Tag Archives: The Rug Company

Take it on the Run: carpet vs. runners

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A stair can really make a statement. Whether the stair is old and beat up or brand new, it can look cool. A fresh coat of high gloss can turn tired and worn, into glitzy and glam – yes a stair can be a headliner. The question that I am grappling with is – do I want it to be? When I removed the stained and dirty carpet from the stair in my “new” Philly Duplex (that’s a floor and a half inside a brownstone) it revealed not just a worn stair, but one that rather looked as if it had been gnawed on by a rat. What to do with that?

If this Paul Smith for The Rug Company Carpet entitled “Carnival” does say let’s get this party started, I’m not sure you should receive an invitation.

After the whole thing was rebuilt it looked a lot better. It’ll get a spit shine and polish too, which made me think it might be slippery when it’s all said and done. Runners present an elegant solution to that challenge – believe me there are inelegant solutions that can be applied to the problem too. I’m not even going to discuss them because I don’t want to give you any ideas.

Landry and Arcari . Tolerus Cyclone ID: 105888-02

Runners can be quite expensive. I mean, you wouldn’t got to the Oscars in a dress meant for a barn dance would you? Likewise, if you want to be a showstopper of a stair, you have to give them something to stare at now don’t you? I picked a few I thought would draw that kind of attention. While I certainly don’t want to go careening from top to bottom every other day as if I am on some ride at the water park, I also don’t love leaving my money behind for the next owner who may or may not have an appreciation for the Oscars – if you know what I mean.

The Rug Company . Thistle Gold x Vivienne Westwood.

With this in mind, it may be better to buy an area carpet that I can lovingly roll up, bag and wear to the next ball. There are five more after all. I can dress it up with a new Harry Winston and no one will even know I recycled it.

The Rug Company . Paul Smith . Overlay Runner.

Pretty in Pink

Posted in Color Trends, Uncategorized by

 

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The Company Store . Heart Felt . $24.00

I was ridiculed for considering writing about love, and for relating it to one of my very favorite palette’s – PINK.  Ridiculed until I erased all reference to it.  How inconsiderate of me to write about a subject, a feeling that other’s might not have …. but while the aggrieved party isn’t paying any attention, I am in fact going to write about it.  Who doesn’t love the innocent hue that is pale pink, a simple heart, a cheerful pouf, a garland that hangs from an otherwise dull cabinet or lonely hearth.  Who could possibly object to loving things that are lovely?

Left:  CB2 Simone Blush Chair $499.  Right:  Quince Branch

Sometimes I even love things that are not lovely.  I call them “good ugly”, but today’s post is about the truly pretty.  It’s about hearts and flowers in the form of furnishings and fabrics that make me happy, and if love is worth its salt – it will make you happy.

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Cole and Sons . Magnolia Lavender – Lee Jofa

It often starts by shopping in the baby section, it sometimes makes it way into kids.  By Preteen it’s too cool to be represented.  It makes an appearance now and again in the world of adult decor, but is often relegated to a single small space – a powder room, a guest bed, a walk in closet where one dresses.  Why when the color makes me so happy should it be delivered in such small doses?

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The Rug Company . Harrington . From $3740.

Well, it’s Valentine’s Day – almost – so I am going to celebrate this warm in the cheeks hue as if I were a kid again.  Here are some of my happiest petal pink, and blushy brights for you to view.

Magic Carpet Ride

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I’ve been in the market for a carpet.  I haven’t traveled the world in the search of said carpet, but I’ve covered some ground.  NYC, Dallas, Boston.  I’ve looked in the magazines, and on the internet.  I’ve purchased several, returned as many, contemplated going custom, but my budget doesn’t support that luxury.  Believe me, I had my pretty little yarn bundles in the hues I adore, and which lie within the range of the color palette I have selected for this current project.  It’s so little it demands light.  If I threw caution to the wind and made the investment then where would I be.

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The Rug Company . Create your own.

That’s the thing about rugs. They can make a huge statement.  My whole young rental life was defined by an Oriental my grandfather left to me, and which I felt compelled to use.  It was of high quality, really one of the only nice pieces that I owned and could use to hint at the fact that I’d graduated from collegiate leftovers to young adulthood.  The problem of course was that it didn’t reflect my style.  It was too serious, and the other pieces I purchased over time to compliment this major statement, also didn’t reflect me.  That hip custom 1950’s sofa my grandmother gave me, and I had upholstered in a pretty french country cranberry shade – not me, the Laura Ashley club chair I bought on super sale in a cobalt blue – I think I threw my jackets on that chair just to cover it up.  This isn’t a pair of Chanel boots that you can tuck in the back of your closet and forget you spent $1500. of your hard earned cash on…a carpet is always there, haunting you, reminding you of your shortcomings and fallibility as a design diva.

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Landry & Arcari . Turkish Oushak . think it’s worth a second look….

Well I did what any self-respecting gal would do.  I bought my first condo, put the carpet on permanent loan to a dear friend to assuage my guilt, and arrived prepared to feather my new nest with….nothing.  It was the most freeing design decision I ever made.  Totally unencumbered I forged ahead with purchases;  furnishings, lighting, side tables, pillows and all the little objects in-between that I felt best represented ME.  When I say “forged ahead” I am more like the Tortoise than the Hare in this fairy tale.  I moved at a pace that my limited funds would allow.  This is something to be valued.  Patience keeps you from making expensive mistakes.  You can feel good about a purchase that you have not wavered from in months, in my case, sometimes years.

Landry & Arcari . same carpet, reads so differently on the floor of my living room than in the store.

So now I have an Oushak lying on the living room floor of my new condo.  It’s a bit of an odd size, but fits perfectly into this space.  It is a tad darker than what I have been carrying around in my minds eye, but admittedly looks beautiful in the space.  I’m in a pickle.  This carpet is on super sale at Landry & Arcari.  Super sale does not mean inexpensive.  I’m curfluckled.  I’m in a bunch, a knot, a predicament.  I know together with my other pieces it will achieve the overall look I have been after, but when I open the door and spy it after a long day, will it bring a smile to my face?  Please help dear reader, I feel ill equipped to make this decision on my own.

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Landry & Arcari . Saeed, I see some more rug flipping in your future.

Carpet Diem: The Rug Company comes to Boston

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Imagine my surprise and delight when I learned last week, as I wondered down Newbury Street – Boston’s petite version of Madison Avenue, that The Rug Company found its way to my little neck of the woods.  I first learned of The Rug Company fsharp-2om Domino Magazine, over 8 years ago.  I can remember sitting in my tiny Charlestown apartment, slowly turning the glossy pages, letting the beauty of it all wash over me, in no rush to arrive at the end, knowing that it would be a long month before my next installment landed on my doorstep.  That magazine made me a believer.  Oh I still dream.  I’ve had my eye on that Moses Ice for all those long years.  Trust me when I tell you, it will be mine some day.

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I have visited it in the Soho Showroom in NYC so many times my pour sister Mary Beth simply rolls her eyes and gives in to my demand to see it in person, again.  I’m a very tactile gal.  I must touch it, and all it’s silk and wool loveliness, or I will not feel that deep sense of connection.  Sound strange?  It’s totally normal to me.

The Moses Ice is a pale gray, which as you know dear reader, is my big love.  However, property number 4 is all about creams and washed out watercolors.  No worries, The Rug Company has you covered.  You can pick from a dizzying selection of hues to create your own color way.  Brilliant.  They will even offer you options in ALL wool – understand that an all wool carpet is less expensive than a wool and silk combo – that does not mean it is INexpensive.  At least it is not for me.  Still, the thought of having my very own version of Suzanne Sharp’s design, has me swooning like a lovesick teenager.

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Pop on in and introduce yourself to Andrew Neave the Showroom Director and Stacey Marino.  They are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable, and are sure to help you find your own Red Carpet moment for your home.

The Rug Company . 129 Newbury Street . Boston . MA  www.therugcompany.com