Restored (Then Newly Floored)

I almost feel like Goldilocks whenever I’m searching for new home decor. Whether it’s a rug, lamp, or pillow, I always find myself thinking this one’s too big… that one’s too small… that one has the wrong yellow…er, wasn’t there porridge somewhere in this story?

Unlike me, Goldilocks seems to be able to find something juuuust right somewhere around her third attempt. If only, right? Lucky girl. I seem to search for months and months and still might come up empty-handed.

(And I don’t seem to have nearly as many run-ins with bears. Guess that’s a pretty big difference between us, too. This analogy is now officially bogus and I apologize for my spastic trains of thought.)

But if today’s post is a lesson on anything (ha!), it’s that patience can be your best friend when it comes to home decor. I had a series of bad luck lately which put a dent in my emergency savings.  I expected it would take forever to get back to normal, but just as the pendulum swung out, it swung back in again and I found myself with a surprising string of good luck. (No joke, I even won four scratch-off tickets in a row. I’m not much of a gambler, so I was very pleased when $2 turned into $25. It may not be a jackpot, but it certainly made my day)  Even though I still plan to keep my spending under strict watch for a few months, I was able to completely restore my rainy day savings in less than a week’s time, and even found a little breathing room.

So what does that have to do with the rug? Well, precisely this little hint I showed you earlier this week:

I’ve been searching for a living room rug for ages. Here’s proof. The biggest challenge I had was finding a soft rug that was also large enough for the space that was also a modern style. Any of these things by themselves made the rug expensive, and finding one with all three? Fuhgeddaboudit.


My budget was never going to give me what I needed without a long, arduous search. So I did forget about it. And I moved on to other things around the house to spend my money on (luckily there’s never any shortage of that). But when I took a quick trip to Ikea to grab a $20 tabletop for my future craft desk, I saw this:

I swear, I think I heard angels. Big. Modern. Soft. And $149?????

And unlike many times before, I was also prepared with a cart, so there was far less awkwardness.  I know,  more good luck.


I happily dragged my new find home, unwrapped, and laid ‘er out on the floor (after cleaning – Charlie gets paw prints everywhere). Even though the rug is a perfect square, the design is skewed to one side, and I had to spend a little while rotating it in different directions to determine the exact placement of the pattern. Then I propped the furniture on top to keep it unrolled and allow the rug to relax into place.

A little Scotch Guard later, and she was ready for a tryout (by the cutest little fur-model).

Is it weird that I’m creeped out by my dog going all diva on me when she spotted the camera?

Ferrari

Le Tigre

Blue Steel

Magnum

Against previous expectations, now that it’s in place, I think the square shape is much better suited for the space than a normal rectangular area rug. My heart skips a beat and I do a little mental pat on the back every time I walk around the staircase and spot the new addition. I don’t think I could be more satisfied with the design… and the price is certainly agreeable to my wallet. Check it out, you guys – I’m actually decorating a room instead of remodeling it. Who thought this day would ever come?