Pam has been in the mood to share some of her new house goodies — like her Geneva Kitchens banner and her ‘new’ NOS Live Better Electrically Medallion Home doorbell, and she invited me to play Show ‘n Tell, too. What’s new at my house? My colorful, cheery dining room rug. Believe it or not, it took me quite a while to find just the perfect rug for my space — I must have looked at thousands of rugs before deciding on this one — but I had some stiff criteria for my search…
Prior to this new rug, I had a solid orange rug made of carpet tiles (Flor). I liked the look of the solid orange rug, but I had used it under the dining room table for many years — including since my dog Leo was a puppy in our last house — and it was looking quite tired and stained from all the dropped food stains and doggy dirt that had collected on it over the years.
For my new rug, I wanted something that was colorful, primarily warm hues since that coordinates well with the other colors found in my dining room, would hide future food spills and doggy dirt better than a solid color, and was not too high contrast and patterned. I came across loads of extremely bold, graphic, high contrast rug patterns in my search — many of which would have made me feel dizzy standing on them. There were so many greiged out options and muted colors that just wouldn’t have fit well into my Crayola bright interior decor. And then there were still more that were close, but had too much purple, blue or green in them to be to my liking. I also didn’t want to spend a fortune on a rug likely to have food dropped on it. Finding a new rug is hard work!
Finally, I found the Pop Abstract multi-color rug on Overstock.com and decided to give it a try. (Note, I purchased the 7’10″x 10’2″ size, which is no longer available on Overstock, but the same rug in that size — called the Splash Rug Multi-Colored Brushstrokes — is still available on Wayfair.)
I liked how the rug seemed to pull together all of the different colors going on in my dining room and adjoining living room — the aqua from the walls, green from another wall, orange from everywhere, white from the tulip table and chairs, etc. and make everything come together nicely. Even though the size of the rug (7’10″x 10’2″) was a little larger than I needed, I preferred going with a slightly larger rug under the dining table instead of one that felt a bit too small.
The extra added rug space is also now a favorite relaxation and napping spot for our resident pup, Leo, too!
Diane in CO says
I love the new rug, but I really LOVE Leo!
tulsatammy says
I think you said in another post, but what is the tangerine paint color on the wall with your Brasilia china cabinet?
Kate says
It is Sherwin-Williams “Outgoing Orange” You can see all of the paint colors I used in my house in our post on Light Reflective Values of paint: https://retrorenovation.com/2015/07/21/choose-right-paint-colorsl-light-reflective-value/
Mary Hutka says
I love your rug. It reminds me of the Mid-century modest house my family lived in until I was 11. It had hardwood floors and a long hallway. My mother put a long hall runner down the hall that looks the same as your rug. She called it candy-striped. Your rug reminds me of that ????
Kate says
ohhhh! My Grandma had some candy striped rugs in her house. My new rug does remind me a bit of those! I hadn’t connected those two — maybe that’s one of the reasons I liked the rug so much! 🙂
Kathy says
You can still buy stair runner by the yard in a pattern and colors very similar to your rug. I have some old stuff in my basement stairwell that is still going strong. Great at hiding dirt and very cheerful.
MsKittyMuses says
That looks wonderful Kate! Well done!
I’m desperately going through the same type of search for hallway runners, and have the same criteria, except I’m looking for some more aqua to tie in our living room better and lightening the space. Our hallway is quite long and dark. I even saw the rug you bought a few days ago on Overstock and loved it, but of course a runner size was not available. It’s turning into quite an ordeal! Silly pets ruin everything, this is literally why we can’t have nice things!
I kid, I wouldn’t trade my dog and cats for anything. But man they can make it hard in the home decor arena!
Kate says
hahah yes, pets are a challenge when it comes to decorating. Leo is not allowed on the furniture, which saves a lot of headache when it comes to cleaning, but I’m not gonna lie, I always purchase flooring and rugs with not only my decor in mind, but also how it will work with the dog! 🙂
April says
I think the rug is perfect for your room! Absolutely Love It!
Area rugs are one of the hardest thing to choose because they can make or break a space. I was looking forever as well and finally found a vintage one that seems exact to one my aunt had in the 60’s.
I was hoping one day you would have an uploader of area rugs that your followers would share. I’d love to see what others have in their homes.
Mary Elizabeth says
Excellent idea. April! I liked the story about oriental rugs in MCM homes.
April says
me too! made me want to see more of what others are using out there, vintage or new
Mary Elizabeth says
Love the rug, and yes, I love how it pulls together the colors of your house. Someone was asking in another story for rugs made in the US, and I just wanted to say there is a sale at J.C. Penny on Mohawk area rugs, many of which would go with MCM decor.
And why are all my comments going to moderation all of a sudden?
Kate says
Pam has put all comments in moderation for the moment, it isn’t just you Mary E! 🙂
Mary Elizabeth says
I won’t take offense, then. 🙂 I’m sure there are reasons, like how busy you both are getting ready for the next gig/adventure!
pam kueber says
I think from now on, moderation will always be on. I have been trying to “shut off” after 5 p.m. and on weekends and not be on the blog all the time. Once I turned on moderation during those periods, it just made sense to leave it on all the time. 9-5 M-F we free them up regularly.
I need to put a notice by the comments; on this list.
Hey, where did my Gravatar suddenly disappear to? Another thing to whac-a-mole!
Carolyn says
EEK! Kate! You broke the Number 1, primary, cardinal rule of: Buy the rug/carpet, match the paint. BUT, as you gals pointed out a little while ago, rules are made to be broken.
Sometimes it seems you can’t help but trip over all the things you want or need to pull your decor together. Then other times you start to think that maybe you’re going to have to make it yourself (your rug squares)! Lucky you, you found what, in my opinion, works better than the solid orange rug, even without the different painted walls. It’s one of those “you can’t help but smile” elements.
And Leo…such a good puppy holding down that end of the rug, right in the path where everyone walks so they can’t help but admire the rug too. Such a sweetie.
Kate says
Haha, yes perhaps I broke the rules of decorating, but I like my wall colors so much (I’ve had them that way for almost 6 years now) and I didn’t want to repaint just to match a rug, so I went on an exhaustive search to find just the right rug to match the walls and decor. Surely it is easier to do it the other way around, but with some extra patience and perseverance, it is possible to “do it the hard way” and come out with a great result!
Leo is the official rug tester of the house. He makes sure to take a nap on every rug in the whole house at least once a day to make sure they are all in good working order. 😉
Becky says
I love that rug! It looks absolutely perfect in that room. Are your table and chairs vintage?
Kate says
Thanks Becky! Yes, they are vintage. The table is vintage Burke and the chairs are the real-deal vintage Saarinen tulip chairs (from the 60s) that I found for a bargain, cleaned up and then made my own new seat foam cushions and vinyl covers! It was a lot of work and very challenging, but I love how the set turned out! They are SUPER comfortable, too!
Clarence Ellis says
Really nice! I like how the color of the rug border coordinates with the vinyl on your tulip chairs. I think it adds just the right pop.
Jay says
Very nice! Up close, looks like an array of colorful dots and dashes. Leo corrdinates well with it. The size choice was wise, many people don’t realize the rug for a dining area needs to be large enough for people to push their chairs out without going off the edge of the rug. Plus you have adequate room if you need to place chairs at either end. Thanks for sharing!
Kate says
Thanks Jay! We actually do have two more tulip chairs that we put on the ends when we have extended family over for dinner. When it is just the two of us, we put the two extra chairs around our kitchen tulip table. 🙂