Who’s ready for a post that’s not about Christmas?! If you’re like me, there’s not much that’s not about Christmas going on in your actual life right now, so it’s kind of a relief to read about something else on a blog at least.
I usually blog pretty much in real time….we finish a project, and then blog about it within the week. But right now I am terribly behind on blogging. I have at least two stuff-we-did-in-our-house blog posts that I need to write, and then some other types of posts that I’d like to get to, too. CRAZY! Like my non-sleeping baby who wakes up whenever I try to type anything. I think that’s crazy, how babies do that, because sleep is WONDERFUL, and they really should realize that. He’s awake right now, in fact, but Dave is up there with him, because we’re Trying Something New.
Anyway.
Where was I?
Ah yes. A LONG time ago–like WEEKS ago–I went to Ikea to buy a rug for my library. I had long had in mind the black and white striped Stockholm rug. I’d kind of wanted an indoor-outdoor rug instead of wool, so I’d looked around for alternatives, but I kept coming back to that one. I was sure it was going to be perfect.
My friends Kristi and Tracy and I arranged to leave our giant mess of children at home with their fathers and have a glorious adults-only Ikea trip. Kristi never liked my rug at all. She compared it to an optical illusion that looks like it’s moving even though it’s not. But I was SO SURE it was the right rug. So I bought it.
I brought it home and put it down in the library. Dave said, “that rug gives me a headache.”
I would like to point out that Dave had previously voiced his approval of the rug, after seeing it online.
Okay, so here’s the rug:
Seeing it in the picture is kind of making me have second thoughts again. But in person, I had to agree with Kristi and Dave that it was not really the right rug.
So the very next day Dave and I (and all the kids this time) went back to Ikea to exchange the rug. (24 hours was as long as we could safely leave the old rug rolled up in the house without being worried someone would come along and completely destroy it, rendering it unreturnable).
I’ve seen the Lappljung rug a million times online, and I’ve always liked it. I think the reason it turns up so often is because it’s $99! Compared to $300 for the (slightly bigger) Stockholm rug. It’s synthetic instead of wool, but I think that’s actually probably a good thing in our household. I’m hoping it means easier to clean (so far–knock wood–I haven’t had occasion to test this theory).
Okay, so here it is:
And then, because one thing leads to another, I needed new curtains. And these are only $15 a pair, I think? And they have BIRDS:
They need to be hemmed. Because they’re from Ikea.
The room is feeling so much airier and brighter now. Next stop: coffee table!
Oh, and with the $200 we saved exchanging rugs, we bought dishes! And went out to lunch.
that is the one i want for my dining room! i am going to get it soon i think- not to be ick, but we were waiting til charlie was no longer since he had lots of accidents.
I totally understand! I lost a really lovely antique rug to my old dog, Oliver’s, unreliable bladder. I’m still kicking myself years later for not having rolled it up and put it away until Ollie was gone.
I love the first rug, but the second looks awesome–and I love the combo of the rug with the curtains. I also think it’s insane that babies don’t understand just how awesome sleep is. I’m currently going through this with my two year old. It’s baffling.
Don’t you hate when husbands get all opinionated on stuff you don’t want them to but then when you want their opinion on something less important (than rugs), they are all like “whatever.”
I really like both rugs so at least you didn’t really lose.
Sleep little Abe, sleep. (Did it work?)
I love both rugs! But you made a great choice in the 2nd one. The curtains are super cute too. I mean, BIRDS!
You can’t go wrong with birds!
I like the 2nd one, and the lighter curtains.
Also, is there anyone that DOESN’T have THE IKEA DISH SET? I think not. Mine is in green. haha
I’ve been using my grandmother’s old dishes since forever ago (since college, I think!)….they made it through life with 8 kids for her, but somehow my kids can’t stop breaking them. So I decided it was time for dishes I could replace for $2.99 a pop and a trip to Ikea instead of having to hunt new ones down on ebay!
i didnt hate the first rug, but as soon as i saw the second rug. it was a sure winner. I love your library too!
Thanks! I think the first rug must be very photogenic….I swear it looks better in the picture than it did in real life.
What is the deal with non sleeping babies?! Beckett won’t sleep unless I’m right next to him in our bed. It’s awful and I’m only making it worse by giving him what he wants. However I too am terribly behind on blogging and even worse blog reading (!!!), I have to give in right?
More importantly, I love both rugs but I think you went with the right one. Especially since it came with an additional trip to IKEA (kids or no kids an IKEA trip is always fun…don’t quote me on that), curtains, AND lunch!
Whatever works, right? I’ve had 4 babies now, and they’ve been all over the place with sleep and how good they are at it. And I could not begin to tell you anything I’ve done or not done that’s made a tiny bit of difference. I think they come already programmed.
Love the rug of course because I have it too 😉 and with all my cats and their hairball accidents, children and a husband…well I have to say it’s easy to clean. Couldn’t be better! And then there’s always natures miracle to help with the cleaning 😉
Followed you over here from a comment on Broke Ass Home–so, hi! Have enjoyed reading through your past few posts. Have to say, I’ve always thought that first rug would make me feel a little carsick (but I get carsick very easily, so that’s not saying much). I really like the one you ended up with, almost as much as I love a room with a whole wall of books. What a great space!
Hey Rita–Thanks so much for stopping by! I DON’T get carsick easily, and the rug still made me a little queasy 🙂
What an excellent couple of trips. I have been eying that Stockholm rug too. It’s so lovely. I also love the pattern of the Lapljunga. Love your new curtains. Awesome pattern. I haven’t seen those before 🙂
ooh…if you wind up getting the stockholm, I’ll be very interested to hear what you think! I keep trying to figure out what went wrong with it…I think it might do better in a room with more furniture/stuff…as soon as I put it down in the library, it just kind of took over with that busy pattern.
I love both rugs actually! But I couldn’t help but stair at your bookcases! i love how haphazard and FULL of books of it is! A readers dream for sure!
Thanks! It’s not supposed to be QUITE so haphazard, but I keep putting off getting it organized. I just had to buy a book for the kids’ school for the kindle even though I KNOW I have it somewhere because I couldn’t find it, so maybe that will motivate me!
Oh my!!! I love those curtains and the rug rocks!!!!! And really lady…the bookcases are amazing! Such a rockstar room…and you were able to get dishes! Well done!!!
The lappljung rug looks much better in my opinion (also because of the size…).
Fun fact: lappljung is a plant that translates to mountain heather in English, I think 🙂 It’s one of my “hobbies” to translate the IKEA-article-names, because most of them are called after plants, cities or rivers/lakes or other things!
Wish you a great weekend!
Love, Midsommarflicka