Which would you choose?

I have a confession – rugs terrify me. 

No, not in an axe-murderer sort of way, purely from a design sense perspective. 

They are so important to the feel of a space, and so hard to choose. Add to this the fact that they cost a serious chunk of change, and you now know why they inevitably push my heart rate up.

BUT, I also love them, for largely the same reason. When done right they absolutely MAKE a space.

I was asked to consult on a room design recently, specifically to help with choosing a rug. The guidelines were pretty straight forward – an 8×10′ rug ideally for under $700, to spruce up this space:

Pretty awesome to begin with right?  Here is a shot from another perspective to get a better sense of the room:


 

First of all, the room is already great as it is, with a lot of solid pieces and building blocks. 

My first reaction though, is that it could use a bit more of a punch. Some definition, some contrast, some pattern.  Make it a bit more fresh.

If money were no thang, I would love to try the blue and white chekat rug below. This 100% wool beauty is soft and substantial, and would be perfect.
 
But alas, it clocks in well over $1,000, so is likely out of budget.

Here are some other options with better price points. What do you think?! Which would you choose?

 

1. Baja/2.Plaid/3.Cottage stripe/4.Zigzag/5.Chekat

Redo Progress

Remember the bathroom redo we talked about a few weeks ago?

 To be perfectly honest, it is actually almost done – we are just waiting on the mirror. Oh, and some flair (aka artwork).

It looks good guys. It looks good.

But sorry, i’m waiting for the finishing touches before unleashing “the big reveal”. In the meantime, here are a few shots of the process (and side note: can we take a moment to admire the feature image above? I googled “classic 70’s bathroom” to find this. Do it yourself…you won’t be disappointed).

We started with this: 


Then gutted:


A closeup of the hex tile (it is awesome):

The light fixture – to keep, or not to keep?

Here is a closeup – it’s actually really cool when you look closely – perhaps only the shades need updating?

Beadboard replaced the old tile – and we carried it around on to all of the walls (as opposed to just the left and far wall), which makes the space feel so much more cohesive. 

Next steps: choose paint color (stay light, or go dark??), install plumbing (classic white ceramic beauties!), choose mirror (should we keep it above beadboard Or choose one to overlap with the beadboard?).

Example of mirror above beadboard:


Example of overlapping:


And another:

I’ll be back with the full reveal soon!