Our Living Room With The New Vintage Rug (I’ve Got Feelings, Per Usual)

A couple of readers commented the other day that they miss the farmhouse vibe of our living room (from the first version) and it made me wonder if they/you are right …. Now, my style has never been specifically and only “farmhouse”, I’ve always been drawn to contemporary shapes and Scandinavian motifs as well. But, I kinda agree. The Barb sofas are cool and so comfortable (and I love the colors), but admittedly, they are very post-modern/contemporary and definitely not ‘farm’. And that should be fine, right? Like, your furniture doesn’t have to match the style of your house perfectly. But I would have never designed these sofas to go in this room (they are samples from our sofa line that we had in storage and shot to market them in here). I love them and they are so comfortable, but are they perfect for the style of the house? Maybe not. Could the perfect vintage rug solve the problem? Let’s explore a bit.

Version #1: Two Green Sofas Facing Each Other

Ok this is what we originally revealed a few years ago when we shot it for Real Simple. I really, really liked this version of the room (but didn’t love – it felt like the walls and fireplace weren’t fully designed). But after months/years of searching for the right vintage sofas (and not finding one) I had to make a decision with the big Real Simple shoot impending so I bought these Fabian sofas and genuinely loved them (so comfortable)…. except that my dogs sat on the back pillows and smooshed them down every single day. It was so annoying and became a daily physical chore. Then everything changed because I launched a rug line and a sofa line, so I sold that awesome rug to my brother (I want it back!!) and sold the sofas locally knowing that I would put in sofas from my own line. But RugsUSA couldn’t make any of our rugs 12×15 and most of them didn’t even come in 10×14 (we tried) even though they said they could, so I brought in the rug I was using in my bedroom and tried it out with the green Alice sofas I designed for this room. See below:

Version #2 – Double Alice

I liked this version, too. But Brian and I just loved the layout and softer color palette of the most recent double Barb layout so much more. The darker bolder green doesn’t not work, but it just felt more hotel lobby and less like an inviting home. So last winter when we had to shoot holiday two ways (one for us, one for a magazine) we brought the Barbs back in and just left them because they are so comfortable (yes we have a storage unit on our property for our furniture – not typical, I know).

Version #3 Double Barb Without The Hutch

So the double Barbs came in for a shoot and never left because they are so comfortable and we like the long sofa + shorter sofa layout. The rug is one I’ve had for 8 years, and it’s admittedly pretty dang boring, but it’s the most cozy, comfortable, and forgiving rug that I can’t seem to find on the market (I got it at HD Buttercup and never knew the manufacturer). It’s more of a bedroom rug (that’s where I last had it), and it’s not big enough to be in here (this room wants a 12×15, and that rug is a 10×14) but it’s so soft, plush and hides every bit of dog and kid stuff despite being light.

Version #4: The Double Barb WITH The Hutch

Then I wanted to finally try the antique Swedish hutch that I bought years ago for this house. It was a beast to move in here but we had movers doing other things on the property and I was like ‘now’s my chance!!’. So we shot it again to show you. And between the boring rug and the hutch something felt pretty off. I have found myself just staring at this room and wondering how to fix it since then.

But after being so incredibly frustrated with myself that I can’t nail this room I’ve decided to do an experiment where I give myself permission to take the time to actually design it for the first time, with intention, instead of making last minute choices (the Real Simple shoot) or using product that I need to sell (my sofas and rugs). It’s been really fun to fantasize about my dream floral sofa and shop for the perfect rug (while keeping most of the other elements that I love so much). I still want it to lean Scandinavian farmhouse, with color, but have it feel balanced and flow easily with the rest of the first floor and up the landing.

Meanwhile, I know for sure that I wanted a Persian-style vintage rug in the guest cottage, so I’ve been shopping and I actually found a one on Etsy with a good return policy that I’m trying out in here.

Version #5 – Double Barb + 12×15 Vintage Rug

OK. Let’s. Talk. About. It. I love that it has a lot of the tones that are already happening (the blue of the hutch, the warmer tones that work so well with the coffee table and the kitchen island). It’s huge, 12×15, which is the size that this room wants and is so impossible to find vintage unless you spend like $15k, which I won’t. When it arrived it was a bit muddier than I thought it would be and yet is still really pretty. I love that it’s not super dark and busy, but it’s not quite singing with everything else, either. But whose fault is that? The rug or the Barbs?

AI Rendering Of The Rug Before Purchase

And if you are wondering if I plugged said vintage rug into AI to render it out first, I did and it looked pretty dang great. Good enough to help me order it to see it in person. But the colors ended up being off – it’s deeper and darker in the render than in real life.

There are times when I love it and other times when I walk in and i’m like, ‘Nope. Not there yet’. It’s making me wonder if a 12×15 vintage rug exists that I will ever love (that is in a normal price range). But I wanted to shoot it and show you guys because that’s what we do – try things, show and tell, and generally obsess about whether or not they are right.

I also switched out the art next to the hutch so that it read more vintage/traditional which I think speaks to the rug and the hutch more. And then I had hoped that some of the colors in this vintage rug would speak to the painting in the landing that is so colorful, and it does and it doesn’t.

It’s pretty dang soft and obviously very forgiving and durable. It’s nothing like the boring comfy one, but even after a day or two I’ve gotten used to it in here and I love the bigger size.

So next steps are that I’m trying to make it work with potential new sofas that are designed for this room (not just ones I rushed into that don’t work with the dogs or are part of my line that has a lot of limitations). I wish SO BAD that I could have our Oscar sofas in here – they are SO comfortable!!! But I know that our dogs will get on top of those more squishy cushions and do the same thing that thy did on the OG green sofas. And no, they only sometimes sit on the back of these cushions since they are a little firmer and higher.

If you are wondering why I don’t just design a sofa and add it to the line, join the club. I showed our manufacturer what I want and they said that it would be too expensive to be at the price point that we need to sell at scale. To sell on Wayfair, which is the only place that they are carrying them, the price point has a threshold (like $2k) so it just creates so many limitations in size, fabric and shape. But I still might try – it’s not off the table. I also might just modify the Alice design to have more colors available and perhaps change the seat so it’s not a tight seat, but a cushioned seat (the Barbs and Oscar are more comfortable because of the loose seat and back just by nature of construction).

Here’s the working moodboard that is basically my Saturday morning hobby while drinking coffee:

I have so many fabric swatches on the way with some ready-made sofas on the market that I love, and I’m dabbling with custom patterns and shapes. But I’m also open to this 12×15 vintage rug going out in the guest cottage if it’s not going to work with the ultimate design of this living room. This room is not a huge priority in my life and yet it’s the one that we spend the most time in and man it’s been challenging. It’s just so open to so many other rooms that it has to look good within – the kitchen, the sunroom, the entry, the landing, the family room, the dining nook and so many doorways!!! It’s a pass through room, that is really big with with a central focal point that makes it hard to create multiple zones. If you have a living room in a house that is just a room off an entry, with a single entrance/doorway, consider yourself lucky – they are so much easier to design. I don’t regret having our home be so open and I love that the living room and kitchen are so connected, but it certainly complicates the design. I just want to get to the point where I’m like ‘I LOVE THIS ROOM SO MUCH” just like I have with the family room, kitchen, sunroom, the mudroom, all the bathrooms, and even our bedroom now. This is my problem child forever 🙂 If you are like ‘hey lady, just calm down and stop tweaking your perfectly good room in your pretty house’, you are so right and join the club – I ALSO wish I could just pretend that the box is checked. But it’s not. I look at my brother’s living room, Nicole’s living room, Robyn’s living room – all so good and so well designed. So I just want mine to be part of that club, while also recognizing that this might be some sort of undiagnosed neurosis 🙂 Luckily, I’m in no real rush and can try to enjoy the process. xx

*Photos by Kaitlin Green