New Living Room Rug

I was sad to see it go, but we decided to replace the jute rug this month. I loved that rug, and still think jute is a great option for some people, but those people are not pet owners. :/ Linus had two throw up accidents on the rug and I scrubbed and scrubbed and vacuumed for hours both times and there was a bit of unfortunate discoloring. Big bummer.

Also, the rug had dried up a bit during the winter especially the part that sat over the floor grate, and it was starting to shed a little bit. It wasn't a huge deal on its own and actually I think I was supposed to be misting the rug with water once or twice a month to prevent the over-drying, and I never did. But between the shedding and the discolored spots (which you can sort of see in these photos), I felt like it was time to start looking for something else.

So here was my thought process.

1) While I loved the pop of red from the persian I had layered on the jute, I knew I wanted something more neutral. I'm going to bring in a bright orangey red or a hot pink on new pillows I think (I loved that combo with the green velvet sofa).

2) This rug needed to be a wool or wool-like pile for clean up purposes. For stain-hiding, I am a big fan of persian style rugs, so I was hoping to find something neutral but with a bit of an irregular pattern.

3) In apartments especially, where 90% of the action happens in the one living room, it's pretty inevitable that spills and stains are going to happen with kids and pets in the house. During my search I actually found a completely gorgeous antique silk Oushak in beautiful light colors from one of my dealers for about $3500. Pricey, but it was seriously worth every penny. I thought long and hard about investing in that rug. It was stunning, but what happens when someone sneaks juice over into the living room or when Linus has an accident? It would be hard to not freak out, and that's just not how I want to feel about the stuff in my house. So I passed on the Oushak and I kept looking.

I had my eye on this rug called the Beaumont Adileh in Natural from Rugs USA for a couple weeks. I was sold out in the 10x13 size that I wanted, but they have this feature where you can give them your email and they'll contact you if/when more comes in stock.

The reviews were good and they were having one of their famous 50% off plus free shipping sales, so when I got the email that the large size was back in stock, I moved fast. And I'm so glad I did! I love it. (Just checked - the latest sale is 60% off!)

I love the range of colors in the rug: cream, gray, taupe, black, brown, even a hint of apricot. It's totally one of those rugs that changes colors in the light.

And I think it actually looks kind of worn and old. Or at least, it doesn't scream out cheapy fake rug when you walk into the room. My only complaint is the binding on the edge, but for this price, you win some, you lose some.

Man, I love the black in that border!

The rug is 100% Viscose, which surprised me with its softness, even though the rug is pretty thin. And it's hard to tell in the photos, but the viscose gives the rug a really silky look. It honestly looks so much like the sheen of the Oushak that I loved, I just couldn't believe it when I rolled the rug out. And just like silk, it totally changes color when you rub your hand against the pile.

Oh, hello, soft and pretty rug...

So while I miss the texture of the jute a bit, I'm totally in love with the new rug. It is bright and airy and it cleans up like a dream. I'm a very happy customer and now I'm thinking of getting this one for my office... :)

Another Lady Portrait

Art is definitely one of those subjective things. Something that speaks to me might not be your bag. When I brought home this portrait from the flea market a few months ago, Heather was not a big fan (I think she likes it more now). I love it though. I'm fascinated by more abstract portraiture and I love the colors of this one.

The vendor who sold me this painting had a lot of pieces from the estate of a Connecticut artist named Lucy Baker. This portrait though was not one of her works, but was a trade from one of her artist friends, Thomas Barron. He wrote a little note saying so on the back.

I had her hanging in our bedroom for a while and I think I preferred her in there. But the electric grape color of her shirt just looks so pretty with the chartreuse console table, it seemed a shame to keep her hidden away, even though there's a much grander dame in the room already. :)

Oh! And by the way, I went back to Home Depot this week to find out the paint color of the console. It's "Citronette" from the Home Decorator's Collection line from BEHR.

New Art in the Living Room

Over the weekend I hung up some more art in the living room. I had left the wall shared with the kitchen pretty uncovered up until now because there's a gallery wall in the room already and I didn't want to overpower the space. But mostly the lady portrait painting and an abstract photographic print I had hung up for a few months just felt lonely and too sparse to me. Here's the  before shot:

I had a meeting with Bloglovin' on Friday morning at Cafeteria, which is right by my favorite Housing Works location. So if course I had to pop in just to see what they had, and there was a treasure trove that day! Thrift stores in NYC are usually not so fruitful and they are really ridiculously expensive, but some times you can luck out. One of the things I brought home was this exhibition print. I fell in love with the shade of green from across the store and was so glad to see the print was only $15.

I had been wanting to add something in this tone to the walls to pick up on the color of the green sofa, so this was a happy find. I hung it up almost all the way up to the moulding and put back up the lady and the photo print right below the new print. 

I also hung a piece of art I bought a couple years ago at the flea. I talked more about it here, but a lot of times you can find vendors who have purchased a deceased artist's entire estate. It's a good time to buy up a few pieces of an artist you like for almost nothing. I bought a lot from this artist's estate. This one was a rice paper and ink drawing called "If Not Sound, Then, Music is Feeling."

Right next to Michael's guitars felt like a good place to hang it.

I like how the four pieces play off each other. And I'm happy with how the kitchen pass-through is less of a focus on that wall now.

We're getting there! Slowly but surely the bargains are finding their way to me :)

The New Carved Mirror is Up!

I hung the bigger mirror! What do you think? I'm loving how it fills the wall space so much better than the scrolly mirror. I think the proportions are just right. And the scrolly mirror is happily living in the office now, so don't feel too bad for it.

It took some work to get this beast of a mirror hangable. (PS I wasn't sure if this mirror was really "vintage" like the listing stated, but that tape on the back was definitely decades old. Nasty stuff.)

I ended up reusing the hardware that was already installed on the mirror. It was installed for the mirror to hang horizontally, so I unscrewed and moved the D-rings so the wire could run the opposite way.

I wanted to hang the new mirror on the screws that were already in our wall for the scrolly mirror (in the studs from when we filled in the giant H wall above the fireplace), so I installed the D-rings and strung the wire so the mirror would hang right where I wanted it on the wall.

When you're stringing the wire for a large mirror or piece of art, make sure your wire is a heavy enough gauge to support the weight (it will tell you on the package), and also that the wire is long enough to tightly thread through the D-rings at least three times. You want the weight of the mirror to be supported at the rings and not dependent on your wire-twisting capabilities (which are not that great in my case).

We needed three adults to hang the mirror and we were all a little wiped out by the whole undertaking. It was intense! But I was so happy with how the mirror looks on that wall. It's one of my favorite things to hang something up, walk away a few steps and then turn around and, Ta-dah! The big reveal in the context of the space! (come on, tell me you know what I mean here) This was a fun one to turn around to. :)

I am on the fence about changing the finish of the frame though. Part of me likes it as is, but I sort of also feel like it's too heavy and dark.

If I do change it, I'm thinking I would lime or whitewash the carved part and then gold leaf the very inside lip.

What do you think? That could be good, right?

(Man, I need to finish that skirted sofa table so I can hide that little sliver of fireplace that peeks out from behind the sofa!)

Tips for Decorating a Really Large Living Room

I am starting a project this spring that involves a dauntingly large (mostly long) living room. I've been brainstorming layouts and since I get emailed for advice about decorating really large living rooms all the time, I thought I'd share my single best piece of advice on the subject. It's sort of a "well, duh" concept, but here it is: create multiple seating areas.

Arch Digest, home of Nina Garcia (which I prefer to say with head bobs on the syllables, in a choppy German accent, a la HK. Don't you?)

Here's the truth. If you are sitting more than 12 feet from me, we are going to have a hard time conversing in any meaningful way, so make sure your conversation areas are never more than 12 feet squared, at most. Another truth - three sofas in any space, no matter how big, is one too many sofas. I don't count settees, love seats, daybeds and chaises though. And, in fact, I think a backless, symmetrical daybed/chaise/bench floating between two seating arrangements is just about perfection, so long as it doesn't interrupt the natural flow of traffic in any serious way.

Elle Decor

Houzz

Muse Interiors

Domino

Lonny (also, well said, Angie!!)  ^^^ 

Elle Decor via

Flickr

I've been looking around for a great daybed/chaise and I'm hoping to find something really unique for this long and large living room. I'm kind of enamored with this cast iron version from Restoration Hardware. While I really love the idea and the look, I have a feeling the comfort factor of the metal will be lacking in a major way.

   Here are some other daybeds that fit the bill of what I'm after. Most of these look a bit more comfortable than the Iron Maiden up top there.

Crate and Barrel Marlowe Daybed  //  CB2 Lubi Sleeper Daybed  //  MGBW Clifton Lounge

JAR Design Alphonse Tufted Daybed  //  Wisteria Slipcovered French Settee  //  Room & Board Jasper Sofa

Ballard Afton Daybed  //  Oly Hamish Daybed  //  Coastal Classics Laguna Chaise

Carlyle Armless Daybed  //  Ballard New Canaan Daybed  //  Jayson Home 6' Field Bench

These new pieces can be just as expensive as nice sofas in many cases, so if you're on a budget, try checking out Craigslist and eBay for vintage and antique daybeds that can be given new life with an upholstery job. I poked around on Craigslist and found a bunch of great options for less than $500. This West Elm daybed would look amazing with new upholstery, and the asking price is only $100.

Come to think of it, I just might snag it for my office and recover it in a new color of linen, or maybe something fun like this:

Betsy Burnham via Lonny

Do you have a giant living room? (lucky!) What are your best tips for comfortably and beautifully designing large spaces? Also, I'd love to see photos if any of you have a daybed in your living room. I think it is such a great look.

Happy weekend! xo