Time to add some finishing touches to this hallway makeover. Today, I wanted to give you a little insight on how to choose a rug and how I chose the rug for this hallway!
Okay, I ran into a dilemma. The vintage rug I found on Facebook Marketplace that I wanted to go in this hallway does not fit. Here’s the rug. It’s absolutely beautiful but way too wide. It touches the trim on both sides.
I ordered two other rugs and tried them out. Here’s the first one. I love it so much. I’ve been looking for an excuse to use it. But, it just felt way too busy against the wallpaper I installed.
Here is the second rug. It also wasn’t right. It was so similar to the carpet I literally just ripped out. But I do like that it’s a bit calmer against this wallpaper.
I wanted to let you into my brain so you can see the process of me balancing styles and picking items to execute my designs. Here’s the best way to choose a rug (for me!).
Personal Style
My personal style is traditional and modern. I lean a bit more toward traditional, but I like to mix the two. Here’s an example of how I’ve done this in my home so far.
This hallways is covered in a traditional style chinoiserie pattern on all of the walls. This means that if I put down a traditional patterned rug, it would lean way too traditional for me.
Along with traditional and modern, I like to mix masculine/feminine, warm/cool, and formal/casual.
Formal & Casual
In this case, the hallway was feeling a bit too formal. I needed a rug a bit more casual.
Warm & Cool
This wallpaper is heavy on the cool tones. There are also cool undertones in the paint. I needed a warm rug.
So after taking all of this into consideration, I knew I needed a rug that is modern, casual, and warm!
My mind ran straight to a jute runner. But the weave of the jute runner I already had felt too structured – making it feel too formal. So I found a looser weave, but it felt too traditional.
I was leaning toward something with a geometric pattern that’s not too busy. But, in the rooms you can see from the hallway, I have geometric patterns already. So, I needed to take that into consideration as well.
And here’s the rug I ended up going with! I’m obsessed with all of Chris Loves Julia’s rugs and this one was of course perfect! It’s super affordable too!
I can’t wait to show you the rest of this hallway!
– Cass
