Nice & Clean

I couldn't resist sharing this photo from Thanksgiving day. The house was clean, the day was bright and for once (probably the first time since we moved in) the dogs were being good. Binkers isn't pictured because he was sitting next to me, but Little Nibbler was being the perfect model. 

*Finally, the cocktail table has a normal assortment of objects --- as opposed to dirty socks, water rings, and wooly dirt balls from the rug.

Special Delivery!

We still haven't posted about our Turkey Day, or the attic project, but our drapery rods arrived last week... Thanks, Mand!

Whoop! Our First Feature

Our favorite paint and decorating center, Hirshfield's, was kind enough to feature our little living room Before & After on their blog. Yippie! Marsha's nice write up made us blush.

We promised to keep them updated on all our painting projects as most of the paints we purchase are Benjamin Moore colors. If you've never been to Hirshfield's, get your buns over to one of their many locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin or North Da-ko-ta!

While I was in school, I used to frequent the Minneapolis location (close to IMS). It's a great resource for anyone looking for interior inspiration.

Thanks again, Hirshfield's! You made our day!

*We promise to post even more progress shots of the living room soon (since this photo was taken we've unwrapped art, potted plants, shuffled pillows and painted tables).

Special Delivery!

Sitting in the living room, I saw the FedEx truck pull up across the street. My rug! Could it be?! The seller I was dealing with accepted my offer several days ago, but the tracking said it wouldn't be here until the 15th. It's the 13th. It's probably a delivery for our neighbor across the way. Then I saw the delivery man's feet shuffle toward the end of the truck. Yay!

My rug. I love it. Super plushy and soft and just the right size for the space. It's a 3' x 5' Gabbeh Rug.

I'm a total Rug Rat (not rugrat). Since we've moved in (not yet 5 months ago) I've purchased 5 rugs. I believe rugs are the #1 thing most DIY interiors are missing.

Before I made the commitment to purchase what you see above, I showed Adam the photo. After much hemming and hawing (he thought it would be too "thin" and "not soft") I decided he didn't know what he was talking about and that I should just buy it. Not that his opinion doesn't matter (believe me... he's shot down plenty of rug designs for this space), I just knew he was wrong this time. We have an antique runner in the entry/living room and he doesn't really care for it. It's old, very flat and worn. He likes "new things" and was comparing the photo of this rug to an antique. At any rate, I knew the rug would be amazing and I'm so pleased with my purchase.

Now... on to the "Rug Anchoring" part of this post. 

Our floors require rug pads (for use under the smaller rugs). Many-a-time we've turned rugs into Flying Carpets...  bodies sailing through the kitchen and crashing into tables and cabinets. It's not fun. The dogs also have problems with slickery (yes, slickery) rugs. They will cry and cry because they don't want to cross an unanchored rug.

Because I've never purchased a rug pad before, I needed to do some research. It only took me a few seconds to decide that $20 for a 3'x5' piece of nubby rubber was too expensive. You can find rug pads (for 3' x 5') on Amazon.com for around $13, but after the shipping it's back up to $18-$20.  So, I needed a cheaper solution.

 And I found it at like, my most favoritest store ever, Marshalls! It's a 18" x 10' piece, and it works perfectly as custom anti-slip rug pad. It as only $5.99!

 All you have to do is lay out your rug and cut the Grip Liner to size. The above photo shows how I did most of the other rugs in our home. It is the conservative approach. You'll get a lot more use from your roll of Grip Liner this way - you could do two 5' long rugs. This is the best approach if you have several rugs that need anchoring or if your just on a tight budget.

Now, for this rug - since it's in a really high human/dog traffic area - I chose to cut my Grip Liner into 3rds. This way everything stays put when the dogs tear around the corner. Installation is simple. I just rolled up one end of the rug, put the liners down, rolled the rug back over them and BAM! Done.

Binky approved.

If you're curious to learn more about Gabbeh rugs, you can visit this website here, or if you need help picking out one for your space... just email us!

Hope you have a lovely weekend. Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

**Update**

Day eight of an eight day work week is the best and worst day in the world. It's the day you know might break you... but it's the day you can hang it up a bit early, enjoy a late evening, and thoroughly look forward to the next two days off.

Yes, you heard me. Two days off. It's been a really, really, really long time since that has happened for me. On these rare occurrences Adam and I like to make lots of fun plans.

And by lots - I mean two. Only two plans. A trip to IKEA (today) and a double date with our good friends for a sushi dinner (tomorrow). 

I've been wanting to go to IKEA for over a week. There were a few things I saw online and I thought they would look nice in our bedroom. WANT WANT WANT! Not need really, just want.

 I'm not sure one lousy lamp and a vase warrants a trip to Ikea, but Adam was looking for some storage bins for his shop as well. I've been dreaming of this trip for the last few days, and decided to whip up this little Master Bedroom Want List.

There are just a few more smallish things I would like to get before we call the bedroom GOOD and be done with it for a while. We still need drapery rods (ordering from Amazon.com), a piece (or two) of art for our "headboard," a light for my side, a (new) light for Adam's side and a new flush-mount chandelier, something to put flowers in (of course) and... let's see, what else... a big rug, a dresser/console, two new wardrobes (not the furniture kind). OK, there's a lot of stuff I want. *Note, I haven't found anything close to a Perfect Chandelier... so that's my artistic representation of one.

We haven't won the lottery or become billionaires after appearing on Shark Tank, so we have to pick and choose what we can afford now. Today IKEA was the affordable choice.  After spending over an hour there we came home with this:

From top left: a poop bucket (more on this later), a new bathmat because Adam thinks the other one gets too matted, two 20" down pillow inserts, my lamp! a flower vase (that isn't the one I originally wanted, but that's OK), a shoddy roller blind (so our downhill neighbor doesn't see our nakedness), a hairless dog (did you know they sell those there?!) some napkins that match our sofa, and two cotton velvet pillow covers. Aaaand, a bunch of bins which are in the shop and I cannot photograph them because Adam's mess is too embarrassing. 

Success! We spent under $150 and got two items that make me happy, two things our neighbors will thank us for (that's the poop bucket and the blind), something to make our guest room cozy, and a bunch of somethings we needed. 

It was a good day. 

Wherever you are and whatever you do, be in love (and enjoy your weekend)! -Rumi (and me) ♥

My Little Sester (har har)

I've been meaning to get a photo of the front plantings we did in September - especially my little Sester's Blue Spruce. A decade from now it will be perfectly Christmas Tree sized (it's a dwarf variety). Since it's now November, I told Adam to capture the moment (don't I look happy?!)

Awww! There's me hugging it! I don't encourage hugging Spruce varieties though as they may lead to nasty rashes. This one gives me something akin to a Stinging Nettle rash... red bumpy ouchies.  The three little clumps are specimen Day lilies - white and pink.

If you don't remember what the front looked like before, here it is again. Since this photo was taken we changed out all the foundation plantings, purchased a new mail box, outdoor light and new house numbers. We think it's looking pretty nice. We have lots more "front of the house" projects, but they'll have to wait until spring and summer.

Monday Morning Gloomies

 We didn't do much today - no house projects, no work projects. Just a lazy Monday.

We haven't seen the sun here in Minnesota for a while, and it makes me a little sad to think that it will be like this for a few months.

We hope you had a lovely weekend - wherever you may find yourself! xoxo 

*ps - we actually did something really fun tonight, but we can't tell you until the 31st! Boo!