Area rugs for a Traditional Style
While my arms are busy with my young family this year, my aesthetic focused-mind is always problem-solving. After 5 years in this house, we haven’t changed a lot of things that you can SEE because there was a lot of roofing, plumbing and electrical things that had priority. So naturally, as I have sat around my house (even more than usual in the past year) I found myself gearing up to make some changes.
My Style & Starting the Hunt:
This fall I finally grew sick enough of our family room rug that I decided to ditch it. Unfortunately we quickly realized that this particular room works best with a rug (especially with two babies learning to walk). I searched high and low for the “rug of my dreams”. Now, my style isn’t super consistent with the trends that you are seeing on HGTV or Fixer Upper. I’m kind of a minimal “grandmillennial”. I love feminine details, architectural elements and tradition—but I also have 3 little boys running around so it can’t be too “fussy”. Nothing wrong with mid-century modern or boho, I’m just more traditional and European in my tastes (another reason we haven’t updated the house much—the current decor trends haven’t fit my vibe!). So here is a little glimpse into what I was looking for:
Rug “Wish List”:
Traditional aesthetic/pattern (nothing geometric or aztec or boho) that would hide stains
Light color palette but not white
Nothing too bright or wild or “trendy”
Brown/gold tones included
NOT GREY (sorry if you love grey rugs, just not what I was looking for!)
Looks good with my navy blue couches but doesn’t look matchy-matchy
Around 8x10 in size
Under $250 (this is going to be LIIIIVED on, so I don’t want to be crushed when it gets dirty or stained, etc)
Wool would be ideal
The hunt was honestly months long. I spent hours searching for the “perfect” rug. And when I found one that I loved, it was out of my price range this time around. So I kept hunting and found quite a few more options! Thankfully I finally found one that Todd and I both really liked (he lets me take the lead on these projects, but I felt like he needed a say in this larger piece).
Here are some of the beauties that I found:
I ended up purchasing the very first rug. I love the soft blue and the gold/beige tones that show off my wood floors and antiques!
We moved into this house 5 years ago and have a long term dedication to living below our means. Because of this lifestyle, I am pretty careful before I spend any money or change things in our home. This includes smaller updates like painting or purchasing furniture and decor as well as larger updates. That doesn’t mean that I don’t do ANYTHING, but I keep it small so that when we have a larger remodel, we can act on it and pay in cash.