Kitchen Rug

I got the pink and red Persian rug in my kitchen from eSale rugs a couple months ago. I bought it on sale for about $150 (with free shipping!), which I think is a steal.

It's Iranian, only about 60 years old and is in great condition. I love the hot pink and red with the navy!

I've used eSale Rugs a couple times now and I'm a big fan. I think their prices are very fair and the site is easy to navigate. And I love that they include tons of photos with each rug listing, so you really have a sense of what you're buying before it arrives.

Their inventory is VAST, but here are a few rugs that caught my eye today. I usually look for something with at least one pop of usual color. A bonus would be something with great contrast (both black/navy and white/cream):

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Madeline Weinrib Sample Sale (New Rug for the Girls Room!)

**Sorry for double posting this. Blogger has been having site-wide technical difficulties and all of yesterday's posts and comments were lost. Bummer. **

I got a little preview yesterday of the Madeline Weinrib sample sale happening at ABC today through next Monday. There were TONS of great rugs, pillows and fabrics.

My little Gracie Girl, who is not yet six and who has lost FOUR teeth in the past two months (!!!), was my shopping partner in crime. We made a little mommy/daughter date of the outing and indulged in Shake Shack afterwards.

Madeline Weinrib products are not inexpensive, but the designs are gorgeous and the quality is amazing - totally splurge worthy. The 30-70% off at this sale helps too, making a large cotton flatweave about the price of a Pottery Barn rug.

I picked out a couple pillows and rugs for clients and Grace tried her best to convince me on the pink and red chevron tote (close, but no cigar).

Instead I used my motherly powers of persuasion to get G to fall in love with this fun dhurrie. I've had my eye on the design for a while now and there was only one of these at the sale. It just happened to be the exact size I needed for the girls room, so we'll just say it was fate and that I couldn't say no. Plus, it's called the Jellybaby Rug. I mean, come on. So cute.

If you're in the city, stop by the sale ASAP - it's worth it! If you're not local, try giving Rick, who is the manager of the clearance basement at ABC, a call and tell him I sent you. They are so helpful and are always willing to ship to other states.

(Heaven on earth, I say...)

Dear Jenny: Can I Use a Rug on my Wall-to-Wall Carpet?

Here's a question from a reader that I know many of you living in newer homes have asked yourself:

Hi Jenny,
I am helping with a friend on her house (just a few ideas for her girl's nursery) & I suggested that she put a rug on top of her carpet. She declined & I persisted. :) She finally said she thinks it looks tacky & cheap. Oh no! I have never thought that and I'm wondering if I'm way off-base. Does it just depend on the type of rug (weight of it) or do rugs on top of carpet always look tacky?

I'm going to open this one up to the comments section, because I think the vote is going to be pretty split. Also my answer is a pretty lame one: it depends. I think overall, I prefer no area rugs on top of wall-to-wall carpeting, at least carpeting that has a pile greater than 1/2". I feel like the area rug never sits right on top of shaggier carpet.

Here are some examples that I do like in kids rooms. Notice how low the pile is with all of these carpets:

Serena and Lily


House and Home Magazine


unknown


Marie Claire Maison


Coastal Living


Angie Hranowsky (thanks Vinyasa Mama for the source!)

And of course, I LOVE the look of an area rug layered on top of natural fiber rugs or flooring.

Lonny


O at Home


Country Living


Peter Dunham

When we rented a house in Delaware last year, our bedrooms upstairs had carpeting and I opted out of floor rugs. I actually felt like it was a bit of a bonus. Rugs are EXPENSIVE!! If you were counting on the rug to add some pattern or to define the space, use the hundreds of dollars you're saving to invest in a pair of benches with a great pattern. Or amazing window treatments.

What do you think, readers? Do any of you have area rugs layered on top of your carpet? How is it working for you?

P.S. If you have a very general question about home decor that you would like to see answered here, please email your submission to jenny @jennykomenda.com. Please keep the emails brief and remember that the question should be relevant to most LGN readers.

**PPS As I was waiting for the photos to upload for this post, I was lost in thought, staring at my desk. Suddenly I realized that what I was staring at was an area rug on top of high pile carpet on the cover of this month's Elle Decor! Looks great here:

Three Things

1) I'm so glad you guys like my new rug! It came yesterday, but it's still all wrapped up along with the new rug pad. I wanted to finish painting the cabinets that flank the tv (you know, the ones that I silver leafed the glass). The final coat of paint goes on this morning after the school drop offs and then I'll unroll the new carpet. Can you even believe my self control!? I'm shocked myself.

Speaking of my new rug, Rick from ABC called me yesterday after seeing my post and said people have been calling from all over the country placing orders for Weinrib pillows and rugs! Exciting! As a thank you, he said you can get an extra 10% off items from the ABC Basement by mentioning my blog.

So wherever you live, if you've got a Weinrib style in mind, give Rick a call and he'll do his best to help you. If you're local, don't forget to check out all the amazing hand-knotted rugs and of course the remnants section. There's more of my yellow and cream Karastan...

2) Next item of business: I'm really loving this print available at West Elm. Do you see all the birds? This simple kind of piece looks great in a gallery wall or above brightly painted furniture.

3) The last thing is I'm really excited that the projects at Casa Komenda are finally getting some attention. Over the weekend, we sold almost all of the extra furniture and in the freed up space, we set up the new double-length desk. Also the daybed was delivered! Can't wait to share.

On Monday I hung the star sconces next to the vintage gold mirror. It's hard to tell but they are really nice wall lamps. I was super impressed with the quality and I don't actually even mind the oil-rubbed bronze finish. Even still, I'll probably end up painting them a fun color on top, and the wall color on the cord cover. Also, the shades will get some ribbon trim.

The vintage bookshelf was (still is!) in really bad shape. I used literally half a tub of wood filler to smooth out all the cracks and holes (all that funny brown texture on the shelf backs). Also, I added the fancy studded trim from Michaels and I love the look! I need to pick up two more strips to finish off the bottom row and then I'll paint the whole thing and get it styled with baskets and books. Progress!

Alright, enough rambling. I have a Purdy brush and a mini roller waiting patiently for me...

ABC Carpet Clearance Basement

I have been trying to find the right living room rug for ages. I needed something really huge (I was hoping for about 12x14), which is almost impossible to find in stores or online. And antique rugs get astronomically expensive when they are that big. I've purchased carpet remnants for odd-sized rooms in the past and thought I would just do that again and maybe save up for an antique rug down the road.

I'm not going to go into detail here, but I had two very negative customer service experiences with two different Home Depot carpet departments here in the NYC area that really put me off. I was all ready to order a rug in this great diamond pattern, but it didn't happen either time because of incompetent/rude employees. And I'm pretty laid back, so you know it must have been bad if it upset me!

The carpet is by Stainmaster and is a great deal at about $2.50 per square foot and then $2 per linear foot for the binding. You guys all know that I love Home Depot - I am a loyal customer there usually, so I don't mind sharing these photos in case you're also looking for a large area rug or wall to wall. Hopefully you have a better ordering experience than I did.

Before I tried for a THIRD time to order the diamond carpet from Home Depot, I decided to stop into the clearance section in the basement at ABC Carpet and Home (a big thanks to Abbey for the tip!). They are having a 50% off sale right now on unfinished remnants.

I ended up getting this 12x15 gold and cream striped Karastan remnant (in the middle) for just a couple hundred dollars -- about what the Home Depot rug would have cost.

It's getting delivered this morning and I can't wait to roll it out in my living room! Rugs are probably my least favorite thing to shop for (they're SO expensive!!), but they really make a big difference in the feel of a space.

A HUGE thanks to ABC for their incredible customer service. Special shout out to Rick, who has worked there for 28 years! If you're in the New York area, I highly recommend stopping by to check out the huge clearance basement. Grab a Madeline Weinrib rug or pillow for half off while you're there.

PS Someone should buy this beauty. I think it was 8x10 (too small for my LR), and I was still sooo tempted.

No Rug?

I have to admit, if I had gorgeous herringbone floors like Mr. Romano, I would be tempted to leave them bare too.

What do you think? You spend so much money on wood or tile, just to spend more money on covering it up?

Do you need a rug to make a room feel finished?

images via Todd Romano and Elle Decor

A big kitchen would be nice too...

I haven't had a chance to look at the new Lonny yet, but I saw this kitchen on another blog and got super excited for the new issue. Do you spy the pretty oriental rug? Love it. And look at all those accessories! Who says a kitchen has to be boring?

Oriental Rugs

A number of you have asked about my sources for small and inexpensive oriental rugs. Flea markets and thrift stores are the best places to look (my two kitchen rugs are from Brussels fleas - 5 euros each!). But if you don't have any good auctions or flea markets nearby, and you have the patience to search through the junk, eBay has some great finds. Here's the search that I use.

I love this 2x4 rug, it's the perfect size for a kitchen - $50 Buy It Now with free shipping:

Pretty Rugs at Burke Decor

Burke Decor is a new-to-me resource. I'm loving their rug selection.

Here are a few that I'm considering for our home:

blue and ivory

gray stripe

black floral

white and beige geometric

PS - saw this ad on Lonny for an extra 7% off at Burke using the code "HEARTS". Every little bit helps!