Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

New & Newer

So, there are two new acquisitions around this place! I’m not ready to share too much yet, but I can give you a couple sneak peeks!

Couch Sneak Peek

First is the amazing new 6-foot long light green couch snagged off of Craigslist. We were waiting and waiting (and saving our money) for a tufted couch in the $1,000 range. We were nowhere near reaching our savings goal but when this one popped up online for a quarter of that price, we dove right in and haven’t regretted it. Of course… that means that the apartment looks a little crazytown right now with two couches which create a head-scratcher when it comes to a new arrangement.

Table Sneak Peek

Second is the new (old) table that my parents brought down from their house yesterday. I had been meaning to retrieve it for a month or more; now it has arrived! I’m so excited to mix a little 1980s glam into our collection of predominantly mid-century modern furniture.

Boxes Sneak Peek

Thirdly, we sold our wardrobe on Craigslist and are planning on moving a bunch of stuff to a small storage unit on the first floor of our complex. Right now, however, it’s deja-vu as the living room is full of boxes again–much like it was move-in week. The goal is to move some larger items in plastic totes into storage. With a bunch of clutter out of sight and out of mind, I think the living and dining room will look much bigger and can be arranged much more intentionally!

I keep chanting “the middle makes no sense.” That post from Young House Love is my mantra right now as we have two couches pointing different directions and boxes seem to have sprung up from nowhere. The good news is that the new couch is totally comfy and despite the boxes, the room looks more spacious sans dark brown wardrobe. Can’t wait to rearrange… again!

Design Crush: Federal Mirrors

These gaudy gold mirrors popped up on my radar not long ago–I started spotting them first in posts on Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge, and then once I was clued in, it seemed like they were everywhere I looked!

There seem to be two major types of federal style mirrors–one in a circle, and one in a circle featuring an eagle. I prefer the eagle.

Click each image to be taken to its original source. 

Elle Decor

A Miles Redd interior shot for Elle Decor

glitter guide

In the home of Caitlin Moran of the Glitter Guide

The Selby

Photographed by The Selby in the home of a creative couple

Dec 2008 BHG

And a lovely one dressed up for the holidays… (Better Homes and Gardens, Dec 2008) 

One thing I found out after doing a bit more research is that the mirror in these pieces is often convex! AND–many of the recreations are made of plastic! Also, when seen in context of a room, they are often fairly small. Oh well, I still like ’em :)

A couple bloggers I follow have them:

Desert Domicile

Caitlin of Desert Domicile– I love how it looks with that navy blue wall!

Go haus go
Emily of Go Haus Go– It’s the perfect size to fit in the narrow space between those windows.

Can’t get enough? Here is another awesome federal mirror roundup.

Want one of your own? Check out these etsy listings.

What do you think of trends like this? Clearly, trends come and go and I love the nod back to the time of the American Revolution, even while the most recent resurgence (before now) was in the plastic era and produced by a company called Syroco. It’s easy to think “bleh, so trendy,” and get turned off, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t expect to see this in every American home. You know what I mean? It’s easy to see a trend pop up in blog after blog, but I don’t think that really reflects the average american homeowner. You know what I mean? Bloggers are not an adequate sample, if you want to get into polling and statistics speak. I see commenters on pinterest, twitter, and (of course) Apartment Therapy deriding things as “too trendy!” Maybe in the blogging world, sure, but when I invite friends over who don’t follow design blogs or design magazines, they have no idea that the style I’m drawn to was inspired by something I saw online or in a magazine. Do you know what I mean? I’d love to get a conversation going in the comments.

Thanks for reading! Off to work I go.

Reflecting on Rugs on Carpet

Since moving in to our current place. I have been taking part of that great, controversial experiment… area rugs on top of carpet.

I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts because others might be wondering if it’s worth it!

lampshade_before

Here’s a pretty old photo of our dining area. Under the dining table is this flat-weave zebra rug. It feels like it’s made of canvas or something–not jute or something stiff. This rug is pretty “floppy” and it bunches up daily, due to moving chairs, walking on it, etc. and has to be pulled straight. You can see some of those effects above. Still, I really like using it for a punch of personality and space definition. So, since I value aesthetics above practicality, a rug in this area is for me.

Pro: Using a rug under the dining table helps establish the space as a “room” in the open layout. 

Con: Needs a lot of attention to pull the corners flat. 

fakingasofatable1

The second rug I’m using is this simple navajo rug under the coffee table here. I love how the horizontal stripes in the rug echo the spindles in the lower part of the coffee table. Due to size, they go perfectly together. This rug doesn’t really get bunched up since it’s pinned down by the table legs pretty close to the edge on either side.

Pro: Adds another layer of texture and warmth

Con: Its size may be out-of-scale with the rest of the room

There’s no photographic evidence for my last example; my apologies. A little known fact–we experimented with having our diamond jute rug in the bedroom under the end of the bed. This turned out to be a disaster since the geometric diamond pattern made it glaringly obvious when the rug got tugged even a little bit one direction or the other. Everyday walking on it quickly got it distorted and it wasn’t as easy to adjust as the light canvas rug in the dining area. After a few weeks we decided to roll it up and store it under the bed for use in our next place.

Pro: Introducing another texture and pattern into the room seemed like a good idea; matched the curtains

Con: Got distorted very easily; huge pain in the butt

One thing to note–all the rugs I have are flat-weave, which do not have a canvas or rubber backing like tufted rugs have. This makes them prone to shifting, becoming askew, etc. A much more expensive and durable tufted rug will retain its shape more evenly and might be better for use on carpet. My parents use some looped rugs with rubberized backing in their living areas and it works.  However, any dents from placing furniture on these rugs will be exaggerated since the furniture leg must sink through the plush rug and through the plush carpet until it reaches the stable floor. This might be a dealbreaker–I believe it wouldn’t be good for the quality of the rug in the long run–so you must taking into account how much you are spending on the rug and if you ever plan on using it in another area in the future.

There you have it, my rug-on-carpet opinions.

Have you ever experimented with rugs on carpet?