Chunky-Chunky-Jute-Jute

On a whim, I ordered a new West Elm rug. It arrived last week with the help of the strongest UPS delivery man ever, and I had a chance to position it in our living room not long before jetting to spend a long weekend with friends in NYC (the short version of that is: took a 60-block walking tour of Manhattan with Pete and J, saw Angelina in FAO, toured Pratt Institute, ate fish with our fingers, went to Coney Island, rode the subway, and treated Cody to Prospect Park for dog park hours every… single… day).

Back at home, I’m back to business. The truth is, I want my living room to look just like ye here living scenario, as seen on the West Elm website. Right down to the emerald-oceanic walls. Purdy-licious, right? We could so pull it off, what with our existing white trim and neutral couch. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. Also, I’ve been thinking about the height of those tremendous windows:

The essential part of that dream though, is that we needed the right rug. And the need for a rug is two-fold, also having to do with the fact that we really want to soften the room up a little, but mainly to give the dog more comfortable resting grounds and a safer landing as he comes barreling down the stairs.

The Rope Chain Chunky Jute Rug was on mega-sale, priced at just $99 for the 5’x8′ model that I decided would be a good fit (it used to be $279, which isn’t even all that bad, and is still on sale here as of this morning if you want to buy yourself one). I love a chunky jute, and I really liked that the rug was about 75% black, a perk that would help to disguise the inevitable dog dirt and fur that appeared within minutes of it being set over the hardwoods.

Price-wise, it was a perfect fit. Size-wise, it ended up being a little too small.

I moved the trunk/coffee table out of the way, because the dog has a tendency to lean against it and push it across the floor, and I didn’t want to risk the rug getting snagged in any way. If the rug were to live here long-term we would be brainstorming more actively about getting or building a new coffee table. Who am I kidding, I’m always lookin’. Anyone want a cool trunk? Because I’m all outta place to store big things up in here. Oh. And how completely unstyled are all of our surfaces? Holy hell, I think I might have stopped trying, clutter is winning. Total digression, moving on.

It probably sounds weird that I bought the rug knowing full-well that it probably wouldn’t do the trick, but I did. We suspected that it’s 8′ length wouldn’t balance out the size of the equally large couch; I think a 10-footer would work like a charm, but then the common 8’x10′ rug would end up being a bit too wide for our living room space (we want it wide, even if it goes all the way beneath the couch, but even if an 8′ wide rug was set all the way beneath the couch it would still overlap the gray fireplace hearth by a few inches, which is a look that we do not want).

What I’m saying is, we really need something along the lines of a 7.5’x10′-12′ rug to work in our exceptionally narrow living room. Also, this next photo seems to best depict just how chunky-chunk the actual rug is in person. Very thick, very heavy. And I love it.

The dog was radically tired from his long days spent frolicking in Prospect Park, if you were wondering. He has slept for literally the last 48 hours, including 6 hours in the car, and we’re starting to wonder when he will rebound and consider that maybe the dude’s out of shape, muscularly speaking. Total sleepy goob.

From this angle (looking into the living room from the dining room) you can probably imagine just how much better the rug would look if it were only a few feet longer, like, at least long enough to rest beneath our Pier 1 wicker chair. It’s good to have this perspective.

The search continues. In the meantime, the plan B all along was to drop the new jute rug in place of the West Elm Pebble Rug that has been in our bedroom for many years. In those years, traffic has taken its toll on the wool pebbles and even if you haven’t been able to tell in photos (some of the most recent ones here), it’s looking ragged out.

The new jute is the same size as that older rug, and slid right into place, a much better proportion for our small bedroom.

I especially like it paired with the dark brown shiplap wall, and I’m already thinking that it might be enough to influence a few other changes in the bedroom’s design. Or maybe I just need to focus on clearing shelf space so my workout clothes don’t need to be stored in a basket under my bedside table.

Any fab sale finds lately? Anyone else loving themselves up with a new rug from West Elm? The sales there are delightful right now.