Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Rug

Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear…errrr…rug.  Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair…errrr…bugs?!  That kind of works…emphasis on “kind of”.  But seriously y’all we bought a new rug for our living room and it is soooo fuzzy, cozy and awesome!

And so you can fully appreciate the new rug in the above “after” shot, here’s the obligatory “before” shot of our living room with the too small, not the right color, kind of disgustingly dirty, and not so fuzzy at all rug.

The old rug was a 4′ x 6′ and was definitely WAY too small for the space.  It’s hard to tell in the above picture since it cuts off the rug, but it’s much smaller than the couch, which is a definite rug size no-no.  One school of rug thought is that all couch feet should be able to touch the rug…and stroke it, caress it, and whisper sweet nothings to it.  Are we still talking about couches?!  And then the view of the living room from the parlor side of things:

But let’s talk about the rug a little bit and how amaze-balls it is in a bad infomercial kind of way.  We have been passively shopping for a new rug for our living room space for a long time, pretty much since we bought the new couch last summer.  Rugs for us are big purchases and ones we like to take our sweet time picking out.  And since the living room has historically been the land of misfit furniture, it took some time for the room to evolve but it finally has.  The living room space is really starting to come together and feel cohesive instead of a mish-mash of cast-off furniture and accessories.  So after we pillowed up, curtained up, and blinded up…it was time to rug up.

When I asked Colby what he wanted for a new rug in the living room, his only request was that it be squishy and fuzzy, the kind you can just lie right down on and make snow angels.  Since Colby’s not one to EVER have special requests when it comes to decor (seriously…I asked him about nightstand opinions this weekend…and he responded with “you have good taste…I trust you…now go”), so I had to oblige on this one and found a super soft and squishy rug.

Throughout operation rug research I fell in love HARD with the West Elm Souk rug.  So obsessed that I actually debated paying $899 for the 8′ x 10′.  But I couldn’t do it.  That’s more than what we paid for our couch and I could see it now…at $899, the rug would become a look-but-don’t-touch item in the living room.  Considering we pretty much live in the living room, specifically on the couch, that wouldn’t be the most ideal situation.  So then I came across the Marrakesh Shag Rug from Rugs USA.  It had a similar look and feel as the Souk rug, just without the hefty price tag.  This guy clocked in at $640 for the 6′ x 9′, which is still higher than I normally like to pay for a rug.

After showing it to Colby and making sure he was on board the Marrakesh Shag Rug train, I started to play the waiting game.  Rugs USA is one of those e-tailers that ALWAYS has a sale or a coupon available.  So I signed up for their email blasts and waited out for the perfect sale.  I didn’t have to wait long.  A few days later, Rugs USA posted a Halloween sale…meaning all rugs on sale, plus an extra 60% off, PLUS free shipping.  Total end price for our rug…a whopping $167.  Sold!  We ordered it, it arrived a few weeks ago, and we finally rolled out the new carpet and have been happily squishing our toes in it.

And because a DIY dork’s work is never done, now that the new rug is in the house, I’m finally figuring out the finishing situation for the yard sale coffee table find.  I’ve never liked its current shade/finish, it’s a little too on the bad orange side for me, and have been debating chalk painting it or applying PolyShades to it.  But now with the rug in the room, I’m thinking PolyShades will be the winner in a dark, classic black shade.

We already have the stain.  It was leftover from that time we thought it would be a good idea to stain the vanity (in the yellow bathroom mind you), black.  It didn’t last long before it got painted white…it was a bit on the bumblebee side of things.  But I think the black stain will be a much better fit on the living room coffee table since it would tie into the deep gray tones in the rug along with the gray couch.

In the end, after we PolyShades (totally a verb) the coffee table, and we don’t like how it turned out, we can always chalk paint it in the same finish as the side table.

Pssst…Who’s coming over to squish their toes in the new rug?!  C’mon…you know you want to!  All the cool kids pee their pants…I mean…squish their toes in the rug!