Naked No More

Our floors that is…get your mind out of the gutter. The lower regions of our living and dining rooms are now dressed in oriental finery as is proper and good.

In the past couple of months, I have become a bit of a Craigslist junky. There are specific pieces that I feel we need to complete my vision for our home. Douglas is fairly content with what we have, but I have more grandiose plans. I have made some great finds along the side of the road and several of them will be staying, but there are other things that I am looking for that I have not yet come across on the curb or at any yard sales. Enter Craigslist. You might remember my post about our new china cabinet a couple of weeks ago.

Well, for the past month, I have been looking at oriental carpets. I have wanted one for quite a while, and I thought it would not hurt to look. Good wool oriental carpets are EXPENSIVE. However, I have found that you can get good deals on Craigslist, especially if you wait and keep checking frequently.

Last week I found someone, Joe, who was selling five oriental rugs. Three of them were in the size range that I was looking for and also fell within our budget. I planned to buy one, maybe two if I could get him to come down a little on the price.

When we got to Joe’s house, we both fell in love with one of the rugs. It has beautiful bold colors and also combined red and purple. Those are my two favorite colors. There are already two red chairs in the living room, and I plan to reupholster the couch and chaise lounge in purple velvet. This rug would tie them all together. Purple is a rare color to find in a wool rug, and to be honest there is not any purple in this carpet either. What looks like purple here is blue surrounded by red. As you know, red and blue make purple, and here your eye is tricked into seeing purple where none exists. It still fits my purpose.

We could have just bought that one rug, but I also really liked this red one as well. I felt that it was a good price, and I would regret leaving it behind. I asked Joe for a discount if we took two of the rugs. He told us that he would take $55 off of the price for the three of them if we took all three. He is a good negotiator.

Douglas and I went outside to discuss it. We decided that it was a good deal. The third rug was not our favorite, but it was a nice rug for a good price. We decided that we could always sell it ourselves if we did not want it for our house.

I asked Joe for an additional $10 off of the total price, and he agreed. We were the proud owners of three beautiful carpets. Of course, on the way home I came up for an arrangement that would use all three.I have a feeling they will all be staying…at least for a while.

Our living room setup is unique because we have the circular couch, which was also a Craigslist find. We put the rug that we liked the least under that couch. I think that it frames it nicely. It also hides the section of that carpet that was repaired.

Our favorite rug was given a place of prominence in the middle of the living room floor. Douglas found it odd that I set it at an angle, but I think it draws more attention to it. This really is a gorgeous rug.

As you can see Kahlua highly approves of it. Since we got her, she has preferred to lie in corners of the rooms. Her favorite spot is in the bedroom corner. She will occasionally venture into the living room, but when she does, she lies on the door mat in the corner. Since, we put this rug down, however, she has been lying on it in the middle of the room. We are glad that she feels more comfortable in the room with her new carpet.

The third rug went under the dining room table. I love how the red goes with the chairs. I do not like the black and white with the new rug, but that will change soon. I am planning to refinish my great-grandmother’s dining room table to replace the black and white one that I will be selling in a yard sale or on Craigslist. I have also purchased new fabric for the seats.

Overall, I am thrilled with our purchase. I think that the rooms look much more finished with the carpets. What is your opinion of the new finery on our floors?

Happy Homemaking!