The Ol' Switcheroo

I've mentioned a dozen times how bad we need a rug for the dining room. Ever since we moved in (back in 2008!) we've had just a solid wood floor with no rug. We've even done a furniture swap, and complete repaint, but still no rug. Luckily we rarely use our dining room so the floor hasn't taken too much of a beating over the years. We pretty much use the room when we have company over and need a large table to host the food. I think we've eaten at the dining room table a total of maybe 4 times ever, so I never really had a big motivator to go out and get something. Plus I couldn't decide what color and style to go with in that room.

We've had this Anthropologie Coqo Floral Rug in our living room since we had our hardwood installed a year ago. While I love the rug, I have to admit it's not easy to maintain. With two shedding animals laying on it all day he rug needs to constantly be vaccuumed because Lucy plays on it. With the raised threading, vaccuuming to the point of actually being clean is a pain and we needed something that was going to be easier to clean. Plus the red threading has been slowly coming apart with each vaccuum and I end up 'trimming' the rug on a weekly basis.

While recently shopping at Ikea, I came across a rug that I've seen there a dozen times that has always caught my eye. The great, simple gray rug with a white floral design.

The Gislev rug is only $19.99. It's a great looking rug and a decent size (4'x6'), but I was always a little nervous because of the price. Would it fall apart easily? Is the material not soft? Why does it only cost $19.99? I figured no better way to find out than to just buy the rug and give it a try.

We gave the Coqo rug one final vaccuum and moved it out to make room for the Gislev rug. I was so excited with the change that I grabbed my camera right away to snap some shots. Here is how the room looks today:

As much as I love the Anthro rug, I have to admit this one looks so much better in the living room. I'm nto sure if it's the fact that it ties it so well with my new pillows, or that I just needed a change, but I love it.

You can see from the other angle how well this rug flows with the other textiles.

From this angle you can also get a sneak peak at the new gallery wall I'm working on for the living room. I've swapped out the dark frames for light, brighter, white ones. I'm also getting rid of all but one wedding picture in exchange for some more 'family' oriented photos and other fun prints. I'm still playing around with the layout, but more on that in another post.

The Anthropologie rug found its new home in the dining room.

I have to admit I'm kind of loving how it looks. The dining room still needs some work, but this pop of color works really well with the walls, furtniture and floor. Another good thing is that being in a room that gets little to no traffic, the rug will be much easier to keep clean and will be less likely to fall apart by the time it reaches its second birthday.

I'm glad to finally have a rug on the dining room. The room actually feels warmer and looks so much more finished now.

Have you done a quick change or swap lately that improved your room(s)?