First up is the before shot of our front door. We had been using the previous owner's mat, which of course was in keeping with the tropical-palm tree-pink motif that had saturated the home before we got our hands on it.
Very cute... if you live in Barbados, maybe. But we don't, so it was time to move on. When I spotted this cutout patterned rubber mat for just $8 at Garden Ridge, I knew it was "the one"...
I love the detailing on it, and since I obsess over basically anything with the cutout/brocade look, it was the perfect way for me to welcome guests in.
Just on the other side of the doorway laid this monstrosity... no, we hadn't touched it either since moving in:
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| Oh look, more palm trees... |
Slightly embarassing. So when I laid my eyes on this beauty from Garden Ridge (also for $8), it made my day:
I'm absolutely in love with the woven textures, it feels so cozy and homey. And the colors are perfect—this is basically the entire palette of the house rolled into one square. I also love how it brings a splash of color to the entryway, something it was previously lacking up until now. This is definitely one of my favorite things in the house.
And now for the grand finale... our brand new bedroom rug! I've been wanting one of these for so long, so I made sure to snatch one up on our Ikea trip a few weeks back. It's the Tarnby rug, handwoven 100% jute, measuring 5'11" x 8'2", for only $100! What a steal.
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| Sorry, no before shot... I was too embarassed of the old stained rug to snap a pic! |
Of course since things that are too good to be true usually are, there is one slight problem. From what I've read and seen online... this rug is a hardwood floor's worst nightmare. Not only does it shed, but it can leave permanent imprints in the wood, even with rug pads. We were not about to let some $100 rug ruin our $5000 floors, so we tried to think of a fool proof way to protect them. I wasn't about to trust any rug pad, so we scoured the aisles of Home Depot looking for a better alternative. We immediately noticed a roll of the wood floor underlay (you know, that thin white foam that goes under your wood/laminate?) and I thought it would be perfect. But they only sold it in 100sq.ft rolls for $25. Not that $25 is a whole lot to spend, but we concluded that it was wasteful and that there had to be a better solution for cheaper.
We moved onto the carpet section and took a look at the carpet padding, but the foam was so thick, it wouldn't have looked right.
Finally we gave up, and came home to work with existing materials. We had a TON of cardboard leftover from all of our recent purchases, so we started measuring it out and making the cuts.
This is what we ended up with:
Not pretty, but it gets the job done (and it was free!). No one will ever know (except those if you in blogland, but you can keep a secret, right?)
So that's the latest happenings in our pad. I'm extremely excited about what's coming up this weekend. We stayed up late last night hooking up our brand new, beefed up computer and fancy schmancy new printer. Good things will come of this... and I can't wait to show you all! :) Be back in a few days...
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