Holly Thompson Homes

kitchens + interior design studio

  • Home
  • Holly’s Blog
    • Holly’s Blog
    • About Holly
    • Never miss a post!
  • Kitchens & Interiors
    • Kitchens & Interiors
    • Products + Services
    • Why Hire A Designer?
  • Custom Homes
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • Design Ideas

The Rug Dilemma

February 27, 2017 By Holly Thompson Leave a Comment

Rugs are finishing touch items, which is a new frontier to us.  That’s because we always have bigger fish to fry than picking finishing touches, like installing a shower on a deadline when you don’t know how and creating a staple-free subfloor for the kids.

But things have changed, and we now have a deadline for both construction and finishing touches, so the game is on.  In the next month or two, we’ll be sharing more about what we’re up to and why we have a deadline, so stay tuned!

But for now, the topic is rugs.  We have a room that looks like this:

img_20170221_170750

You’ll notice there doesn’t seem to be any furniture in the middle.  That’s actually my favorite thing about it, because it means that if Hubby or kids come by and trash it, I can kindly ask them to remove their belongings and no one will be able to say they don’t own their toys/tools/socks/food/wrappers/dishes/books/pillows/Legos/homework.  It’s also so I can make pillows or whatever and lay out the fabric on the floor.

But from a design standpoint, it’s a little weird to have a huge empty spot in the middle.  Normally you’d have a coffee table (and, like, a couch or something, and a rug).

In addition to being a craft/sewing room, it has four smaller chairs around the outside because 1). I like chairs 2) We like to read and/or have conversations and coffee, and 3) I like chairs a lot, especially midcentury ones, and I wanted open space in the middle for projects.

But now that we’re ready for finishing touches, it needs a rug.  And this is a bit tricky, because the rug needs to add softness and style without making it look like a living room where the furniture is missing.  Right?  And also, it has a wallpaper focal point wall (I’m avoiding the phrase “accent wall” because that sounds like 2002).  The rug needs to enhance and not detract from the rather subtle focal point wall.

You know those really cool antique Persian and Turkish rugs?  I’ve never had one of those since we usually find our rugs in the floor model section of Pottery Barn (and I wasn’t one of the preferred heirs who got to choose from my grandpa’s collection).  But I really wanted to try one, and this room was my chance.  Unfortunately, not many of them come in neutrals:

img_20170222_082745

It’s adorable, actually, but turns into the focal point instead of the wallpaper wall.  Plan B: a more neutral one with softer colors.

img_20170221_163837

This one I really like in the picture, but it was expensive and scratchy, and even the cat wouldn’t sit on it.  So back it went.  Then, we tried this, which was my husband’s choice:

img_20170221_164402

This one was interesting, but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted it to go away. Then we tried this one, which we liked a lot at first, but then it started reminding us of a grandma’s house from the ’80’s.  Although it’s beautiful, it also tends to steal the show (though now that I’m looking at it in the picture, I kind of like it again).

img_20170221_161548

The kitty especially liked it.

img_20170221_161034

So then we tried our white wool rug from the living room, which was a little boring.  So we added a kilim-style rug from West Elm on top:

img_20170226_165507

Which made the space a little too West Elm-y and modern in contrast with the wallpaper.  So we layered a smaller rug we had upstairs on top:

img_20170226_165744

and thought the modern West Elm rug showed too much still.  So we took it away:

img_20170226_201653

and gave up on it because we found this vintage Turkish rug:

img_20170227_135551

which I am a HUGE fan of!  Look at it:

img_20170227_135616

Yeah-hoo!

img_20170227_135625

We have a winner.  Except for the craft room, which needed a rug.

Back to the drawing board.

(Below is a little snippet of why I was wanting a room to myself, if you’re interested):

img_20170226_102122

img_20170226_102133

img_20170226_095850

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, decorating, design, kitchen, Uncategorized, vignettes Tagged With: character, fun stuff, interior design, renovation, rug, style, update, vignette, vintage, wallpaper

« Beautiful Lighting (on a budget)
What Clients Consider the Grossest Thing Ever »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Holly Thompson


Nationally-featured designer specializing in kitchens and whole-home design. Master's Degree in Interior Design. Regular contributor to American Farmhouse Style magazine's online content. Expert at making clients' dreams a reality through exceptional interior design and highest-quality products.

Search Holly Thompson Homes

Recent Posts

  • New Location on Main Street!
  • A Little Recap of 2020
  • Well, HOME it is, then!

Recent Comments

  • Are Barn Doors Too Trendy? - Holly Thompson Homes on How to Use Barn Doors. Well.
  • How To DIY Without Cheap Results - Holly Thompson Homes on DIY Painted Checkerboard Floor Tips
  • Holly Thompson on My Newest Project

Archives

Categories

hollythompsonhomes

Holly Thompson (HTH)
The sunset at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, WA...so The sunset at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, WA...so stunning! I am enjoying a short trip before coming back to put the finishing touches on the country house for the magazine photo shoot. 📸 
#sunset #pacificnorthwest #Washington #commencementbay #vashonisland
On a trip out of state to visit my mom and I'm rig On a trip out of state to visit my mom and I'm right at home with a kitty in the background! This kitty, Aspen, reminds me of Clark but he's double the size with a triple order of fluff. 
#summer #summervacation #catsofinstagram #kitty #mainecoon #interiors #interiordesign #plants #biophilicdesign #cat #lighting #visit
The banquette area in the kitchen addition is comi The banquette area in the kitchen addition is coming together! The natural light here is amazing, and the windows open out. The top of the bench will be a live-edge slab of wood. Dave is working hard today on this, even though it's going to be in the 90s and there is no AC in the construction zone!
#hollythompsonhomes #banquette #kitchenaddition #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #liveedge #naturallight #windows #casementwindows #countryhome #countryliving #farmhousestyle
Found this intriguing fabric-covered suitcase at a Found this intriguing fabric-covered suitcase at an antique shop in Huntsville. It's going in our photoshoot for @americanfarmhousestyle magazine next month! All interior spaces need a sense of history and permanence, and vintage finds are a great way to add that. 
#hollythompsonhomes #photoshoot #vintagestyle #vintagesuitcase #plaid #check #history #style #interiors #countryliving #farmhousestyle #thisoldhouse #interiors
I have been wanting to do cabinets in a mushroom/s I have been wanting to do cabinets in a mushroom/stone color for myself and it's happening! Nantucket Dune is the cabinet color and the two round colors are the checkerboard floor. Countertop template is tomorrow and we'll have a complete kitchen in the next couple of weeks!
#hollythompsonhomes #cabinetcolors #mushroom #stone #beige #warmgray #insetcabinets #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #kitchenremodel #interiordesign #interiors #neutrals #marble
The pantry space will have these @starmarkcabinetr The pantry space will have these @starmarkcabinetry tower cabinets with rollout trays, plus open shelves and a vintage mercantile store fixture. The floor will be a painted checkerboard and I think our @etu.home farm table is going there for the island. It's all coming together this week! 
#hollythompsonhomes #countryhouse #americanfarmhousestyle #farmhousestyle #kitchendesign #kitchenrenovation #pantry #pantryorganization #starmarkcabinetry #checkerboardfloor #whitecabinets
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Holly Thompson Homes · kitchens + interior design studio

Copyright © 2022 · Hello Trending On Genesis Framework · WordPress ·