A while back, a reader asked me if I would mention where I got my rugs. I was reminded of that request when I was editing these photos this morning. When we first moved in the cottage, we only had one rug – the one that is in the den. We were on a budget (when aren’t we on a budget?) so we went for easy and relatively inexpensive. The oval rug that you see under the coffee table is from Lowe’s. I wanted something relatively light in color. With two dogs, I wanted something durable. This rug fit the bill. It was also very affordable. We found the round blue rug at Country Curtains. There is another small throw rug from Country Curtains at the base of the steps in the den.
When navigating the slippery wood floors in the rest of the living room became more and more difficult for Riley, I decided the open space between the stairs and the front door needed something more secure for my boy. I went to Lowe’s and purchased the rectangular version of the oval rug. I didn’t want three different rug patterns in the living room and decided to go for a more consistent look.
The red rug in the den (you can see Scoutie in her tunnel position) is from Pottery Barn. I’m sure it’s no longer available as I saved my pennies for it when we were living in our rental. We’ve lived here for eight years and we lived in the rental for four years, so we’ve probably had it about ten years. The edges are a bit worn, but it remains a beautiful rug and I still love it after all this time.
If you look closely, you can see the Miss Keyboard’s School sign hanging above the large picture window in the den. I will try my best to get a better photo but it’s awfully tricky with the light pouring in. Trust me, it looks great there.
The upstairs has wall-to-wall Berber carpet. I’m not crazy about it and I’d love to see hardwood floors up there but Don is a “I want carpet in the bedroom” guy, so carpet it is.
As you can see from all the pots scattered around the living room, the Impatiens are still going strong. If I can keep them going, think of the money I’ll save when Spring rolls around!
Right now, that seems very, very far away.
Yesterday’s sunset:
Don’t forget to stop by my review post for Suave Professionals ® Moroccan Infusion Body Care and leave a comment to be entered in a $1000 gift card giveaway.
And our next Felt Ornament Party will be this Sunday, February 23rd. We’ll be sharing February’s creations.
Happy Wednesday.
Your home is so warm and inviting, Claudia! We had rugs and runners everywhere while Bridger, our GSD, was alive. Poor guy would wipe out on the hardwood floors and it was always about the dogs and their comfort. :-) The rugs look great on your floor, and I also have indoor plants that blossom – something to cheer during this never-ending winter.
We will do anything for our doggies, won’t we?
Claudia, I like hardwood floors too. We have a rug in the office, that is always showing any lint, fuzz, or even a hair. Gaaa. We do have carpet in the bedrooms. I sure like the sunset photo. Stay safe today. Ifit warms up, everything gets a like slick. xoxo,Susie
Well, Scout’s hair is everywhere – little white tufts, especially on the red rug.
Good morning Claudia, I didn’t realize how large your doll house is. Fun to see the outside of it. Your home is very nice. Doris
Thank you, Doris.
Pretty rugs. My duplex has carpeting (not my favorite) but it’s been OK. Hoping you got a little rest from the snow!
hugs, LInda
It’s snowing again, Linda! I had to shovel yesterday. And probably today.
We did the same for our do, we actually had carpet put in so he could get around better. Wow, I hate carpet and can’t believe I did that (things we do for our pets). Your cottage looks charming and homey today. Love the pics.
Thanks so much, Dawn!
Your home looks so nice Claudia. It looks like you have wonderful light most of the day. I love that. The rugs look good on the wood floors. Glad to hear your plants are still hanging in there. I’ve been busy cleaning blinds and windows and shampooing the sofa cushions this morning. I just love it when I get in a cleaning mood and actually feel like working. Looking forward to summer when I won’t be keeping kids for the first time in 20 years. I plan on decluttering and organizing in a big way. Hope you enjoy your day!
You too, Janie!
How do I get to the ornaments from last month and also the new ones. I can’t find where it is. Thanks.
Both January ornaments and one of the February Ornaments are on this post: https://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/2014/01/january-christmas-critter-felt-along-linky-party/
You have to go to Dawn’s post for the other February Ornament, Debby.
Gorgeous sunset. A perfect portrayal of gratitude among circumstances that can cause pain (i.e. the snow). I always love looking at the absolute coziness of your home filled with things you love and that have special meaning. Its so heartwarming. And I especially enjoyed seeing Scoutie assuming her normal tunnel position. I’m curious as to what the “laundry” cloth is that is hanging over the door????
It’s a beautiful linen laundry bag that was hand embroidered – it’s vintage. I love it so much that I hung it on the door. We don’t have a separate laundry room!
I also have the same rug and with grandchildren and grandogs it’s held up beautifully! They look so nice in your home!
Thank you, Louise!
I really like Lowe’s for rugs, pretty, well made and affordable. I love the color of yours. I’ve just started buying some lighter color ones as mine wear out, it really helps brighten the rooms.
What a beautiful sunset, amazing.
We’re still getting plenty of snow here in the thumb of Michigan, don’t what you to think you’re getting it all.
Have a great day. Kathleen
We had more yesterday and today, Kathleen!
You and Don have such an interesting home….love all the different items, collections, you have gathered! I know you’ve talked about many of them before…I think my favorite is that ship…beautiful! I’m so tickled your impatiens are doing well….that means there’s hope out there…for spring! ;)
That ship was my dad’s – my mom gave it to him.
So pretty, Claudia! We, too, are throw-rug people because of our “greys”. They don’t like a slippery floor….and really, who cares if WE are slipping and tripping over them all day just as long as they are happy with it?? :-) It was 43* !!!! here yesterday and supposed to be 41* today…. ALONG WITH SUN!!!! So the flooding now begins! But ice and sleet watches for tomorrow morning, and below zero temps again by the weekend. But, just this little taste assures me that there actually WILL be a spring, and I am a believer once again! And, yes, you will be so happy you wintered over those plants. Every little bit helps!! And it makes me happy when I know I saved a plant from the compost pile for at least another year. I hope you and Scout will have sunshine to enjoy the day long.
No signs of Spring here yet, Chris. Not one!
My favorite is the rug with the big red flowers..pictures taken around your cottage are just the epitome of the word “HOME” to me..you could show me around any millionaires mansion and it will never compare with what I see in your little cottage..I only have to look at the photos to see that love lives there..
Thank yo so much, Nancy. What a lovely thing to say!
My apartment is 85% wall-to-wall carpet. The only rugs I have are those wonderful “Vista” rugs from the Solutions catalog which still look new after 10 years and dozens of rides in the washer. AndI microfiber bath mats [also from Solutions] which are the Bomb. Attractive, absorbent, quick-drying and so comfortable. You know they feel good when a four-year old tells you, “Aunt Janet, I like those rugs in your bathroom – I like ’em on my feet…” I would happily do a commercial for both these rugs for free. What a minute, I think I just did! LOL. PS – boy, do I love that big dining chair seen in the room with your dollhouse. That’s exactly what I want for my dining room table. Currently I have the arrowback chairs that came with the table but I really want six of those gorgeous things! Would give me a much-more New England look than the arrowbacks do. Hope you’re having a shovel-free, snow-free day. We’re melting here – BIG TIME. Been hearing gutter and drainpipe water noise for a couple of hours. And snow is careening past my windows from the roof. Yay!
We only have the one – we got it when we first moved here and Don decided recently that he liked it In the living room.
Snowed today and now freezing rain. Nothing melting too much yet.
Now I see where you keep the Dollhouse!
I’m glad to know that Lowe’s (and Solutions) are good places to buy rugs.
Now, I have a question about how you keep these big rugs clean because I have multiple pets. There’s the inevitable throw-up and peepee, someimes even with a housetrained dog. Do you sometimes haul out the rugs and shampoo them outside or is mostly just awareness, spot cleaning and vacuuming? I know this is an elementary question, Homekeeping 101. I do have a cousin that’s a rescuer, never knowing what kind of dog she’s going to foster, and she had to pull up rugs altogether because sometimes dogs look at a rug as a peepee pad (if they’d been trained to have an accident on a towel or the like). Personally, I love carpet and it’s so much easier to just run the vacuum, but I haven’t had it in years because I have asthma…and dogs. So, I’m always sweeping the wood floors with a broom, shaking or vaccuuming small rugs (so many cannot be washed even in an industrial-sized machine at a laundromat, and dry cleaning would simply be unhealthy, not to mention exorbitantly expensive)…becomes labor-intensive. There’s always the bits which get caught between the wood floor and the rug so I often feel I’m doubling my efforts. Maybe I just never learned how to properly clean a house…or I have the wrong kind of vaccuum.
A second question: I’ve just recently moved into another house which we’ll be very modestly remodeling. Approaching retirement, I don’t want to invest TOO much money as we might have when younger. I have hardwood floors, never refinished since the 1950s; they’re pretty trashed, although this is my childhood home and we’re not TOO tacky as people. It’s just time/age. I can’t take the poly refinishing and having to leave the house for weeks to get the smell out, as I’ve done in other houses…and no way are we doing carpet…so I’m trying to convince my husband to just paint the floors, maybe a gray tone (to bridge the ‘crap’/dust bunnies that would show if it was painted white or very-very dark). I’ve been doing a lot of reading about it, pros and cons. If we change our minds and don’t like it, the floors have to be refinished anyway, so this could be a good in-between experiment. My husband is afraid of scuff marks and dog scratches (although the scratches aren’t much diff on finished oak flooring like I had before, not when you have a gang of big dogs). Anybody who wants to weigh in on opinions about painted wood floors (Claudia?), I’d appreciate input. I like the shabby chic/beachy feel of it, although I know of someone in France who says the look is sometimes popular in French country houses, too.
I just spot clean and vacuum. When our beloved Riley was declining with a spinal disease, he couldn’t control his bowels. We just put mats on top of the rugs and/or cleaned the rugs with a spot cleaner that was an enzymatic cleaner especially for dog messes.
I love the look of painted floors, however, with dog nails, I don’t think I myself would do it – although I bet if you had several layers of protection/polyurethane they would be fine. I think it’s a good solution for your problem.
Thanks for responding. Poor Riley; he didn’t want to make those messes. Good idea to put pads over the rugs. I had a cocker spaniel we grew to age 15 and her problem was her bladder and, of course, that REALLY soaks thru. I don’t know if I could go thru that again. I’d listen for her all the time, what she was doing; she was completely blind due to glaucoma although the vet and we had tried to keep on top of it (the progression). I got into a non-sleep pattern because she was restless, would get up in the night, and then I wouldn’t know immediately where she’d pee. It really affected my mental and physical health. Oh, the things we do for our canine (or feline) companions. It’s about love.
I don’t know if I’ll pull off the painted wood floors. Hubby continues to be resistant to the idea although he also can’t come up with anything better. We’ll come up with something…
Swop you some snow for some rain … I’m bone weary of the grey and wet!
Just catching up here … a belated Happy Bloggy Birthday Claudia x
I know it’s been terribly rainy in the UK along with horrible winds – it seems we are all beset by some terrible weather right now!
I love how the light pours into your house, Claudia. it always looks so homey. xo Laura
Oh, thank you, Laura. The windows were a big draw for us.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love your house? I do. It’s got that perfect comfy, cozy, cottagey, farmhousey vibe that’s not too “done” or overstyled or fakey. I love it. Love love love it. I’ve always loved your big round table in the living room, too, I’m on the hunt for one for myself! I rearranged things so I can fit it into my front room where I sew so my friends can have a cozy place to hang out. I hope I find one soon! :-) ~Angela~
That was me asking about your rugs. I was particularly interested in, what you have just told me is, the Pottery Barn rug. I love the red in that rug. Thanks for taking time to take the pictures featuring the rugs and for remembering my request. Head scratches to Scout.
Such a beautiful home,and that dollhouse….just wonderful :) Blessings friend
Your rugs are so lovely, Claudia. I love the look of rugs on hard wood. When I moved into my cottage, after a few years I poked around the edges of the wall to wall carpeting that was in the living room and undernearth I could see there was a beautiful hard wood floor. I ripped it up as fast as I could…. right through the parlor, into the hallway, and all the way up the stairs! I was so glad I did. I love the step-down den. It looks so cozy and all that sunlight must make it a wonderful place to sit and relax. Hoping you are managing with all the new snow we had yesterday. xx
Claudia, I hear you. I surrender too. This morning we had 3 more inches of snow (more on the way) and we had thunder snow! Tonight will be freezing rain and snow and then wind gusts of up to 50 or 60 mph! Spring will come but who knows when? The animals outdoors must really be confused. My pups have their thunder shirts on because the thunder snow scared them. One day it’s in the 40’s and the next it’s polar arctic temps. It’s been a wild ride. Thank god we have our cozy, warm and dry homes to retreat to. For that I’m grateful. I like your rugs but your wide plank wood floors are gorgeous! I love your den and the french doors. So much to be grateful for. Our homes are standing and so are we. The endless snow does get tiring. Beautiful sunset photo. I hope our storm dissipates and doesn’t come your way.