Rugs, Pilows... and a basement in shambles.

Hello and happy Monday to you all! So today I figured we'd start the week together with another little huge home update post.
I did one of these type of posts weeks back and you guys seemed to like it, so here we are again!  I share specific home posts here and there, but this type is more collective.  Some updates about what we're planning, progress we've made, some new purchases, etc.  Basically, it's just what's going on around here.
I could probably space these out into a ton of tiny unnecessarily specific posts, but since nothing is too groundbreaking, I thought we'd just go crazy and discuss all of it.
Let's party.

So we're talking a lot about rugs. I'm a big believer in them. They protect your floors, make a space feel cozy, and add another decorative element to a room.  There are so many rug styles out there. When you select one for your space, it really is a unique expression of your style. It makes your room look totally different and more "you".  They can be expensive, but I always find mine either on sale or from affordable places. Plus, you'll keep a nice rug forever.

Alright so you may remember in the last update post, I updated our breakfast nook in the kitchen with my grandmother's antique pedestal table and some really pretty and unique "Kubu" chairs. Not so updated and pretty? The rectangular rug. Let's reflect....



I love the pretty quatrefoil design and the contrast. I'm big on contrast. Our kitchen so far? Lacking a lot of it. So I thought this rug added a pretty modern/glam element to the antique table and the more subdued tone-on-tone feel of the kitchen. Like I've said so many times, my style is all about mixing it up to create a nice balance. So far, we're loving this rug! I got it from Overstock.


Speaking of new rugs, let's move on to the front "formal" living room/office. It lived without an area rug for 6 months. Funny enough, we never really used the space. Of course, we'd use my little office corner of the room for the printer and other office-y tasks (I also like to take photos of makeup/products on the desk in there), but it lacked the cozy feeling that a sitting/living room should feel.

For actual "living", we use our big family room.


For such a huge and lofty room, it feels super cozy because of the rug (scored years ago from the Pottery Barn outlet). So it's no surprise that when the new rug went down in the living room, we started hanging out in there a lot more. Funny how a cozy rug will do that.

Here she is...

Much more inviting, huh? The desk/my office space is to the right in this photo directly across from the white love seat.
This rug is fab. I had been lusting over a rug in this style since we lived in our last house. I could just never find one that was affordable and didn't look cheap or old and worn out already. This one is perfect. I especially love the chunky braided fringe on the ends. Makes it feel a little more special. This beauty was a find from Rugs USA.

While rugs are a pretty large item that makes a huge impact on a room, smaller items in a fun fabric can really freshen up a space and change the whole feel. Like these little precious pillows I had made for our bedroom.


I've always loved this fabric and it seems to be popping up all over the place now. I plan on using these year-round. They give the same fresh feel as having a pretty green plant in a room.


Kate Spade has similar ones for a ridiculous price. To me, I'd rather pick a pretty fabric myself and have something unique (and save some $).

I think they changed the whole feel of the room. To me, nothing is better in a bedroom than a white fluffy bed- white bedding, black accents (again, with my love of contrast), light walls, and dark wood. It just feels fresh and comfortable and since a bedroom is such a personal space, it gives you the option of changing up the whole feel of the room in a second on the cheap by adding a colorful throw or fun pillows.

So speaking of rugs, I almost forgot about another one that's recently made it's way in. I've never really settled on one I love for the foyer. The zebra one I showed the last time I updated you on the foyer ended up looking a bit cheap in there (it was literally like $40 and I've had it for 7 years...). With all the constant vacuuming (Waylon's hair), it just wasn't holding up well. So I ordered something different for it. It arrived and while I loved the rug, I hated it in the foyer. So I brought up a round one from the basement temporarily (I'm still on the hunt for a perfect one), but it totally works for now. The point of all that? The one I ordered that didn't really work with the foyer works perfectly in the basement.

I haven't shared many (any?) pics of the basement. It's a total work in progress. Even more so than any other space. It has a darker, more masculine feel. Nothing on the walls yet... I'm still trying to feel it out.

This is the little living area down there and the new rug that made it feel much cozier.


These pics are not the best- It's so hard to photograph that room. But the rug has a vintage, faded feel and is very velvety with a bit of a sheen.  This one was another really affordable Overstock find.



The table and chairs were actually in the garage sale pile, until we realized it makes a great game/craft table in the little bar area. We have some BIG plans for this area! We'd also like to install a pretty industrial light fixture above the table eventually.

Oh, and for the sake of keeping it real (and speaking of garage sale piles)...


This is also what has been going on around here. MAJOR cleaning out. This room is huge and often completely empty. We're thinking of making it into a game room. Brad's media room is beyond this room through the doorway on the back wall and the doorway in the right wall of the room leads to a workout area and some major storage... Which is where we pulled all of this out of. There's a method to this mess... The stuff on the right behind the little wall is the garage sale pile, the stuff in the middle (boxes, etc) is trash/recycling, and the stuff in the back left is ALL of our holiday stuff. We're talking Christmas, Fall, Spring, Halloween, etc... It's not as much as it looks. But I basically made it a point to clean out everything before the holidays really roll around this year because I know we'll be getting a HUGE tree that will need storage space of it's own, and I just didn't want to keep things we didn't need.
So the plan is to put all of the holiday stuff in another big storage area we have in the back of the media room. Just so that the work out room doesn't start overflowing with holiday crap.

So it's a total work in progress around here. Tonight, the goal is to have the room looking like this again...

Something tells me Waylon won't be very helpful... ;)

So what's going on around your house? Anyone else in a major cleaning out mood like I am?