We’ve shared a few behind-the-scenes posts about taking on side gigs, like one about how our lighting collection came together and others about the longer paths of book-writing and publishing. So we thought it would be useful to share a different kind of story: a side gig that didn’t work out, despite lots of time and effort. We like to be honest about the good, the bad, and the awkward, so here’s a candid look at a project that ultimately fell through.
Without naming names, a reputable rug company that works with wool and cotton approached us about a Young House Love rug collection. It came up around the same time we were developing our lighting line, so it felt like a natural extension. With the lighting project we’d appreciated working with a partner who shared our emphasis on affordability — keeping price points accessible so the products were things we would actually buy. That budget-minded approach was important to us, and it informed why we initially accepted the rug opportunity.
We were excited by the idea of designing attractive, well-made rugs from natural fibers like cotton and wool — materials we prefer in our own home — and the company seemed to share that vision. Over several months of emails, calls, and shipping samples back and forth, we collaborated with their designers and manufacturers on renderings that gradually turned into physical samples. It was fun to see the pieces take shape and to include little family moments in the mix during the sampling phase.
After we landed on initial patterns, most of the work focused on fine-tuning color palettes and adjusting scale. The manufacturer did an excellent job producing high-quality flatweave cotton samples that felt right for our aesthetic. The part where we hit a snag was pricing.
We’re bargain hunters by nature (and proud to admit we sometimes call ourselves cheap). Finding good value is in our DNA — we realized during this process that we may never have paid full price for a rug. So when pricing for the final designs came back substantially higher than we expected, it created an immediate tension. We kept asking ourselves how we could in good conscience attach our name to products we wouldn’t personally purchase at the price point being proposed.
After several difficult conversations and sleepless nights, both parties agreed the collaboration wasn’t the right fit. There wasn’t enough room to lower prices without sacrificing the quality we wanted to preserve — and neither side was willing to compromise on that. Ultimately, it would have felt disingenuous to put our name on rugs priced outside our comfort zone and the expectations of our audience.
The upside is that the company could still pursue production on its own terms, so the designs we worked on weren’t wasted. More importantly for us, the experience wasn’t wasted either. We learned a lot about the design and sampling process, and we left with clearer priorities for future collaborations — specifically, making sure quality and price point are fully aligned up front. That’s something we’ll be sure to lock down much earlier next time.
One lesson from our blogging and side-gig journey is how much drive and hustle it takes when you work for yourself; the effort you put in often directly affects how your month looks financially. At the same time, we’ve learned never to let potential earnings outweigh our instincts about what feels right. If a partnership doesn’t align with our values or price expectations, it’s better to bow out gracefully — even if that means months of work don’t lead to income — than to attach our name to something that doesn’t fit.
So that’s the story of one side gig that never made it to market under our name. Have you ever spent a long time on a project only to realize it didn’t match your original intentions? How did you handle stepping away?