The Foyer Rug and Problems with Perspective

I have a history of ordering things online and expecting them to be much bigger than they actually are. One time I ordered a bunch of stuff for the kids for Christmas, thinking confidently that I had ordered them so much stuff; it was going to look like TEN Christmases when it got here. I wouldn't need to buy another thing! And then the box arrived, and I was like, "oh, they must be sending it in.....SEVEN boxes. This box is far too small for all of the amazing things I ordered." Only then I opened up the box and there were all the toys...miniature versions of what I was sure I had ordered.

Mind you, no one had been dishonest or tricked me in any way. I just don't pay attention when they tell you what sizes things are. This has been going on pretty much since ordering things off the internet was first invented, and I have NEVER learned to stop doing it.

I've made a helpful graphic to illustrate this problem I have, using Abe's toys:

Okay, so! I actually DID know exactly how big the rug I ordered for the foyer was. And I had measured the foyer, so I knew how big a space it was supposed to occupy, too. But somehow, getting these two numbers to meld together in my head did not work very well.

But let's back up.

A little while ago, I presented some of my finalists for the coveted position of New Foyer Rug and asked you guys to help me pick one. I'm not even sure which one won, because a lot of you mentioned your top two or three instead of just picking one, and then some of you said, "the purple one," and there were TWO purple ones. I think you probably meant the purple one that I didn't actually buy, though. Also the vote was fairly evenly split, it seemed like.

So that part wasn't really all that helpful, although I know everybody tried their best. What WAS super helpful, though, was how a few people pointed out, either directly or indirectly, that this rug was going to be right by my front door, for everyone who came in or out of the house to trample over. This was something that seriously had not even occurred to me in my "ooh! pretty rugs!" fervor. I eliminated the popular but mostly white Moroccan dhurrie right then and there. And then I went ahead and tossed out the wool choices, hoping that the cotton ones would stand up better to being tossed in the washing machine (I'm not sure if you're really supposed to toss your cotton rug in the washing machine, but I think I'm probably going to give it a try whether you are or not).

Maybe at this point I should mention which rug I bought?

I went with......


The Zig Cotton Dhurrie from Serena and Lily!

Once I decided on cotton, there weren't many choices left, but this one had originally been my and Dave's favorite anyway. I found a coupon code online, and it was already marked way down, so it also wound up being one of the cheapest (after shipping, I think we paid just under $70). And since the original price made it one of the MOST expensive choices, I felt like I was getting a FANCY rug. And you know I loves me some fancy.

So my rug got here, and I eagerly unwrapped it, and....it was....small.

To be precise, it was exactly what size it was supposed to be. Only that was smaller than I had pictured.

Well, here, take a look (child and beagle shown for size comparison purposes. And because they wouldn't get out of the way):

That's not a rug! That's an overgrown door mat!

The good news is, it turns out the rug is exactly the right size for the space between the bench and the stairs. Which is great, because maybe you'll be sitting on that bench with your feet on the floor? And they would be cold? Only they're NOT because of the rug! Yay!

But that still leaves the problem of my rugless other half of the foyer.

But the good news THERE is that layering rugs is totally trendy right now. I know because I read it on Apartment Therapy.

So that's what I'm thinking now. ANOTHER rug! This time bigger. Like all the way to 5 by 7 (that one is only 3 by 5). Overlapping with rug #1.

Who wants to help me out with rug shopping again? Rug layering good or bad? What kind of pattern/color/etc. would you go with there?

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The World is Too Full of Rugs

I feel like I'm referencing a poem with that title, but, if I am, I don't know which one it is.

(a ha! I googled. I knew it sounded familiar! Wordsworth:

THE world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Yeah, buying a rug is not really much like that. Well, maybe. I feel like I have laid waste my powers with online rug shopping. A little. I still have some powers. And I haven't given my heart away to any particular rug yet. That's what this post is for!)

Where was I?

Ah yes.

Last time I bought a rug, I bought it out of weariness and desperation. It worked out okay; I still like my weariness and desperation rug:

But, as I mentioned the other day, I've been thinking my foyer is looking a little rugless....and this time I thought it might be better to approach rug buying with a bit more intentionality than last time.

To that end, I have taken the extraordinary steps of thinking about what kind of rug I might want and spending some time narrowing down my options. It's been sort of a revolutionary day for me.

And, it turns out, this is a fun thing to do! Particularly when you're not in a rush to buy a rug before your baby learns to crawl. So excited am I by my potential foyer rugs that I've decided to share them right here on my blog and solicit opinions.

This is the what the foyer looks like with a naked floor:

I measured that space between the door and the wall and then over to where the stairs start, and it's around 6 by 7 feet. So I've been looking at 4x6 and 3x5 rugs, mostly.

I didn't really have much sense of what kind of rug I wanted going in to my search. Something fairly flat since the door will have to open over it. But I was pretty open as far as style, color, etc. I just kind of went through different sites and bookmarked things that appealed to me that I thought might work well in the space.

I bookmarked one million rugs, then showed them all to Dave when he got home, and we narrowed it down a bit. I present, in no particular order, the frontrunners!

Urban Bungalow: Rugs USA

I was a little surprised to find myself gravitating toward black and white rugs. This is a wool flatweave rug, 3'6" by 5'6". After the 50% discount code, it would be $103.50. 

Hand woven Moroccan Dhurrie: Overstock.com

This one's a bit of an outlier because it's green! Also might be too similar to the rug in the sunroom, pattern wise. It's another wool flatweave (I think they're all flatweave). $65.99, 3x5.

Amethyst Avira: World Market

I kind of thought I'd wind up going purple when I first started looking. Another 3x5 wool flatweave. I just realized this one is $149, though, which makes it considerably pricier than any other option. But World Market has a lot of sales.

Plum&Bow Amelia: Urban Outfitters

This is one that I like, but no one else in my house does. Because they're all BOYS! Anyway. Only $44. This one's cotton.

Zig Cotton Dhurrie: Serena and Lily

Also cotton. It's clearance priced right now at $78.99.

I won't reveal my favorite. Or my current favorite, anyway. I go back and forth. Which would you pick?

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