Ladyplace: Sprucing Up the Entryway

Anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen the updates happening in my home. I've gotten a lot done - the only big project left is painting the bedroom which I know will happen one random Saturday when I feel like it. As for the rest of the apartment, I'm in that stage of editing. Changing out things I thought would work, rearranging furniture and accents, seeing what works best where, completely eliminating plans I had to try something new, probably in favor of something easier.

This most notably happened in the entryway, which I thought I wanted to paint black and white striped.
Alas, I realized that was too lofty a task to take on, and I had the idea for a gallery wall in mind all along. I thought it would be too busy with stripes behind it.

Behold, the entryway when I first moved in...  not where the desk is, but that area in the back right of the photo. It was essentially a holding room for items I didn't know what to do with. I quickly sold the large Ikea mirror...

...and picked up a rug off Joss and Main and this little console table from Overstock. Note that's one of the two doors into my bedroom.

Rearranged it a bit to be more eye-catching when you walk in. Lovely, yes. Alas, nothing special.

So as you've seen with my living room gallery wall, I've amassed a sizable collection of black and white art, most of which is my own (so can we really call it art? sure we can). I still had a good selection that didn't make the cut for the living room display. Black and white photos from my travels, my European monument sketches, art I picked up in Paris, a New Orleans street sign, a page torn from a J.Crew catalogue... you know. High-end, museum quality stuff. So I opted to hang it all floor to ceiling in the entryway. Completely fill the space.

Not going to lie. I think it turned out awesome.

(Please excuse the crappy quality photos. This was shot in the middle of the day - that's how little natural light my entry gets.)

Either way, as you can see, my rug was NOT holding up for this high traffic area. Between all the snow, the thaw, the rain, dogs, my boots, etc., the light jute quickly stained and has been getting worse by the day.

Commence Sprucing Up Scene 2.

Enter my new polka dot rug from Lulu and Georgia!
(Technically called the Pinhole Rug on their site.)

IT'S SO FLUFFY!

I knew I needed a dark color to mask all the dirt settling in this area, and the polka dots are too fun. A perfect alternative to my original plan for stripes.

Now I just need a larger mirror. Still dreaming about this gilt guy.

Can't wait for John and Maura to step in and photograph this space properly.

But for now, Tucker approves. And that's saying something.

See how other bloggers, including Danielle, styled their Lulu & Georgia goodies on the L&G blog!

And... you can do some sprucing of your own with Lulu and Georgia! Just use the discount code NEWYEARSPRUCEUP20 to get 20% off your purchase now thru Sunday, February 2nd! Yay! Free honey for everybody!

Ladyplace: They say when you know, you know.

...and that's how I felt when this lil' striped number popped up in a Joss and Main sale tonight.

So here's the deal. I so appreciate everyone's help and love hearing your thoughts! The problem is everyone's input actually confused the heck out of me. Haha everyone made such valid points and I truly loved all of those rugs! But at the end of it, I was more confused than ever and couldn't decide on any particular one. I'd add different styles to my cart, only to walk away and forget to go back and purchase.

Then today, Danielle came over to see my place for the first time. Of course that meant we spent a solid 45 minutes discussing the layout and decorating plans. Now apparently I'm switching everything up. Instead of breaking the living room into separate areas, I'm embracing it as one "giant" space which means I'd need one large rug instead of a 5x7 for in front of the couch. Some of my favorite options you suggested only came in 5x7. So there goes that. This striped rug is 8x11 which means it will cover the entire room. It's listed as 'grey and ivory' so I think it will look slightly less beige in person. And the cherry on top is that it is wool flatweave. My favorite. The dogs can't scratch it up despite their best efforts.

Plus, I've had a thing for striped rugs for quite some time...
Here are a few favorites to show you can't go wrong with stripes underfoot.

 

That last shot gets me every time.

Thoughts?

Ladyplace: Help me choose a living room rug!

So I just painted my walls last night using Farrow and Ball's Wimborne White. Love it! But now I want a lighter, brighter, slightly more neutral rug. These are all options currently for sale on Joss and Main, to which I have a decent amount of credit stored up. 

As a reminder of my other furniture, here's a crappy photo I took last night...

Which rug do we think? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6? Or none of the above?

seriously awesome rugs for under $400

i have a weird obsession with rugs (literally have more rugs than i have floor space), and there is an insane sale on joss and main today - it's called Pattern Perfect - and all of these styles and more are available in a number of sizes, the largest sizes selling for under $400! if you're in the market, check it out stat!

Belle: The Living Room Rug Debacle

Behold, the transformation of my living room. I am aware trying three different rugs in the matter of a few months is ridiculous and I don't advise anyone do this. But I'm not crazy. I had my reasons. The good news is I love the way this room has come together. And it's nearly finished...

Above you can see the apartment before moving in. A whole lot of beige going on.

You may recall the beige plague was remedied rather quickly. The room transformed with Behr's Classic Silver.

With furniture and art. It's better... I suppose. When I moved in the summer, I brought my living room rug with me, an 8x10 graphic Moroccan flatweave from West Elm that is no longer in stores (see similar style here). I love this rug, but it was just too dark given the sofa and wall colors.

So I perused West Elm for other options and decided on this light, bright, ultra cozy Fair Isle style. Only silly me assumed my brown rug was a 9x12, so that's what I ordered, only to realize my brown rug was in fact an 8x10 and this new fair isle rug was ginormous. Fortunately, so is the room, so I was going to make it work. And I loved how it brightened the room. Tucker agreed.

Then long story short, things kind of went awry, I thought I was going to have to move, and I came to the realization that the ginormous 9x12 fair isle rug would never fit into any other apartment, so I returned it. Only to realize I would not be moving... cool. Doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be here forever and as I said, the rug was so big it wouldn't fit anywhere else. So I looked to my other favorite rug source, the online retailer RugsUSA. I was debating between a few graphic options, but ultimately decided on this twist of a chevron pattern. I kept my colorblock Stone Textile pillows, added in a fun spotted pillow from Furbish, switched out the art for my simple European prints, and added in a crazy pouf that has a sort of southwestern vibe from Lulu and Georgia... things are finally coming along! Totally neutral but still feminine thanks to the mirrored sconces.

So we have a winner.

SOURCES:
sofa // colorblock pillows // spotted pillow // coffee table // rug // lamp // graphic pouf // art // tray
 // mirrored sconces, candle hurricane, and jute pouf were West Elm but are no longer available

And so you know you'll eventually see my full home tour, complete with sources and beautiful photography, on The Everygirl. Probably in late February! Get excited.

The Best Deal You'll Ever Find for a Chevron Rug

Chevron rugs are by no means a new trend. The bold geometric pattern has been appearing in shelter magazines and in designers' showcases for the past several years, with Madeline Weinrib's design leading the pack. While I'm guessing most of you have seen these lovely colorful rooms before, I wanted to refresh everyone's memory of just how eye-catching a chevron rug can look in a room. Why? Because I've found what is probably the most affordable oversized chevron rug on the market.

RugsUSA is selling a chevron rug in brown, black, and light blue, and the price for a 7'10"x10'10" is $215! Smaller sizes are significantly less. Don't dilly dally there, pretty lady! These sell out fast! I'm thinking of scooping up a smaller black and white one for my office. (Correction: just did!)

**And thank you, Jill ---> the chevron rug is an additional 35% off with coupon code DAG35. That means you can get what is essentially an 8x10 rug for $140. Bananas. And THAT my friends is how The Everygirl shops.

And if anyone caught the movie quote in this post, you get extra cool bonus points from me. ;) 

***Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Thank you, Alex, for figuring out "Don't dilly dally there pretty lady!" is said by the darling Luke Wilson in what is one of my top three favorite movies: The Family Stone. You can see it here at the 0:40 mark!

Fashion vs Furnishings | 1.21.11

clutch | rug

THE CHALLENGE:

Words in hand or words underfoot?

You have $140. Which do you buy?

LCY Personal Project: The Never-ending (makeover) Story Ends!

I know, I know. This is the neverending story. But I THINK we've just about got it. My mom and I that is. Her living room has been a work in progress for the past two years - and I've even posted about it here, here, here, and here. Well, now it's April 2010, and I am proud to say when I walk into the house, it finally feels like her. And more importantly, it feels finished!

Let's start at the beginning...

(Sorry for those of you who have seen these first images before.)

This first image (above) was the living room circa January 2009. I had just moved back home from DC, and this was the way the room had looked for the past eight years or so. Topiaries and all. To better explain, the couch in the foreground was approximately three feet off the wall behind it, creating a pathway to the back of the house. And that is a lantern on an end table in the center foreground. You might recognize the oversized white chair on the left. My puppies love it in its new place. (If you're wondering why this photo looks weird, it's because it is several photos merged together.)

(above) Fast forward a few months after I'd moved back in. It was spring and time for change. The oversized chair was too oversized for the space so it moved upstairs to my old bedroom. After seeing what I call the "interview style" seating arrangement time and time again (two couches or a couch and two chairs facing one another directly), I convinced my mom to give a try. We also moved her Colette bench that had been at the foot of her bed to the far right wall, creating more seating and eliminating the walkway that we really didn't need.

(above) Fast forward again. Fall 2009, as made evident by the pumpkins. Big changes happening. You can read about the fireplace mantel makeover and the new art on the walls here, the long-overdue love-seat reupholstering here, and a more detailed analysis of it all here. (Told you this has been a lonnng process.) A few new pillowcases and lampshades, and it seemed things were peachy.

But something was missing...

Enter the perfect rug. There hadn't been any rugs in the house for years because my childhood dog mistook them for grass. But Clancy has not been with us for a few years now, and it was time to fill in the room's missing link. So, I want to thank Jill Rosenwald for designing such a beauty, CSN Rugs for selling it at a more affordable rate, and Erin Gates for introducing it to me!

Add a dash of blue hydrangeas and some pink & white tulips.

Picture perfect for spring 2010, yes?

Love this vignette...

...and this vignette! The hourglass and vase are both from Pottery Barn. We snatched those when we attended the new Chicago store opening.

The painting that had been on the back wall prior to this makeover was mine so it came with me when I moved out. You may recognize it's now hanging in my home office's art gallery. In order to the fill the void, we called on our favorite photographer, Alicia Bock. This is 'Along the Seine' on an 18x18" canvas. A picture of Paris and the color palette fit perfectly. How could it not work?

That's all folks!

Thoughts?