One Room, Five Rugs

The other day I was sending a bunch of inspiration boards out to clients, and realized it might be neat to share some of these "in process" boards.

One thing that I think people worry about is how helpful design work would be long distance. Right now I have two clients in New York, two in Utah, and only one locally! While it does take a bit of work up front from my long distance clients--getting me measurements and answering questions about style and room usage, I think E-design works really well because it goes at whatever pace people need it to go. 

Often the folks I work with will email me postings from craigslist--so my responses have to be as quickly as I can make them. Other times they need time to send off for fabric samples, or go into a brick and mortar store to sit in a variety of couches. Because it is at their pace, it makes it an easier arrangement for both them and me! Flexibility, creativity, and patience are all keys in making a space on a budget, and E-design help is really conducive to that!

Are you convinced yet? Oh good. :) Anyway...one way that I love helping my clients to make decisions is to take their inspiration boards, and switch out key pieces. Since it can be difficult for people to picture what their spaces would look like with different rugs or furniture, the Polyvore boards work wonders.

Take the boards below. My client Kim found an amazing tufted blue couch on craigslist after we searched for weeks. She was able to see past the skirt that aged the sofa, and once she got it home took it off. I want to show her and her hard work off. Such a difference with such a small change!

Before, with the skirt still in place at the bottom of the sofa

 After, skirt removed! Instant update! And it was a fantastic price!

Once she found her statement piece in her room, we knew the next big purchase (besides her other couch) would be her rug. 

Now let me just take a second here to talk about how difficult finding the right rug is for EVERYBODY. Rugs are hard! I've bought my fair share of rugs that I thought I would love in my space only to get it home and think, wow...that's really not the look I was going for. ha! They can be tricky to visualize in the room! This is where inspiration boards are worth their weight in internet gold. I now do this for myself to save from the dreaded RR--- rug regret. :)

So want to see some options we looked at for Kim?

 Kim's style is an updated farmhouse feel, with blue and orange and white. All of her inspiration rooms had several things in common, one of which was very light rugs on the floor.

When I told her that, she was both surprised and a little...worried. :) She has young kids, and she faces the dilemma that all moms face. She wants it to look nice and to have a beautiful space...but light rugs and kids is pretty much a dead on arrival idea.

So, we looked for things that would still translate as light, but hide dirt. Above, we tried a jute rug with light patterns. Texture, but still dirt hiding.

This option was a greige tone to go with her wall color and pull out the neutral tones of the couch as well.

From far away this rug looks almost cream, but it is actually a mottled oatmeal, that would be both soft and, you guessed it, help camouflage dirt.

This option looks like it has a fair bit of white on it, but up close it is actually quite variegated, so dirt would hide pretty well!

This rug option took a much more traditional route, but by keeping to patterns and soft blues it would keep the room light feeling and stay kid-friendly.

So, these are just a few of the many options I emailed Kim. Isn't it fun to see how different the room feels with just the change of the rug? And it saves all of the heavy lifting and stress of buyers remorse. :)

Kim is still weighing her options, and waiting to see what great sales Black Friday brings on my recommendation. I wait to buy all of my large rugs on Black Friday from Rugs USA online because they drop their prices so low and their quality is great! So hopefully we will find something before then so she can pounce on a good deal!

All this to say, if you're a visual person, (or even just a nervous decorator) our inspiration boards can help you see what your room can be with minimal furniture moving required! So, if you have a room that needs an overhaul, or even just an extra pair of eyes for a spot that has bothered you for years, email us, we'd love to help!