LL Textiles

Things have been busy with our fabric line, Lauren Liess Textiles.  I've been working on some new designs and I've also added some new colorways to the existing line.  I got them in on Friday and I'm so excited so I had to share with you!!!

{Squid Flower in Wine and Fern Star in Sepia}

Bringing in these most recent colorways has really gotten the line where I want it to be.  These are the colorways I've been after...  earthy, inky and vintage-feeling.  The line is where I want it to be and I can really feel the collection taking on a life of its own.  I'm becoming more confident in what it is I want to put out there and the feeling I want the collection to have.  Although drawing is difficult for me, I've learned that I like how my drawings are ending up, and that somehow, as a medium, textiles are working for me.  I might not necessarily like a drawing of mine framed on a wall, but colored the way I want it colored and put into a repeat in a textile, I'm happy with how it turns out.

I love seeing the transformation of drawing into actual textile.  (It's kind of like getting your photo airbrushed!! ;)

{Buttercup, which I drew in the car on the way to visit my dad in Illinois last summer}

{A pillow in buttercup}

Some of my favorite parts about textile designs are figuring out how I want a design to connect to itself and repeat.  It's sort of like a brain teaser. Once you decide what you're drawing, you have to draw it so it fits together like a puzzle.

{Buttercup in Black}

I know in terms or what's "right" my technique (or lack of it) is totally elementary....  but I'm not after creating    examples of great textile "designs"...  I'm after creating a fabric or wall covering or whatever that I'll (and hopefully others too!) have an emotional reaction to.  Something that I love and want to incorporate into my home or others' homes.  To me, it's not about technique, it's just about the feeling the piece has when it's done.

I'm often drawn to blockprinted fabrics with no intertwining at all, like in Squid Flower, below:

or Fern Star:

Other times, I make each repeat itself obvious because part of the interesting thing about the pattern is the shape the repeats make meeting.

The new colorways are in and I'm working on a 15 foot long window seat in our upstairs loft to layer with pillows in lots of my prints.  Wild Chicory will definitely be on there because it was my first design (and my logo!)...

I'm in the process of putting together memo books to show to select to-the-trade showrooms in hopes that they will decide to carry our full collection.  It's a time-consuming process and it's a little nerve-wracking.  I'm so crazy about the collection but am not a sales person at all so it's not coming easy to me.  I made a call a couple of weeks ago to an amazing showroom in LA and before even asking my name or looking up my patterns or website or anything, I got the "there's no room at the Inn" (showroom) door politely shut in my face.  :/   haha  ouch  

It's totally to be expected though, and I'm sure I'll get a lot more of those before I find the right fits.  I've learned that you can't just call a company up like that too...  So I might be travelling a bit to get everything off the ground properly.  But I'm excited about this new venture!!  The fabrics are so personal to me and I love working on this part of the business.  

Keep your fingers crossed for me - I need all the help I can get!!

I'm working on some new designs week and will share as soon as they're ready.  Also, some of you have asked how you can view the entire collection of order memos.  You can view it at www.purestylehome.co and just click on "LL Textiles."  I haven't updated the site with some of the newest patterns and colorways yet and am working on it so as soon as they're all up, I'll let you know!!  If you' have an account with us (or want to set one up) and need some of the new colorways or patterns before they're up, just contact meghan@thepurestyle.com

Have a great day!!



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Our kitchen island

In our kitchen, I went back and forth (over and over!!) on what I wanted in our kitchen, and I finally decided we needed some worn wood in it somewhere to add warmth and carry over the rustic feeling from the rest of our house into the kitchen.  I originally planned to do wood perimeter cabinets but then fell in love with a slab of black soapstone, so I liked the idea of the lighter-painted perimeter cabinets with the dark soapstone top and then a darker wood island with a white marble top.  Here you can see our mid-stage kitchen:

Our island is around 8 feet long & can sit four of us...  (Even though you only see 3 chairs above)

Our builders got the kitchen island fucntional and we've been doing this for a while:

This island is a WORKHORSE!! Oh my gosh, it's a beast.  I love it.  It holds our trash, recycling, junk drawer, pasta/rice/randoms, a little bar drawer, kids' snacks, my vases & mason jars, and then paper goods like paper towels/ plates/cups.  We've had parties where we've loaded it up with food/ drinks.  (And even beer pong I must admit ;)  For Christmas, it seemed like our entire extended family fit around it easily.  It's one of the most practical pieces I've ever had and I've never had anything like this in a kitchen of my own before.  It might be my favorite thing in my house...  And it's not even pretty yet.

{Reality: My dog is "vacuuming" up our crumbs.  Get it giiiirl.}

BUT... our reclaimed oak arrived this week!!!  It was an amazingly generous gift from David Ellison at the Lorimer Workshop who we often team up with for cour clients' projects.  David & his team are true craftspeople and everything that arrives from them is so much more beautiful than any photos could show.  Our clients are always over the moon with their Lorimer pieces and we were no less blown away when our reclaimed wood arrived:

(Don't mind the helicoptor ;)

The color was exactly what I'd asked David for...  It's stained sort of a warm (but still somehow grayish and not too orangey) medium walnut.  I love how it looks with our light white oak floors.

Here's a close-up where you can really see the saw marks: 

Eeeeek!

We are having the wood planks applied horizontally over the entire existing island & drawers similar to this:

 They're all random length, width & depths though, so it will be a bit rougher-looking.

I wanted something special for hardware on the island and on an ebay search Dave, my husband, found prettiest antique apothecary bin pulls:

{My computer is being evil and won't let me flip this photo around}

Thy're labeled with what the bins used to hold...

Here's a close-up:

They had the exact number of bin pulls we needed (7) so I'm convinced it was meant to be ;) ;)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on our island's progress and can't wait to share 'afters' of it!!

Have the best weekend!! 

 

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Reality Check: What does it cost to furnish a room?

Money talks can be a little awkward.  I don't relish talking about money and I don't like telling people how much money they should spend...  but it's part of my job.  Often when I'm called into a project, clients don't know how much they should spend on a room.  Budgets are a very tricky thing and I often have to help them figure out where they should be at on their budget.

People often fear telling a designer their budget because they fear she will "spend it all."  Well, guess what?  We will!!!   A designer's job is to know the client's budget and do as much as she/he can with that budget.  If a client tells me she has $45,000 for a room, I'm going to use every cent of that $45,000 to get her the best quality she can afford.  Similarly, if a client has $18,000 for a room, I'm going to use all of it too so that she can have the best she can afford.  Is the client who spent $18,000 getting the same thing the client who spent $45,000 is?  No, definitely not.   If a client really has $15,000 to spend and tells me he has $10,000, he's only shooting himself in the foot  (This hasn't ever happened, I promise :)  because I'm going to make decisions and present based upon a level of quality & value that's lower than what he can really afford.

When clients ask me "how much should my room cost?" it's difficult to answer.  I can do something with almost anything, but the results will be totally different in different budgets. 

We're lucky that we live in a time where good design is accessible at affordable prices.  But...  we have to be careful that we're comparing apples to apples when comparing goods.  For example- the ikea sofa, the Pottery Barn sofa and the Lee Industries Sofa...  All are at different pricepoints and at different quality levels.  Quite frankly, you get what you pay for.  If a client comes to me with a lower budget for the living room and wants it completely furnished, I can't spec a Lee sofa for her even though it's the better sofa.  I have to go with a sofa at a lower pricepoint.

I thought it might be interesting to see what a tyical bare-minimum living room budget would look like at 3 different pricepoints:  low- medium- and medium-high    (I'm not going higher than that into high-end because the sky can really be the limit.)... NO thrift/ flea purchases are in here either..

                                 LOW                                      MID                          MED-HIGH
Sofa                           $500                                     $2200                             $3500++
2 Chairs                     $250                                      $2600                             $4400+
Wool Rug 8 x 10        $350                                      $2000                         $5000+              
coffee table                 $100                                     $750                                $2000+
3 occasional tables       $100                                    $1200                              $3900
2 table lamps               $100                                     $300                                $900+
2 floor lamps             $80                                      $600                                $1600+        
4 curtain panels-          $25                  off the rack    $400                               $1800+
Curtain Hardware        $40                                       $750+                             $1000+
2 natural woven shades   $50                                    $240                              $750
light fixture                $20                                        $350                              $1000+
throw pillows              $125              off the rack     $500                              $1200+          
Art & accessories-  $50                                     $3000                             $5000+
SHIPPING/ DELIVERY- x                                        $                                   x
electrical, installations, labor - x                                x                                     x
hardware, wallpaper,etc.-  x                                       x                                     x
_______________________________________________________________________
  TOTAL                  $1,850.00 +                           $14,140.00 +                       $33,850+

...And then think that I didn't put in items like wallpaper, installations, SHIPPING (this is BIG!!!  10-20% of the cost of the project), labor, paint, archictural details, special treatments on furnishings, etc. so add in thousands more $$$$)

The low is pretty much based on Ikea's prices, the mid is kind of a Pottery Barn budget and the mid-high is a mix middle & high-range custom and trade-only items, which is how we typically design rooms in our business.   Again, I can't stress enough that even the "med-high" can easily go waaaaaay up from there & that even this would be "tight" if the client is really looking for high end antiques, fabrics, upholstery, etc.

Even if the same designer were to do rooms with these 3 different budgets, the rooms would be completely different and you would know by looking which was which. 

{ikea...  notice that putting Ikea stuff in a room that's already architecturally interesting (the horizontal paneling)  adds some oomph to it...  I really like the general idae of this room but with slimmer-profiled furnishings and a truly crusty & old gold oval mirror, some natural textures and a better light fixture, it would be much betta and put it into another league.}

{pottery barn...  same here...  no pattern either.}

[House Beautiful...  see the difference?  It's all in the lines & the quality.}

... There's never any judging when a client tells me his or her budget...  there's just serious brain scrambling to figure out how I can get them the best room for the money we have.  There are times when clients tell me what they want and then tell me their budgets and I have to be honest and say, "For that amount, you're not going to be happy with what you get"  because what they want and what they want to spend are so far off.  In this case, I typically recommend that we create an entire plan that the client will be happy with that he or she can then implement in stages to offset the costs.

In my own home, we were able to do things for less by going to thrift stores & flea markets & by using craigslist and by doing everything ourselves, but we wanted a certain level of quality with certain items (our sofa, rug, lighting, fabrics.)  We were able to save by finding an amazing sofa for a steal on craiglist and having it reupholstered (pic below), but it still cost us $1500 or so and it took a lot of TIME.  If I had done it for a client, the amount of money they would have had to pay me for my time to find the sofa on craigslist, go pick it up, and have it reupholstered would have considerably reduced its savings and possibly not even have been worth it. 

{our craiglist lee sofa- photo by Helen Norman}

When furnishing a room from scratch, it can feel scarily expensive.  Most people begin the process after they move into a new place & realize they need furniture...  they've already spent so much purchasing the house and now they have to furnish it.  In the initial "budget talk" many of my clients are blown away when we do simple calculations and come to an average pottery-barnesque-priced living room that costs over $15,000 without including things like wallpaper and special treatments and SHIPPING... 

I like to use vintage and flea market finds to stretch my budget {and add style you just can't get with all new items.}  If you're willing to do things yourself and seek out cool items and refinish them and rework them, you can really stretch your budget.  If you don't like to do things yourself, paying your designer to do it isn't necessarily going to save you any money because she will have to upcharge the items or bill you hourly, but it is going to give you the mix of old-and-new results you want and I highly recommend it...  It's a valuable service worth paying for.  My clients are never happier than when I come in with a good vintage find for them that they never would have chosen or found themselves that makes the room.

What are your thoughts on budgets?





If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The Skinny on Buying Roman Shades: Custom Vs. Standard

I love roman shades.  I use them on pretty much any & every window that needs privacy.  (Shutters are beautiful too but we'll get into those another time.)  There are so many different types and price points that I thought it might be helpful to break it down. 

1.  The main materials that can be used for roman shades are
 fabrics:

{A room by Steven Gambrel}

 and natural woven materials:

{Image Source unknown via Little Green Notebook}

2.  There are many cases when roman shades are beautiful/ functional on their own & should be used alone.  It offers a clean, simple look.  Here in the kitchen, is a kid-friendly solution (i.e. no food mess on curtains) with custom natural woven roman shades with privacy lining:

{Our breakfast nook, smith + noble tortoise shell bamboo waterfall shades}

 A client's living room (pictured "before" below) had a set of french doors on the left side and a double window on the right side.  When I first arrived, I knew we needed to fix the imbalance of having curtain panels on one side and not the other:

{Client Living Room Below}

Because the door wouldn't have been functional with curtain panels, and because I wanted balance, I used roman shades only (no curtains) on both sides.  I wish I had a better view of this room, (I still need to go back for finished photos)  but I had custom pleated balloon shades installed behind the newly added crown molding for a seamless casually elegant look:

{A client's living room.  My task was to keep all existing furnishings, artwork, etc. and update it.}

3.  I also love to layer roman shades with curtain panels. It's functional (panels can remain stationary and roman shades go up & down for privacy) and beautiful (You get 2 opportunities to add texture/ pattern to a room instead of just 1.)  It adds layers & creates a warmer look than curtains alone.  They can be mounted inside the window or outside the window. 

I often have them mounted above the window and outside of the trim ("outside mount") to allow as much of the window to show as possible and to give the illusion that the window continues higher than it really does which visually heightens the entire room.  (It makes smaller rooms feel more spacious and large-medium rooms feel grander.)  I did this in a client's living room here:

{A client's living room:  custom lined linen curtains & custom natural woven roman shades with privacy lining}

In my own living room, (below) I used non-custom cotton roman shades from Sears.  (The color I used was "natural" and it looks like a warm white.) I mounted them outside the widows (again, to give the illusion of larger windows and also to hide the window frames on my old 70s window) and I paired them with "custom" (I made them myself because I couldn't afford to have them made) unlined white linen curtains. (I went with unlined linen because I love how the light shines through & it's a natural, relaxed look.) 

{Our dining room}

Here (below) I used the same non-custom Sears roman shades in "white" in our family room with no curtains.  Because of our budget, in our house I try to use non-custom shades wherever I can.  The cost difference between custom and non-custom is amazing.  (Approx $30 for the noncustom Sears shades below and maybe around $150-$250 or so- depending upon fabric- for a custom version.) 

4.  Custom vs. Standard Fabric shades:  Let me be frank: you get what you pay for.  The ONLY reason I don't have custom shades on every window in my own home is because we can't spend money there right now.  I love the look of certain standard shade styles but there is a difference in quality.  Custom shades pull up & down smoothly & evenly, whereas I have to play with some of my my non-custom shades to get them to hang right & evenly.  (Sears' larger sizes - 48" and up I think) are much of a better quality than their smaller sizes.  They use a metal chain pulley system and go up and down smoothly but I've noticed there's a slight varience in the color of the fabrics between the large and small sizes--- arggg.  But the price was right.  My advice is to buy the best you can afford.  Consider the non-custom shades to give you the look you want and plan on upgrading in the future if you want/ need to.  Custom fabric shades are made to order so you you can use any fabric you like and the style selection is practically endless.  Use a local shades fabricator to get the exact fabric and style you need.  (If you don't have one, consider hiring a decorator/ designer to assist.  Calico Corners also makes custom shades.)  This typically costs more than going with a company like smith + noble who has a limited selection of fabrics to choose from. 

5.  Custom vs. Standard Natural Woven Shades:  If you simply want the look and won't be using them often (in a space where you don't really need the privacy) I recommend the non-custom shades for a great look without the expense.  In our toddler's room we went with the non-custom unlined natural woven shades from Home Depot (for around $40) because he's so short anyone looking in wouldn't be able to see him anyway when he's not dressed.  (And of course because these shades would have been close to $400 if they were custom.)  The shades are also over the bed & so would be a pain to open & close whether they were custom or non-custom, but I love the look of these Home Depot shades for anyone who wants "the look" without the functionality & privacy needs:

{Our toddler's bedroom}

Again, you get what you pay for.  If you need high-quality. smooth & easily operables shades, then you will need to pay more. 

6. Tips for non-custom natural woven or "matchstick" shades:  Most non-custom companies sell their natural woven shades unlined.  A few have liners you can purchase and add on separately.  You could also attempt adding your own lining if you're crafty.  The unlined shades significantly darken the room and filter the light but at night they're virtually see-through from the outside when your interior lights are on.  Just google "natural woven roman shades"/ 'matchstick shades" and a bunch of options will pop up.  (Target, Home Depot, Sears all have them online.)

7. Tips for Custom natural woven roman shades:  I love smith + noble's selection of natural woven roman shades.   Different materials vary in prices.  There are a lot of other amazing brands out there but I simply used smith + noble first and loved theirs.  I've heard great things about many other companies and will surely be trying some out in the future.

The decision to go with fabric shades or natural woven shades depends upon the feeling you want your space to have.   Go here to check out some different styles of fabric roman shades.   

I hope this helps & good luck!!

"Natural" Rugs: Seagrass, Sisal, Jute, Synthetic & Wool Rugs: The Low-Down

Washington Post Blogwatch October 1, 2009




I have (or have had) almost all of these rugs somewhere in my home with the exception of sisal. And there's definitely a time & place for each of them, depending upon the maintenance, kid, pet & softness factors. Here's a quick overview of my thoughts & experiences with the rugs.

1--- SEAGRASS--- In my family room/ office/hangout room, we installed wall-to-wall seagrass just like this (below) and we absolutely LOVE it:

And here's the lowdown on seagrass:

1) THE WAIVER: The company we bought it from made us sign a waiver saying that seams would be visible and that we understood it would fray and that there would be a smell. The seagrass we purchased also came with its own attached rug pad which would make for a quicker install.

2) THE SMELL: On the day of the install, the smell was SO BAD I was scared. I have a really sensitive nose & whatever glue they used when mixed with the straw-smell of the seagrass honestly smelled like animal urine. BUT a few days later, when all of the glue had dried, we were left with just the "hay smell" of segrass, which I love.     ...I have learned from my mistake and it's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you ask your installer to use a glue with little or no smell.  We used a different glue in our bedroom and the hay smell is all we have. :)

3) THE SEAMS: The seams are not visible. (we had a good installer & he did seal down the seams and all edges) But the rug is also connected so that the natural lines in the rug are in a row... It looks perfect and you can't even tell even when trying to find the seams.

4) THE FRAYING: So far, so good and we have a dog with long nails who runs all over it. I'm sure it will (and probably already has & I haven't noticed) pull up in places but it's pretty simple to just snip loose fibers with a pair of scissors. It's a natural rug & will get flaws, but they really aren't very noticeable.

5) THE CARE: A-mazing! It's recommended to vaccuum once a week (okay, okay, when things slow down I'll get to that) and you can even sweep these rugs clean! I hate to gross you all out (but want to give you the REAL scoop) --- My toddler had an accident on it last week and it all just pooled in one spot without soaking in and I was able to blot it up really easily. Then I sprayed it down with a natural cleaner (probably a no-no but I was grossed out) and wiped it up with towels. There's no mark, no smell and it looks just like the rest of the rug. Because the grass is from the water, it resists stains & water marks. You also really can't see dirt at all and when we have gotten mud on it, we just allowed it to dry and then swept up the dirt.

6) THE SOFTNESS FACTOR: Seagrass is actually pretty smooth and hard. It's actually more like a hard floor than a rug. It's just as fine for kids to crawl across as hardwood or any other hard surface but isn't ideal for play areas where they'll spend a lot of floor-time. BUT it's GORGEOUS with other rugs layered over it. In our family room in the TV/ play area, we layered an old wool rug over it, which is perfect for playing, lounging & wrestling... (I thought I'd let you see it in all its messy-primary-colored-toy-glory)   Many people complain that it hurts their feet and I have to admit that late at night and early in the morning when it was first installed, it hurt my feet, but now it doesn't bother me at all, even when I'm tired. 

7) EXTRA INFO: Since it's natural, its color changes over time. It starts out with more of a green tinge and eventually tans. If you are layering rugs, the area under the rug might stay green longer because the moisture is being protected under there so keep that in mind of you plan on moving rugs around seasonally. (Similar to sun discoloration on hardwoods) Eventually, after being exposed for long enough, the difference shouldn't be noticeable. Weels also work on this rug which is perfect for the wheely desk chairs in my office & also for Christian's scooter. Joni from Cote de Texas has a beautiful & information-packed post about seagrass which (if you haven't already read) you should definitely check out here.

2--- SISAL---- Sisal rugs are another gorgeous option for natural rugs. (For banding, I like colors that blend with the natural color of the rug vs. colors)

The LOWDOWN on sisal:

1) THE CARE: The maintenance is a bit higher for sisal than seagrass. Water can STAIN it although doesn't always.  It depends upon the specific rug. 

2) SOFTNESS FACTOR: It's rough & scratchy. It's not smooth like seagrass and has a rough, frayed rope-like texture. NOT good for baby & kid knees or lounging yourself, but again, is the perfect rug to use in a room you don't need to be on the floor in, or to layer under a softer rug.

3) USES: It is also beautiful installed wall to wall a living room or bedroom.

I love all of the gorgeous textured options available with sisal.  (Think Stark's Diamond sisal pattern!! :)

** I've gotten several comment from people who have had sisal for years & have had no staining issues!!! .. But have also heard from people who have had the staining issues so it seems there's some variance! ***

3---WOOL LOOK-ALIKES----- Because I love the look of sisal (above) but needed a softer rug, I chose a custom wool area rug for my living room that looks like sisal (below) and had it banded in cotton. (I wanted to go thicker & linen on the banding but the price jump was insane so I settled) You can have these made at carpet stores.

1) MAINTENANCE: Easy. Same as any other wool rug. We haven't gotten any spills other than water on it (which has been fine) but for any tough stains/ spills, I would just use some warm, slightly soapy water and a rag to blot/work out. The color & texture hides dirt too! yay!! And, because its wool, it'll last for years & wear really well.

2) SOFTNESS FACTOR: It's not super-plush or thick because it has that sisal look, but is very soft for kids & babies. My son is on it all the time and no raw knees. My husband has also taken naps on it with no complaints.

3) SEAMS: We didn't have to get any seams done but wouldn't have had to sign any waivers for this one, so I'm assuming they would be fine, especially with the striped texture. This carpet came 13 feet wide so I had to cheat a tiny bit in the entry/ book shelf area of the room. It is about 2" shorter in that one section (below on the left) than would have been perfect but isn't really noticeable in person and saved me about $1000.00 (We would have had to almost double the amount needed for those couple of inches because you have to buy the whole width and we also would have had to pay for seaming.)

3) STYLE FACTOR: Again, I love the look. It looks like a natural woven rug but is super-soft. I also love it layered with other rugs and plan on switching them in & out seasonally. Below you can see part of the hide rug I have under the coffee table right now:

And here's a (very blurry) close-up so you can see the texture. It's ribbed multi-tonal texture which is what make it look like a natural-fiber rug.

4---SYNTHETIC RUGS----- In our old townhome, we also had a wall-to-wall synthetic carpet installed that looked very much like sisal. It was by Shaw and is called "sisal touch." (Our color was "fawn" and it was just beautiful.) WE LOVED IT. Here it is below and I'm sorry there's not a close-up because it's actually ribbed & has a subtle two-tone striped pattern. (actually very similar to the rug above, but lighter colors.) This rug is the perfect alternative to the generic berber.

1) MAINENANCE: Synthetic so it cleans up amazingly well. We had some SERIOUS spills on this one- don't want to gross you out but think- getting sick, new baby, dog, ,ud, even wine. Everything came out with a mix of warm water & normal dish soap. (Read that in Real Simple & this easy mixture even gets blood out.) We also had it going up our stairs & it didn't show a thing.


2) SEAMS: We had seams & they weren't visible. The ribbed/ striped textured hid it all.


3) PETS: Like I said, all stains came up perfectly & her long toe nails didn't pull the fibrs/ loops up at all (although they told us they would.)


4) SOFTNESS: a dream. Again, not as soft as plush carpet, but like a berber. SO FAMILY-FRIENDLY.


5) STYLE: Just beautiful and had multiple people use it in their own homes after seeing it. It's gorgeous (and super-practical) going up the stairs with a NY roll (when they tuck it around the tread top instead of going straight down) too!





5--- JUTE RUGS-----



1) MAINTENANCE: laughable. I took the WORST care ever of our jute rugs & they looked fine. They kind of eat your dirt. You can just vacuum them. I've had ours in the kitchen & even spilled salsa (I know, gross!) in ours and just wiped it with a rag & then blotted it with a wet rag to get the stain out.




2)PETS: Great for pets. Like I said, these things eat your dirt so they just sort of suck up the hair & you can vacuum it off.
3) SOFTNESS FACTOR: There are a lot of jute-chenille blends that are actually very soft but full jute isn't as soft. Jute is thicker than sisal & seagrass and also softer, but still not super-soft unless it's a blend. Ours is full jute and it is more like a foot-massager (which I love to walk on) but I wouldn't recommend it for a kids' play area or somewhere that you want to hang out on the floor. All that being said, jute-chenille blends can be the perfect choice for a kid/ baby play area because they can be really soft, so just be sure to check out the specific sample & see what you think. (They vary widely)
4) STYLE FACTOR: I LOVE the look of jute. It's so chucky & warm-looking and adds so much texture to a room.

5) INTERESTING TIDBITS: The fibers in a jute rug sort of wear and underneath it (if you don't clean under your rugs often and I SO don't) you get this weird sort of dirt & fiber dust. (My poor mother-in-law was helping us clean & when she lifted the rug to sweep under it, got to see it in all its glory!) I'm not really bothered by the fiber dust under there but just thought you might want to know! ***I've also gotten some comments in about people bothered by the fibers sticking them them when they lay down on the rug--- mine didn't do this but apparently some do, so you might want to check these out in person if you plan on napping on them!

And that's all I can think of for now on these rugs... Anyway, let me know if you have any questions & I'll post answers at the end of the post! {I have to apologize also because I lost my sources for the bottom & top images in this post, so if anyone knows where they're from, let me know & I can add the sources in here!}

Also this place has some great options & prices & they deliver on-time & quickly: http://www.naturalarearugs.com/
xoxo,
lauren
Question: For either the wool-look alike or the seagrass...would you go to a carpet store to have a large rug cut? Answer- for the wool look-alike , yes, because it's not something I've seen a lot of ready-made, but for the seagrass, it would be cheaper to look around for ready-made online. Try here: http://www.naturalarearugs.com/seagrass_mountaingrass/
Question: I'm extremely anal about having fibers all over the place -- so which out of jute, jute blend and wool would have the least amount of dust generated from the rugs themselves? Answer: the jute is probably the worst for dust & fibers so I would go with the wool look-alike if I were you. Unfortunately, wool is also the most expensive. (But worth it to me!)
Question: Is Pottery Barn a good place to get the rugs, or is there a more affordable place? Answer: Check out that link above.. And also google in the rug you're looking for and see what comes up. Lots of internet stores have lower prices than Pottery Barn & I usually order from online unless I need custom. (The good thing about PB is you can check it out in the stores.)
Question: My concern is that I have a black sofa, mid-century modern medium-wood furniture, and a huge modern painting with reds and yellows and blacks. My friends say I need a black/grey/red rug - but I want to keep the floor light. Thoughts on using light natural fiber rugs with dark furnishings? Answer: I think you're fine to go with natural fiber rugs & dark furnishings. In fact, I think it's really gorgeous. I think the natural rugs give a modern room some texture & some more depth. I'm not one for thinking everything has to "match" perfectly & I'm sure a natural rug would work beautifully with your wood furniture. You can always add a fun zebra hide over it to pull in the black.
Question: I want a seagrass rug so badly. But I have new hardwood floors, and I have been told that the latex backing on the seagrass rugs interact with the chemicals in the finish on the floor, and the latex backing will stick to the hardwood and be impossible to remove, causing the floor to have to be refinished. So.......I'm looking for a seagrass rug without a latex backing. Then the rug will slip and I'll fall and bust my ***. What is a girl to do? Answer: I think you could add a rug pad (that's safe for wood floors of course) underneath of the seagrass/latex.