Living Room Update: Two New Rugs For a Cozy, Layered Look
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Our living room refresh is coming along!
Slowly but surely, we’re giving the room we spend the most amount of time in (besides the kitchen, naturally) a little update by making seemingly small changes that have quite a big impact. Case in point: switching out our old rug for two new ones.
Remember when we painted our living room white at the end of last year? That was really what kicked off our wanting to give this room a little makeover. We didn’t hate the way it used to look by any means, but after 2020 felt so dark and grim, I think we both wanted to brighten up at least one of the rooms in our house (almost our entire house is painted Urban Putty by Sherwin Williams and even though it’s our favorite color ever, there’s something so crisp and airy about a white room isn’t there?).
We had already been working on rearranging the furniture in our home for the last couple of months, and because we spend so much time in there, the living room seemed like the natural choice to devote the most time to. Plus it’s fun to switch things up every now and then! For us, it’s a creative outlet to constantly move things in our house around. Do you do the same thing?
We wanted to keep things fairly neutral and have little pops of color here and there. But not too much! Remember how I still want to hang navy velvet curtains in here? I returned the ones that I ordered that didn’t fit and just need to re-order some new ones. Although now that the new rugs are in here, I might be rethinking navy blue? Maybe a rust color or linen? TBD.
Anyway, we ended up going with two rugs from RugsUSA.com and putting the smaller one on top. We love the look of layering a rug on top of another, because few things create a more cozy and comfortable atmosphere in a space than when you add layers to a room (like books, pillows, throws, curtains, blinds, rugs, art, etc.). Think of all of those things as the finishing touches that make a house a home and create a lived-in feel that a lot of us strive for.
The bottom is a jute rug and boy is it comfortable. It feels so good on your feet when you walk and is a lot more plush and squishy than I think either of us thought it would be. Jute rugs don’t have a reputation for being extremely comfy to walk on, but this one absolutely is.
The top is a more traditional medallion rug in style, but it’s also jute (50% jute, 50% polyester), and it’s also super comfy! It’s even Alyster approved! He’s been enjoying the new rugs a ton, always stretched out or plopped down on them relaxing in the evening sun.
If you’re new here, you’re probably wondering what the living room looked like before, so here it is:
And again, here’s what it looks like now:
Not the biggest change, is it? Blink and you might miss it, but in person (and maybe you see it in the photos) there is a noticeable difference in there. It feels…happier. Brighter. More of the look we were going for.
Don’t get me wrong, we both love the old antique Persian rug that used to live in there and plan on using it in another room in the future, but it was dark, a little too dark for what we wanted. The new rugs give off the vintage vibes we loved abut the old one while simultaneously lending themselves to the updated look we were after. All in all, they’re just a better fit for that room in our opinion.
Black, white and brown is my absolute favorite color scheme ever. Something about them paired together does things to me! We have a little of each of those colors in every room of our house and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of that look. See how good the white walls with the black frames and the brown doors/blinds look with the tan jute rug? And see how the pops of color throughout the room in the form of plants and books and pillows really shine against the more muted colors?
Now if we can just find a way to straighten out that chandelier that hangs in the middle of the room (or remove it all together?). I don’t know, though. It’s leftover from when this was our dining room, but to be honest we like the warm glowy light it gives off when it’s on. It creates an ambiance and completely changes the feel of the room and I don’t think we’re ready to part with it just yet.
