Notice anything different?
Yep, there’s a new rug in town. But, first, the back story…
I love the sisal rug shown above. It’s crazy durable and after a year of living with three kids, it looks the same as the day the UPS man delivered it. One caveat. Not everyone’s feet are as seasoned as mine. I grew up in the country where it was okay normal to walk outside barefoot. I still prefer bare feet over the trendiest shoes. {That’s why you see my feet naked in nearly every photo of me on the blog.} But my HH and my kiddos have sensitive feet {the kids get all of their persnickety traits from their father – ha!} which deem the natural sisal a little too “scratchy” and “rough”. Sissies, I say!
To put the rug-related whining at bay, I made a futile attempt to layer a striped DIY rug over the sisal but it was welcomed with little excitement. Still not comfy enough for my delicate family. In an effort to secure the “Mom of the Year” award, I reluctantly started hunting for a plusher option. Two must-nots: 1) it must not cost a bazillion dollars and 2) it must not shed profusely.
About a month ago, after nearly six months of hunting, I found THE ONE. It is plush, oh so plush. In all, it cost me less than $275 for the 8′ x 10′ size. {Looks like the price has since increased.} And it barely sheds. BARELY SHEDS! I’ve been eyeing moroccan berber rugs for a while but they are so expensive and I was leery of reviews reporting beast-like shedding. So when I found this polyester version, I decided to give it a try.
What can I say? We are smitten. It is the rug version of clouds in heaven. I would say it has boosted our living room’s cozy factor 1000%. My feet are becoming more refined by the minute. But don’t expect them to start wearing shoes anytime soon. Another quality we were unexpectedly surprised by is the rug’s sound absorbing abilities. The vaulted living room sounds cozier if that makes any sense. HH and I noticed how the rug quieted the room as soon as we rolled it out.
The 8′ x 10′ shag is slightly smaller than the 9′ x 12′ sisal and doesn’t come with a non-slip backing so I just layered it on the sisal. The natural fibers of the sisal seem to hold it in place pretty well. I vacuum it once weekly and that’s plenty. My only complaints are that the rug is polyester and it does have an initial carpet smell. The odor was remedied with a week’s worth of open windows. And I will make my kids eat organic everything from here on out to counteract the negative effects of polyester. Kidding. A little.
I can’t keep the kids off the rug. They are like moths to a flame. Mabrey enjoys rolling around on the rug like so…
…when she’s not practicing her WALKING!
And, finally, proof that I have secured the “2013 Mom of the Year” award…
The day we received the rug HH and I rolled it out, vacuumed it, opened the windows then let the kids have at it. As noted, they were all about it. The very next morning Layne, our eight-year-old, woke up early, made his bed, got dressed and went out to the living room where HH found him planted face down in the rug at 7:00 a.m.
HH: Layne, what are doing?
Layne: Puppies and rainbows, Dad. Puppies and rainbows.
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, family life, kid-friendly