxes of stuff and do some spring decorating!

Meanwhile, have a great week!

I'm sharing today at

Between Naps On The Porch 

Coastal Charm
Elizabeth & Co.
Our Home Away From Home

A Moment of Spring in the Dining Room

The sun broke through the clouds for just a moment today during a heavy rain storm here. I was sitting in the dining room drinking my tea and listening to the rain when the glimmer of sunlight on the wall next to me inspired me to grab my phone and take a picture. 

These flowers are the only bit of spring I've managed to add to our home during the disorganization of installing new floors. It's wonderful how a bit of sunshine and some pretty flowers can lift one's spirits!

Rain or shine, I hope you have a lovely spring day!

A spring party sounds fun!

Rooted In Thyme

Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson