A Rug for Miriam's Cottage

Sooooooooooo...........

We left off after I showed you guys the draperies I made for my niece Miriam and her hubby Ross's living room.

Now,

when I was a big timey decorator.....

I never ordered the fabric for a room until I had worked out the whole scheme.

That included the rug.....

That's right....

the rug.....

That way, I wouldn't get backed into a design corner that I couldn't escape.

Well.

For this room, I figured we would do a seagrass rug like I did for them in the dining room.

SO I happily went to Calico Corners with Miriam and we chose the fabric without a worry in the world about finding a rug to work with the scheme we were putting together.

THEN I FOUND OUT THAT ROSS WANTED A COMFY RUG.....

He wanted to be able to roll around on the floor with Perla the wonderdog.

OY, OY, OY, OY.......

Now we were working with a blue that wasn't a true blue.

Wasn't green.

Was a little off, just like moi!!!!!

I needed to find a style that would also work with the cottage feel of the  painted furniture.

I was up @#$ creek without hands to hold the damn paddle.

I was sweating bullets.

But.....

don't tell Miriam!!!!!

'cuz she thinks I know what I'm doing.

I found a wool sisal blend that had a soft feel.

I was hoping it would be just the ticket.

We got a sample and tried it out.

I tried it out in front of the sectional.....

Wasn't lovin' it.....

I tried it out in front of the linen press.....

Nope.

Wasn't doin' it for me.

Or Miriam.

Or Ross.

So it was back to the internet.

Now if this had been for one of my clients.....

I simply would have gone to the Boston Design Center and had a rug custom made.

But the budget for this project didn't cover that.

Luckily my time for my family is in unbillable hours.......

Well,

Miriam kept finding rugs she wanted me to check out on the world wide web.

And I kept telling her why they were crap and wouldn't work.

I started finding some blue ones, but they weren't the right blue.

But I showed them to Miriam so that she would get an idea of what I was trying to find.

And then she started finding ones that just might work!!!!!

So I had her buy the smallest size of each one, so we could see them.

She sent back the ones that didn't work.

That damn dawg has to be in the middle of all the action..........

Well,

we all fell in love with the same one.

I tried it all over the room, to make sure it was the one.

It worked with the linen press I painted!!!!!

It worked with the green table I painted!!!!!

It worked with the little metal table I painted!!!!!

Sooooooo...........

I figured out the sizes we needed and had Miriam order an 8X10, and a 5X8.

They make the room sooooooo cozy.

The oriental they had been using was much darker.

These rugs really brightened up the space.

They also made the room feel larger.

The rugs go perfectly with the walls.

Boy did I luck out!!!!!

So inviting!!!!!

That's just a corner of one of the pink striped chair slipcovers.

I brought it over for a test.

It didn't have the skirt or cushion yet.

I am finishing up the chairs today.

What a pain in the rear......

That green chair is from the dining room.

I painted four of them for Miriam.

I also painted four white ones with green detailing.

The ones that end up in the living room will have seat covers in the floral fabric we chose for the room.

Miriam wants touches of pink, which is why we chose this fabric, and why I painted the metal table the way I did.

As you can see....

designing a room is building layers on layers on layers on layers on...........

So, here is a side by side of the progress so far, from where we started

 to where we are now.....

So,

I have to go back up to my sewing room, and finish the last seat cushion.

The chairs have T cushions.

I've never sewn one before, and I hope I'll never have to sew another.

THEY BE HARD!!!

On that note,

Latah, Gatah