*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.*
Congrats to Bethany Winkler! Enjoy your new Flor!
In my last post, you got a sneak peek of the new rug in the boys’ bedroom. Previously, I bought an inexpensive cotton flat weave from IKEA to give the kids a soft place to play. I knew when I bought it that it wasn’t the rug. {But that’s okay. I was thinking ahead and planned to use it elsewhere once I found the right rug for the boys’ room.}
It was too light to survive in a boys’ bedroom {hello, dirt} and the size was all wrong. It was roughly 6’x8′ but I needed it about 3′ longer on the longest side to optimize play space. That meant I was looking for a 6’x11′ rug. Basically, a fat runner. If you’ve ever done any rug shopping, you know that 6’x11′ is not anywhere close to a standard rug size. I would find rugs long enough but they were too wide. {Eventually, two desks are going in on the right wall shown above so I didn’t want a rug that would extend into the desk area.} When I found rugs narrow enough, they were too short to run the length of the room. That’s when I realized I was wasting my time searching for the perfectly sized rug. The only way I was going to get a ~6’x11′ rug was to have one custom made or make one myself.
I went as far as to special order a custom cut rug via Home Depot. But when it arrived {six weeks later!} it was damaged and hadn’t even been cut to the size I specified. I had such a horrible experience that I swore off the whole custom cut rug idea. {In Home Depot’s defense, they hire out for the custom cutting of rugs and I did get a full refund because the product I received wasn’t what had been ordered – wrong size & damaged. Still, it was not a pleasant experience.}
That’s when I looked to Flor. Well, now. Here was a huge selection of rug tiles that I could position any way I wanted to nearly any size my house-lovin’ heart desired. Bingo. After I did the math, I discovered that if I made a rug 4 tiles wide and 7 tiles long it would produce a ~6’6″x11’6″ rug. Faaaantastic.
I chose 30 tiles of the sweater weather in grey. It has a cable knit texture I love in a color that will hide just about anything my boys can throw, drop, squish, mark or smear on it. For particularly awful messes, I can remove the affected tiles, wash them off in the sink or outside then put them back. Like nothing ever happened. Shhhhhhh. If one the tiles is ever beyond washing or repairing, I have two replacement tiles to use.
I was leery of the ‘heavy traffic’ description, afraid that the tiles would feel like the abrasive indoor-outdoor carpeting from the 70’s. But they don’t feel that way at all. They feel more like yarn than carpet or wool.
{Nevermind the sliver of sunlight blowing out the middle of the rug.}
The other great thing is that the rug has a super low profile. I can easily pull out the trundle bed of the bunk onto the rug without having to move anything first. The tile backs are slip-resistant so the rug doesn’t shift or wrinkle when the trundle rolls onto them. No need for a rug pad.
Putting the rug together was a cinch.
I laid out my 28 tiles in the rectangular shape I wanted, using the quarter-turn installation. Then we lived with them like that – floating freely – for a week or so to make sure it was the rug. It was! The only thing left to do was adhere the tiles to each other.
The tiles came with a slew of stickers.
At the intersection of four tiles, I placed one sticker – sticky side up – underneath and lined up the seams of the tiles with the guide lines on the sticker. {Picture the sticker above laying under the tiles.}
At the intersection of two end tiles, I placed one sticker – sticky side up – underneath the seam and lined up the seam with the guide lines on the sticker. {Picture the sticker above laying under the top tile as well.} I just went row by row, sticking the tiles together until they were all one big rug. It took me a total of 20 minutes.
This is the view from the top bunk. You can better see the size of the rug in relation to the room. It’s perfect.
I’m Flor’s newest fan. For several reasons:
*The tiles can be made into rugs of hard-to-come-by shapes and sizes.
*The low profile makes it ideal near moving doors, desk chairs and trundle beds.
*The slip-resistant backing makes a rug pad unnecessary.
*Tiles can be removed and replaced easily for cleaning.
*Tile facing is made from 100% recycled fibers.
I would highly recommend Flor for your floor-covering needs. To help you out, Flor is graciously sponsoring this week’s giveaway! See entry details below.
PRIZE: 20 Flor tiles of your choice!! {This will make a ~5’x8′ rug. You may purchase additional tiles for a larger rug.}
RULES: You must be at least 18 years old and have a U.S. shipping address {no P.O. boxes please} to enter. One entry per email address.
TO ENTER: ‘Like’ Flor on facebook then come back here and leave a comment on this post proclaiming “FLOR ME!”
DEADLINE: Enter before noon on Friday, October 19th. One random winner will be announced that same day.
WHILE YOU’RE AT IT: Since we’re talking custom-sized rugs…what’s your favorite custom item in your home? Maybe you have custom built kitchen cabinets or commissioned artwork that was created just for you. I’ll go first. We had an engineered ridge beam custom built for the great room. It allowed us to vault the once 8′ ceilings to >12′. It’s definitely a custom touch that goes a long way in making our kitchen and family room feel bigger and brighter. We’d do it over again in a heartbeat.
BUT, WAIT!, THERE’S MORE: Ever wonder what happened to the IKEA rug I took out of the boys’ room? Check back tomorrow to see where it ended up.
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY, kid-friendly