For me life is a tapestry. Small little snippets of time that create a story. In The Tale of The Second Chance Rug, I hope to inspire you to look at your home objectively and create something new, with the things you already own.

A few years ago, I was doing a living room to home office conversion for a client. We selected a Pottery Barn Rug for the new room. The blues in this rug were gorgeous. I loved it with its mix of neutral and khaki green. Khaki is my favorite neutral. The nubby wool texture appealed to me as well, I knew it could take whatever I threw at it. So, when we replaced all the flooring with LVP a few years ago, I decided this was the rug.

When it came (during covid) I loved it so much that I ordered a second rug for the working part of the kitchen. I actually dropped 1/2 dozen eggs on it and it cleaned up beautifully. The interesting thing; in my kitchen the blue showed as grey. No matter I loved it anyway.

Fast forward a couple of years…I was scrolling thru the upcoming estate sales in our area, and I came across a picture of the very rug I had loved for 25 years. In the same size I had purchased 6×9′. Unfortunately back then I had to return it. It just didn’t fit, because I had two different floors in the living room and kitchen. But, this time the second chance rug came home with me. I knew it would be fine in the lower level room. Or in my bedroom. I simply just had to have it. I had waited long enough!!!

In November I had flash. I no longer had 2 different floors. Would the second chance rug work upstairs? Now that the flooring was all the same, could my estate sale find work in the kitchen, and the kitchen rugs work downstairs? Hmm! So literally, one step at a time, I hauled second chance up, and parked it at the top of the stairs. It was so heavy, I was winded and needed a sit down! I was just getting over West Nile.

Like a miracle the grand boys showed up on our doorstep shortly after. At 11 and 12 they are very big boys. They moved the kitchen table, rolled up the kitchen rug and took it downstairs. How does it look down there? I got a thumbs up. High praise from the two! They unfurled the beloved oriental on the kitchen floor, replaced the table and I immediately knew it had found its home. What a difference it has made to both the kitchen and the living room. It has tied the 2 rooms together beautifully. Now I realize the mustard table is jarring in the photo but, really it’s fine. At some point I may get brave and paint it, we’ll see.

I didn’t get down to analyze the situation with the kitchen rug until the next day. All of a sudden the rug turned blue. Downstairs the blue popped out and in front of blue antique couch it is lovely. Ok I can do this. The holidays came and went and I finally started to think about redefining the lower level. You know, the spend no money kind of redefining. I needed inspiration…

A few weeks ago I was taking a break and doing some scrolling. In an image of a lovely room there was a pillow. It wasn’t even the whole pillow. Loved it! It was khaki and blue. Hmm, my favorite. I thought, how nice would this second chance rug look downstairs? Then I had another flash. I had khaki and blue from the 2001 bedroom. Drapes, dust ruffle and shams. The drapes are now gracing the bathroom as a shower curtains. Hmm!

Suddenly, this was the answer to my prayer. I didn’t even have to put the fabric with the rug. I Just knew it was perfect. In my stash I had enough to make a new slipcover for the window seat. I also had enough solid linen in the perfect color for welting. Yet another dust ruffle!

I took apart the dust ruffle, and used that fabric for the boxing, and I took the shams apart to make the pillows for the sofa. This fabric would tie the rug to the rest of the room, and pillows on the antique couch would reinforce the look. I had a pretty blue quilted velveteen in my stash left over from another project, and just enough for one pillow.

It took me a couple of weeks to get all the sewing done. Then I set my sights on redefining the room. As much as I love the antique couch the blue fabric has always been somewhat problematic for me. It is in perfect condition, I love the color blue, I’ve just never been happy with the window pane check. And, I’ve never been able to justify reupholstering it. It’s fine!

So here is what I am wondering. Life is about aha moments. Those moments when something has been staring you in the face, sometimes for years, and you just weren’t ready to capture it. The kitchen rugs always reminded me of something. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’m a designer I’m supposed to know these things!!!

I know that had I been putting this project together for a client, I’d have had the rug on a table and I would be poring over sample books, and come to the conclusion that these were meant to be together. But, because they were for me, and scattered all over the house there was a disconnect.

I encourage you to think outside your own box. Look around and see what you can put together. If you have a special thing that you love but, you just don’t know how to use it contact me. I may be able to help you.

Thanks for stopping

Shelley