An Ode To The Rug

I’m a huge fan of the all-white walls at home.

For a start, it brings an incredible amount of light into the house. With white walls, no matter what the weather, you can be sure to have rays bounced around at any time of day. No joke, since moving in to an entirely white-walled house I’ve noticed I am happier, feel more motivated and sleep less: the increase in light has had a great effect on my mood. Chloe mentioned this after her recent move to a much lighter house and I nodded throughout her post… it really works.

If you’re after a clean and minimal look like mine, white is easiest option to build your Marie Kondo dream upon. With no fussy wallpapers and no wall colours competing with one another, even an interior design novice like me can create a simplified Scandinavian look.

White is also the most child-friendly colour to have on the walls of a family home. It may sound daunting but it’s clean, it’s practical: have you ever tried to bleach crayon off a beautifully-painted Farrow and Ball surface? Not a problem with Wicke’s finest white!

One other upside to my white scheme is the ease in which I can change the decor of the house. And this, fellow home lovers, is where my ode to the rug comes in.

A rug is the one thing in the world that can change the feel of a room more than a lick of paint. Easier to change than a carpet and with more freedom to go slightly wild with your choices of colours and patterns, a rug is a really quick and inexpensive way to freshen or alter the look of a room.
Hallway -Safavieh Rug

Now, when we moved house back in December I knew I wanted to do something and special with the hallway. I’d bought a marble-topped tulip table specifically for this room, something I’d coveted and saved up for. But when paired with the cork flooring the whole situation felt fairly cold, and the room echoed. It didn’t work.

safavieh rugs

And so I popped my year-old (and still adored) IKEA ALVINE RUTA rug underneath, but it still didn’t look right. The size and shape of the rug made the table look small: I wanted a square rug that would almost cover the entire floor, but square rugs aren’t that easy to come by and the floor space is MASSIVE… have you any idea how expensive big rugs are?! Eye-wateringly expensive, that’s how.

The ideal would have been a Persian rug, but again, the expense of one to cover the floor size would have ran me to about £3k (ouch), and if you’re spending that much on a rug I can’t imagine ever letting anyone eat food on the table above it. So to the drawing board it was.

The Safavieh Rug

I decided to take inspiration from the pink sofa. I love the pop of colour this brings along with my blue sofa to the otherwise white house, and wanted to carry that from the entrance hall through to the lounge. Size was still an issue though (why is it so hard to find good-value area rugs?!), until I came across Safavieh at Wayfair.

Safavieh Rug

Safavieh specialise on mid-to-large colourful area rugs, and once I started looking through their collection I knew I’d find one to suit us. I spent a good few days thinking about the colours I wanted to match with the lounge – although the rooms are separated by sliding doors I keep them open – and decided bright and cheerful was the way to go. I’m a huge fan of uplifting flowers in the house so I wanted one I could compliment with blooms.

And as soon as I saw the Jade from Safavieh I knew it was the one. 

Safavieh Rug

Bright enough to match the sofas and flowers, low-pile enough should an errant piece of food drop off the dining table, cosy enough to feel nice underfoot, big enough to suitably fill the room. I ordered it immediately, thinking the £244.99 price was particularly palatable for such a large piece.

Funny story: the rug actually arrived while we were away skiing, so my mum kindly took delivery for us.

“It’s very lovely!” she said, “but isn’t it a bit big?”. Having heard me wonder about a rug for the kids’ room she’d assumed it was going in there removed their beds, unrolled the rug and moved the furniture back in… whoops! Kudos to her, though – by the time we’d returned from The Alps the Jade had been removed from the bedroom and slipped into its rightful place under the marble table of dreams.

Safavieh Rug

safavieh rug

I love the rug in this room. Though I adore my white walls, I also like a colourful accessory, and I think my brightly coloured recipe books and floral touches really bring warmth and joy to the space. I keep my keys and change in a hand-painted bowl next to an oversized-Anglepoise lamp.

Vitra Eames 43 chairs add more white and light, as do the IKEA sideboard (actually a RAMSÄTRA TV stand) and inherited gold mirrors (thanks, Mum!). It’s a very warm and welcoming room to come home to, and I love it so much I’m considering replacing *THE* La Redoute rug in my bedroom with one from Safavieh (I like the Jenna and the Bellina).

Proof that a rug really can make a room, eh?

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11 Comments

  1. Candy Pop wrote:

    What a beautiful rug. Loving your style – your house looks stunning! Have a lovely weekend, Alice. xx

    Posted 2.24.17 Reply
    • alice wrote:

      Ahh thank you so much :) x

      Posted 2.27.17 Reply
  2. I do love that rug! I’m with you on the white walls. Slowly but surely I’d like to paint my whole house white (or possibly grey).

    Posted 2.24.17 Reply
    • alice wrote:

      ooh I do like grey too – I think that is really classy.

      Posted 3.2.17 Reply
  3. Amanda wrote:

    That rug is amazing and great value. Love the colors and style. Blimey the whole space looks amazing. I’m a fan of white walls and colour in the soft furnishings and art too. love it.

    Posted 2.25.17 Reply
  4. Oh I really like it – looks great in that space. I just bought a safavieh rug too for my son’s room – https://themumandthemom.com/2017/02/05/decorating-childrens-bedrooms-vol-iii/
    – they are really lovely quality, better than I expected esp given how ££ big rugs normally are! I had to wait for a double sale option for our giant 10 x 12 ft lounge rug – kilim from west elm…

    Posted 2.26.17 Reply
  5. There I was admiring your instagram post about this rug, and popped over to read the post to see you’ve given me a lovely mention – thank you!! I really think the colour in this rug works so well in your space, I would have probably taken one look and thought ‘children’s bedroom’ too, but in place, I can really see why you chose it for this particular room. I am after a large area rug for our living room, haven’t yet found ‘the one’. And yes, we are still embracing the white walls in our house – makes it so much easier to change up your accessories and it’s FAB for natural light.

    Posted 2.26.17 Reply
  6. I am not a big fan of white walls but this room looks very lovely!

    Posted 2.27.17 Reply
  7. It really does look amazing! What an eye opening post as well. Seeing the same room without a rug, with the IKEA one and with this goes to show how you can completely change the feel of a room with one accessory. Love it.

    Posted 2.27.17 Reply
  8. Babawaga wrote:

    I am late to the party, but just wanted to add my admiration of your dining space and the addition of the new rug. I’m a huge fan of a good rug, me! Have you heard of the retailer Myakka – they specialise in fairtrade homeware and their rugs are reasonably priced. We’ve got one in our through-lounge from them and one in the extension which we use as the kids play-room & library – as they are not too dear I’m not fussed if the kids go a bit crazy on it and I know I can replace it a few years down the line without breaking the bank.

    Posted 2.28.17 Reply
  9. That is one nice rug! I absolutely love it, and think that the price is really reasonable. There is a French Connection one that I have been lusting after for a while, but I literally have no where to put it – we’d have to move house…perhaps it will be on ebay in a few years time! Your room looks wonderful xx

    Posted 3.1.17 Reply