Updates in the Family Room & That Time I Made a Giant Mistake

Updates in the Family Room & That Time I Made a Giant Mistake

The subtitle of this post is: Family Drama in the Family Room … Andy and I Disagree About a Rug

I’m having a crisis when it comes to our family room/playroom. Have you ever had a space in your house that just will not come together? That’s this room for me. I’ve talked before about how it’s awkwardly shaped and dark and kind of depressing, and in the two years we’ve been in this house we’ve been slowly, slowly working on making it better…

This was the room when we moved in:

And then a year later it had become a dumping ground for random furniture and broken exercise equipment:

Then we took the treadmill out to the curb, removed the built-ins on either side of the fireplace, installed pretty new sconces and new overhead lighting, painted the walls and got a new sleeper sofa with storage … getting better:

Then a few months ago we rearranged the furniture again, got a new rug … BUT:

After a while I just had to admit to myself … and then to Andy … I just don’t really like this rug. Uggghhh. I tried so hard to like it. It’s a great rug. It’s soft and fun and a nice spot for Joey to sit and play. She’s even using it to learn about triangles (so cute). But when I look at it, I literally feel my blood pressure go up. I like color but it totally stresses me out. Plus it’s too small for the space, and it doesn’t go with the design plan I had for the room — so yes, I’ll admit, I made a huge mistake. It’s a nice rug, but not in this room.

Andy and I rarely disagree about anything — partly because he kind of doesn’t care that much about a lot of design details, tbh — but this particular rug he really liked, which means we found ourselves in the uncomfortable and rare spot of NOT AGREEING. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit we argued over a rug, when we pretty much never argue about anything, even important things. I felt awful that I made a mistake and wasted money. He didn’t see any reason to replace it and spend more money… sigh. Home renovation is not always rainbows and unicorns, you guys.

But, if there is a rainbow in this situation, it’s a striped rug called the Tribeca from eSale Rugs. First I saw it show up at Chris Loves Julia’s house. Then I saw it at Sarah Sherman Samuel’s house. It was a sign! Also, it was on super sale and it was cute, and neutral and huge, and did I mention SUPER SALE?! I did mockups in Photoshop. Andy liked it. I liked it. We got a 10×13 rug for $249!!! With free shipping and, even better, free returns! Unheard of. There was no reason not to at least try it out.

And this is it:

Better, right?

Now, ignore the fireplace that I have every intention of painting before the end of the year, ignore the orange chair that has an appointment with an upholsterer on Nov. 6 at 9 a.m., ignore the other chair that I still need to decide on fabric to recover, ignore the baby swing and the toys and the dog bed…. and it’s pretty good, right? This rug is huge, and the neutral grey-and-ivory is so much better for my blood pressure. Since it covers more of the dark cork flooring, the room finally feels a little brighter and lighter.

Oh, and guess what, Andy likes it too! Phew.