Remember this room?
Remember the before and the blue and white and that amazing fabric on the chairs and the perfect chandelier and the antique side table with the lamps and how I spent 24 of the 48 hours I had to decorate it searching high and low for the perfect rug and realizing that I sound just like my mother.
Finding the perfect rug for a room is a full time job.
For me, knowing what I want is the easy part.
Most of the time when I look at a space I can see the rug in the room in my mind.
It’s right there.
Right in front of me.
I just can’t ever seem to find it.
The challenge with this room is that there was a whole lot of neutral going on.
The white slip covered chairs at the end of the table were neutral.
The wall color were neutral.
Most of the accessories were neutral.
The curtains were neutral.
The wood pieces in the room were neutral.
And then we found these pillows.
Is it wrong if I tell you that when I found them in the store I immediately broke out into the song and dance numbers for a Broadway show.
Complete with choreography that featured the wave and the lawnmower.
So to recap.
We had the pillows and the neutral and the walls and now we needed a rug.
Easier said than done.
We looked and searched and sighed and shrugged….
…..until we found the rug aisle at Target.
There was the perfect rug.
Except.
Except it was too small. They only had it in a 5 x 7. And it wasn’t even really a 5 x 7. It actually measured smaller than that.
So what are two rug-hunting girls with a room full of neutrals and the perfect rug that’s too small to do?
Hello carpet seam tape.
You are a rock star.
Can we be friends?
I found the tape at the home improvement store in the flooring aisle at the bottom of the rug section.
It’s easy to apply.
Simply follow the instructions on the package.
Apply the tape to one side of the rug.
Press.
Line up the pattern of the other rug and lay the rugs as close together with the tape as you can. Make sure you line up the edge of the carpet first. You can always fudge the rest a little if needed.
Then, press the rugs together to make them appear as seamless as possible.
Here’s the close-up picture of the rugs together.
And here’s a picture of the rugs under the chair.
It’s not perfect.
You can still see the seam.
But do you even pay attention to it when you’re looking at this amazing fabric on the chairs?
You can see it in again in this picture.
But when you’re in the space and you get all distracted with the dishes and the tables and the chairs and those amazing pillows….
….you hardly even notice it.
It’s a brilliant solution for a space where you need a longer rug to fit the room or they only make the rug in one size and you need to create a larger area rug on a budget.
But the best thing about finding a solution in the rug aisle at Target?
Watching your mother and her dining room smile. 🙂
Hi Karianne, Now that's pretty cool. Most people will never look closely at the rug. I never would have noticed the seam if you hadn't pointed to it with the arrow. Love the slip-covered chairs and your pretty pillow too. Lovely blend of traditional pieces with contemporary touches. Your mom must love it.
Leave it to you to figure out the brilliant obvious, KA!! Your Momma must be so proud - of her rock-star awesome daughter, and her AMAZING dining room. WOW, it's gorgeous. It truly is a beautiful room! Well done, ladies!!
Love this room in all its brilliance! Love how brilliant you are, too!! : )
In that last pic...I was so taken with the rug, the pillow...oh that pillow, the chairs, and the wallpaper...I didn't even see the arrow at first! Your mother must be so thrilled! ;)
Arrow? There's an arrow? HA! Had to go back and find it--I was also too busy looking at the beauty of the room to notice :o)
LUCKY LUCKY MOM....she must be so proud of you and all that you do. So in this case: Sometimes two is better than one : Rock on }}}}}}}}}}}
On my way to Target
My house is becoming so neutral. Might be time to pop some blue. ;)
Looks beautiful, as always! And that chandelier is just what I've had in mind for the entry on our new house plan that I'm trying to put together. Is it a one-of-a-kind find? I pinned a similar one in a darker color and have been trying to figure out if/how to paint it!
Great tip! Sheila
I have a client who is doing a staircase runner and will need this to splice the two rugs she needs. Brilliant! Consider the tape "sold". Have fun at Haven. I will be daydreaming about you guys the whole time. And I am reading a book that I think is going to change my life. "Women, God, and Food" by Geneen Roth. That's a return favor for 1000 Gifts. That book made me into a better person. So much power! Have a jolly time, The Other Marian
Looks wonderful! I love this idea....maybe some day I will get to try it! Thanks for sharing! Leticia
Love this dining room! I have 2 of these exact rugs ready to go down in my dining room. Might even recover my chairs with that fabric eventually. Need to paint first.
Beautiful!!!! It looks like you must have cut the border off of one side of each of the rugs. How were you able to do that without the rugs unraveling along the cut?
I so understand what you were going through with the dilemma of the rug size. I recently had to order 2 rugs for my porch in order to accommodate the area. Will use your method Kari. Beautiful room!
Still love this room... I'm trying to decide if I should replace my dark green/gray curtain panels with white ones. Hobby Lobby had some but not long enough. In the fall, IKEA is opening here in St. Louis so I'm hoping they will have some super duper sales. Is later in the year bad timing to put up white curtains?? My walls are gray, hardwood floors, painted and wood pieces and slipcovered sofa/chairs in drop cloth. I'm puzzled. Want to put white all over the house. 17 windows. Yikes!! What say you Design Wizzard????
The room is beautiful! You are probably your mom's favorite child. ;) love and blessings~ Lynda @ Gates of Crystal
This is a GREAT idea! Genius! Definitely will make me more open to runs I like in the future knowing this is an option. Hope you're having a great day!
Miz karianne, I still love the way this room turned out....and I'm not a "blue" person, although I like some blue things. But this makes me want to do MY dining room in blue! Nice tip about the tape...I'm tucking that away for a possible future room intervention.
See that is what makes YOU a rock star -- where there's a will there's a way or if you find the rug (s) you want you make it work. My brother-in-law was a carpet layer and tiler and I knew about carpet tape and ironing it together. But I think the carpet layers had to pinkie swear they wouldn't tell the consumer about it. So I think some kind hearted carpet layer thought it was totally unfair that we the consumer couldn't have all the advantages they did in putting together carpet. But you the rock start that you are, found the tape and heralded the fact that it is out in the market :-) Thank you!!!!!
You are so clever. I need to purchase a rug for my dining area which I'm redoing in a Tuscany style, so that idea just might work. I'll copy the dancing and wave move if I get lucky like you. Your site is a perfect way to begin my day. Thanks for all the great humor. Julianne
Looks great! I'm getting ready to do this with two 3x5 rugs in my craft room. I've used this trick a time or two over the years to create the size of rug I needed by couldn't find or afford!
I'm digging this idea!
Karianne, I am so glad you found a way to get the rug you wanted. I, for one, would never have noticed the "seam" if you hadn't pointed it out. Looks fantastic. Happy Wednesday.... Sarah
I had two rag rugs held together with safety pins for years. It worked! This is definitely an upgrade, though. Thanks for the tip. It's great to get smaller rugs and combine them when it solves a problem for you!
Well aren't you a crafty gal! That's awesome!!! To bad you didn't record that choreography number:D
is that broadway singing and dancing on youtube by now?!? the rug and the pillow are both stunning!! have lots of fun at Haven karianne!! <3
Hi Karianne! I'm sure you won't remember me,but I've emailed you a couple of times and you were gracious enough to respond! One more question. I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby to redo my dining room chairs like you did your Mom's. Did you match the pattern placement on the chairs? I'm trying to figure out how much fabric to buy. Oh, ONE more question. Did you scotch guard the fabric? Have a wonderful day" Emily Lahm
You are a brilliant little blonde, do not let anyone tell you differently. I LOVE the whole room, but especially the blue pillows that make it pop. When I worked for Neiman Marcus, in the Interior Design part, they would tell us to find a way to "Shock" the room, like doing a bed in all blue and white then put a throw pillow on, in Fuchsia . Does that make sense? (the statement, not the action) lol. anyway I love it...
Easy peezy. Thanks for sharing. The room is so pretty. Of course, look you did I it
You are one smart cookie! Such an easy, great idea!
Oh KariAnne, this room is absolutely stunning...it shines, sparkles, sings, and smiles...it's all kinds of wonderful, just like the lovely person who decorated it...and I know your mother would agree with me! I LOVE everything about this room...there is nothing I would want to add or subtract...it's sheer perfection! I also think it's wonderful that you are so close to your family...no doubt, they cherish you greatly...how could they not? Impossible! :) I'm taking lots of mental notes here for my own decorating needs...thank you so very much for sharing this awe-inspiring room with us! By the way, doesn't Target have fantastic rugs? I've got one in my bedroom that I just adore! Unfortunately, we no longer have Target in Canada, so I won't be able to look for the ones you have used here. but I'm sure there are some affordable rugs elsewhere that might suffice...I certainly hope so!
What a great idea! I love the gorgeous room. Kathy
wow again wow and I am such a fan of that chair material you are a rockstar so of course you sing and dance!!!!!
What a great idea and solution!!! And you can hardly see the seam, but even so, who cares? I see it as a badge of honor to show how smart and creative you are!!! The room is simply gorgeous. Blue and white is my favorite color combination. And the fabric on the dining chairs.....swoon!!! :)
The rug is gorgeous as is the room! Brilliant idea about the rug; I have often needed a larger rug and couldn't find one. I was wondering where the the beautiful chandelier came from, I've been searching for one similar. All I can find are dark colors.
Great post! This will be extremely helpful in the future!
. the carpet looks wonderful KariAnne...... the joining tape works well... great solution... Hugs... Barb xxx
Love your style very much. Placing two rugs together to get the desired proportion is something I would see as a great solution too! This room is absolutely stunning with the patterns, plates, textures, and color combinations in use here. Keep the creative juices flowing KariAnne, because you are an inspiration to me!
Thanks so much for sharing! I love this rug and the idea is genius!