Rugging Out!

I am ruggin’ out. Ruggin’ out, man!

Today I laid down the THIRD rug in the parlor of the Cross House. Yes, the THIRD.

And…I like it better than Rug #1 and Rug #2.

But………….I don’t love love love it.

Sigh.

 

RUG #1. I love the rug…but just not in the parlor. It’s too, ah, somber.

 

RUG #2. I purchased this for the parlor. It was laughably awful in the room. But, it looks really good in the dining room!

 

RUG #3. I like this the best. But, again, I am not IN LOVE. Sigh.

 

In the last image, you will note, too:

  • The redone walls are now complete.
  • The tall white floor lamps have vanished (they were kidnapped by aliens).
  • A pair of gorgeous candle sconces have appeared, moved from the round Receiving Room.

Rug #3 is the original one I wanted two years ago but at the last minute ordered Rug #1 instead. I had to pick up Rug #3 in Wichita, and my friend Carl was with me. After #3 was in the mini-van, he said: “Do you have some time? I think you need to look at some rugs at a store I like.”

OK.

We walked into the store and I fell MADLY in love with…

 

…this.

 

This.

 

This, the most accurate color.

 

OMG.

I wanted this rug SO bad. I lusted after this rug. I wanted to propose to this rug, for I knew we would live happily ever after.

But…what if I was wrong? I had felt confident about Rug #1 and #2 and #3. Was I to become the Zsa Zsa Gabor of rugs?

Tonight, on one website, I realized that I could photo-shop my newest object of adoration!!!!!!!!

 

Which sorta kinda somewhat offers an idea of What Could Be. Sorta kinda somewhat.

 

But…oh.

I was suddenly unsure. Was this the right, perfect choice?

Ahh…ahh…could I get the engagement ring back?

For, I truly loathe matchy-matchy. And the object of my adoration was, perhaps, a bit too matchy-matchy.

Yep, I definitely needed the ring back.

OK! Now that I was back in the market…

 

#4. No!

 

#5. Well, I don’t hate this! I know, crazy!

 

#6. You will however be pleased to know that I do hate this.

 

#7. Hummmmm.

 

#8. Well, good for a laugh!

 

#9. More traditional. And kinda…OK. But scary $$$$ so, no, girl!

 

#10. Ummmmmm, no.

 

#12. Oh! I like this!

 

#13. Interesting! An unexpected complement to the ceiling. But…no.

 

#14. Yikes! I must be drunk!

 

#15. Oh! Oh! I rather like this!

 

#16. And this, too! A lot! Zippy!

 

#17. I think this would be fun for a few dates. But marriage?

 

#18. This was not on rugusa.com but I feel a strong attraction.

 

At this point my brain is ready to explode.

But I am pretty sure that I will return #3.

And I will be dreamin’ about #16 and #18. And #15.

 

39 Comments

  1. Erin Benn on March 1, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    My gut tells me a dark rug would look best because there’s so much color in the room and you’ve tried light. Therefore, I like #15. A dark blue was my first thought though… more oriental style or similar to your dining room rug.

  2. Curmudgeon in Canada on March 1, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    I am actually starting to like what you are doing with the parlour. It’s good the white floor lamps are gone. The candle wall sconces fit in nicely. Rug #3 has my vote. It’s lookin’ good, Ross!

  3. EJ on March 1, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    I love rug #3, it really ties the room together. Some of the bolder rugs look like they might just jump up and grab ya. absolutely love the new paint job on the walls. Perfect!

  4. Michael Bazikos on March 1, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    I thought i’d throw my two cents in. What about a William Morris rug? If you are not familiar, look them up. They were very popular and there were and still are plenty of knock-offs of his designs.

    • Marjie on March 1, 2018 at 9:22 pm

      Wow! Wow! Wow! I just looked them up, they have some amazing designs! I suddenly I’m lusting after a rug and I don’t even own a house, lol!

  5. Marjie on March 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    Ok, going out on a limb here…. How about something dark purple with a pattern similar to your ex fiancée?

  6. pk on March 1, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    I vote for the turquoise and taupe/brown damask pattern- Is that #3?. It’s both soothing and envigorating.
    I also like #18 a lot!

  7. Annette on March 1, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    Well no three looks good and interestingly draws my eyes to the curtains.

    Oddly I also really like #12. For some reason it seems to fit with the really flamboyant style Victorians had but without being so fussy. Sort of modern Victorian.

    And yes Ross you may become the Zsa Zsa Gabor of rugs. But that’s why we love you. It’s a really big design element in a room which can overwhelm if not done right. Decisions, decisions!

  8. Cody H on March 1, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    What is (and always has) thrown me off is that bright red couch. The form works, but the color doesn’t. Half of the rugs you’ve tried would look 1000x better, coordinated with different colored upholstery. All that aside though, don’t take your rug back to the store before asking if that gal has sisters in different colors. The damask pattern really works quite well, just not in teal. Maybe a pinky/peach color would work, similar to that of the color of rug #9?

    • Ross on March 1, 2018 at 10:40 pm

      Hi again, Cody!

      Just as an FYI: The sofa is a wine color.

  9. B. dAVIS on March 1, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    My vote is #3 or #10

    But I’m traditional. I like how #3 calms the room, bringing it all together, and #10 because it accentuates the stained glass and grounds the room.

    My two cents 🙂 But who am I. xo

  10. Sandra Lee on March 1, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    I really like 18. #3 seems a little matchy but I loved the rug—beautiful rug #3 just a little too staid but pretty. Oddly I like 15 too. I vote for 18-15-3 in that order.

    • Sandra Lee on March 1, 2018 at 11:29 pm

      Oops— I really liked #9 & I think 9 was the favorite not 15– 3 is lovely & I like 18. 9. & 15 & 18 but 3 to play it safe. Playing safe isn’t you so I vote for 9. Got the numbers mixed up.

  11. Dawn Rocco on March 1, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    Hmmm, I’m kind of a beige walls, dark brown rug, let the colors of the stain glass windows shine alone kinda person. Your more flamboyant! I’d stay with #3 shes bright and beautiful and isn’t trying to take on everything in the room. Number 15 isn’t bad either but she’d have to clean her nap a lot, cat fur balls and all would stand out on the dark color.

  12. Max Harrison on March 1, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    I’m really liking rug 18. How similar is the pattern to the Damask stencil on the wall?

  13. Stewart McLean on March 2, 2018 at 1:56 am

    Hi Ross,
    I went through an oriental rug buying phase in the early 2000’s on eBay. I bought amazing rugs that are hand made and spectacular. I didn’t get a single one that I was unhappy with because I made my maximum bid $500, and I only bought rugs that I liked. That is $500 delivered to my front porch!

    Some of the ones that I bought arrived and the colors had not appeared on the computer the way they looked in real life. They were invariably better. My favorite rug that first year had a regional descriptive name of which I had never heard. Bahktiari is the name and it became my favorite style. These rugs come in earth colors and there appear to be two types of Bahktiari rugs. There is the more commonly seen type with a border and a field. The field has a symmetrically woven pattern with a central medallion. The other type is a garden pattern. This has the similar border, but the field is squares, somewhat like a quilt, with different groups of squares that are alike. My point is not that you should buy a Bakhtiar rug. It is that if you bookmark every rug that looks good to you that is the size that you are looking for, and set a maximum bid in your mind before bidding at the last minute, you will get surprisingly nice rugs. If it doesn’t suit the room, they are individual works of art. I was astounded at first by how beautiful each one was in its own way. I believe that the Cross House has a few other rooms in which you could put a beautiful rug.
    My original search keyword was just rugs. When the results came up, I clicked on the antique category. My last choice was lowest price for price + shipping. I would scroll through quickly. I was just looking to see rugs that were the right size. If a rug that was not the right size, but caught my eye, I would look at it anyway. That was how I learned what regions the rugs that I liked best came from.
    My personal preference is a symmetric rug with a border. I like the geometry of the Bakhtiar rugs. Your rug 4 was symmetrical, but on one axis. For me that type of rug leads my eye off of the rug and away, which I don’t find anchors the room the way I like a rug to do. I am stating a personal preference knowing you and others may have a different preference.
    As an example, I just searched bahktiair rug in the Antique category with the lowest price + shipping. Here is a link to that search:

    https://www.ebay.com/sch/Antiques/20081/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=rug+bakhtiari&_sop=15

    Because there are so many rugs, I use the ending soonest if I am searching all types and look at auctions that end within 24 hours.
    Here are a few links to rugs that caught my eye. If I was really looking, I would save them in my eBay. I did not choose these with a particular size in mind.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Persian-BAKHTIARI-ISFAHANIAN-9X11-Handknotted100-Wool-Pile-Rug-DS-722/112836768440?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/66-x-10-Genuine-S-Antique-Persian-Tribal-Bakhtiari-Keshti-Hand-Knotted-Wool-Rug/323096707094?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/42×105-Amazing-Genuine-Antique-Persian-Tribal-Bakhtiari-Handmade-Wool-Area-Rug/332566469567?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/C1880-VG-DY-ANTIQUE-PERSIAN-BAKHTIARI-SERAPI-HERIZ-VISS-7×10-ESTATE-SALE-RUG/362249031816?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/52×99-Beautiful-Genuine-Persian-Tribal-Bakhtiari-Garden-Panel-Design-Wool-Rug/332564957818?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/antico-swiss-Beautiful-Antique-BAKHTIARI-rug-2-5-x-9-6-ft/372235193176?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Persian-BAKHTIARI-9X10-Handknotted100-Wool-Pile-Rug-FK831/122990099672?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

    These are just the ones that I picked out today. If I was really on the hunt for a rug, I would search the newly listed rugs every day at approximately the same time, to see what else had become available.

    The prices have gone up a bit in the past fifteen years, but I always thought that the ones I was getting were a steal. Just wanted to tell you and your followers about this option. Searching is time consuming, but fun!

    • Derek Walvoord on March 2, 2018 at 9:37 am

      There is a local auction house near me, and we have gotten terrific antique rugs for really low prices. So – check your local auction house as well. We have gotten most of our antiques there. You have to be a bit flexible in what you want, but there are so many great things at reasonable prices.

      My big old house was only half the size of the Cross house, but I was still shopping for volume. . .

  14. Annette on March 2, 2018 at 4:15 am

    Where’s number 11?

    • Ross on March 2, 2018 at 9:10 am

      Kidnapped by aliens, no doubt, as with the white floor lamps!

  15. Rhonda@HomerRidge on March 2, 2018 at 7:29 am

    At this rate you will need a matchmaking service for jilted rugs! I do like how #15 brings in a subtle sense of tradition. Consider #18 only if she agrees to a photoshop date first! And by all means do not tell #3 that you are still looking, she might fade on you!

  16. Riley on March 2, 2018 at 7:43 am

    #2 definitely brings out the stained glass. Wowzer.

    I’m wondering if the issue with some of the rugs is the white in them. Perhaps if the white were replaced with a pastel color.

    I would have thought that rug #3 would have been the perfect one. Do you have a picture of it in the parlor? It’s so right that it’s hard to believe it was wrong.

    • Riley on March 2, 2018 at 12:51 pm

      Oh my. My comment is completely messed up.
      What I meant to say is this:

      #5 is the rug that really brings out the stained glass.

      #2 is the rug that seems so right that it’s hard to believe it was wrong.

      I wish I had as many floors as you have. Sigh.

  17. Dodi on March 2, 2018 at 9:46 am

    I appreciate your dilemma my dear. How about this?

    Set on top of that teal rug? For me, somehow it just screams that room. It’s a thought.

  18. Clinton on March 2, 2018 at 10:10 am

    The amazing thing Ross, GET THEM ALL! You have plenty of empty rooms to use them in, get everything you love at this point in time. In a decade you will have to edit, but for now, shop like there is no tomorrow!

  19. Kirsten on March 2, 2018 at 10:55 am

    16’s my fave for sure, though it looks very Twin Peaks-y against the red sofa. Not that that’s a bad thing, at all. If you need me to come over with some saddle shoes and dance ethereally in the corner a la Audrey Horne, say the word.

    • Ross on March 2, 2018 at 11:19 am

      A vote for #16! AT last!

      Thanks, Kirsten!

  20. Penny on March 2, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    #3!!!! It pulls the whole room together!

  21. Suzanne on March 2, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    I love 3 too….all it needs is a texture pattern….broad stripes, damask etc. Perhaps you can vacuum in opposing directions to get the sense of stripes! I like how the plain blue keeps the fussy in check!!

  22. Suzanne on March 2, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    Another thought is a hand woven of sisal rug???

  23. aBell on March 2, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    I want to like #12, I pushed for a leopard print “something, anything” early on, but this zebra has too much white. I’m going to vote for not playing it safe or traditional and I’ll tip the scale towards #16. A little wild, the fun girl at the party that is way too interesting to settle down forever, she knows you are going to move on when you begin to grow apart… and well… when you decide to move on, she will too!

    • aB on March 2, 2018 at 5:17 pm

      BTW: Love, love, love those sconces on the wall. Just the right amount of semitry and balance to remind us the Cross House is a grand old gal!

  24. June on March 2, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    So for 2 cents…. I really like 3#. Why… because it balances and grounds the room AND.. with those lovely open rooms that open into each other, you will be adding character and pizazz all round this. Since #3 is there, keep it until the surrounding room take on their personality too. So does all that add up to 3 cents?

  25. Laura on March 2, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    My vote is for number 3 or number 15.. Although 15 is quite muted for Ross I would have thought, it definitely brings a cozy feeling to the room.. It’s interesting what number five, the orange one, does for the windows…

  26. Sharol on March 2, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    My vote is for something like #15.

  27. Ann. on March 3, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    Something a bit simpler or with no patterns, because you’ve got stripes and a few other fabric patterns on the furniture and cushions as well as the wall.

  28. Jennifer on March 4, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    I like the one you fell in love with best

  29. JET Texas on March 5, 2018 at 8:45 am

    As long as we are offering suggestions, I say go neutral. A light cream/white rug, with a barely contrasting field. It won’t fight for attention from the furniture and walls, and will coordinate with the ceiling.

  30. Sue C on March 6, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    I like the way #5 brings out the colors in the stained glass windows, but my preference would be those colors in a more traditional pattern. However, I think #5 could grow on me as it is. Love the sconces!

  31. Sandra Lee on March 6, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    I just reviewed all choices & 16 & then 5– 16 in winter & 5 summer— just food for thought ——

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