As we mentioned here, the bedroom is “still looking rough and we’re not sure about a lot of things – just waiting for inspiration to strike – which might involve repainting and rearranging furniture along with refinishing the floors”. In the comments we clarified that we love the paint color, but something about the room felt off. Everything in the space was a suspect: the curtains, the art, or something else. We weren’t ruling anything out until it proved itself.
That vague “something’s not right” feeling is familiar to anyone who’s decorated a room. Moving the art above the bed on Friday helped, but we had a list of other small changes planned for the week to try to turn “that room where we sleep” into “that room we love.” Big transformations don’t happen in a day, but a few well-chosen updates can often fix that nagging sense that a space isn’t quite right. Trial and error is the fastest path forward—if you overthink everything you lose momentum—so we dove in.
Our first tweak was a big one. It started when we spotted a rug at an outlet liquidation sale. We hadn’t been actively shopping for a bedroom rug, but we also weren’t ruling anything out. I had even mentioned that the jute rug currently in the bedroom could move to the dining room since we planned to put a natural-fiber rug under the table. So when we wandered into a tent sale at our favorite lighting outlet—which also sells rugs and where we’ve bought other pieces for our home—we had to take a look.
There it was: a patterned blue wool rug with a geometric design and colors we love—gray, navy, teal, and white. Geometric rugs tend to speak to us, and this one caught our attention immediately.
It was a hefty 9 x 12 thick wool rug, so we guessed the sale price would still be high. When we checked the tag, though, we nearly fainted: it had been marked down from $1,287 to $250. Over 80% off. The tag listed the reason as “soiled,” so we asked the staff what was wrong. Instead of a stain, they said it was ripped—there was a hole in a corner. Not ideal, but when the rug was laid out the rip was mostly hidden by the dense pile and hardly noticeable.
The rip was tucked into a corner where it wouldn’t be obvious once the rug was in place. We decided the huge discount made it worth the flaw, bought it, and hurried it home. It felt a little ridiculous to get a $1,287-feel rug for $250, but the thick wool pile really is luxurious underfoot.
To show the difference, here’s a before picture with the old rug still in place. We’re still missing a few furnishings and art, so the room wasn’t complete yet.
We pulled out the jute rug that we hope to relocate to the dining room. The floors looked naked without it—one more reason the new rug felt like an upgrade. John vacuumed off any loose fibers from the tent sale, then we carefully slid the new rug under the bed and spent a while centering it just right. It took patience, but it was worth it.
The patterned rug dramatically changed the feel of the room. It’s bold and colorful—“a lotta look,” as Tim Gunn might say—but that’s exactly what we were missing. Previously the bedroom could have been anyone’s; now it feels uniquely ours. We aimed to make the room playful and cheerful, a cozy love nest for our family, so waking up to a space that “smiles” back at us is a win.
We still have several finishing touches to add—pillows, curtains, lamps, and art will all shape the final look—and the room is nowhere near finished. But the rug gave us momentum. With our tweaking hats on, we’re energized to try a few more changes this week. Some ideas will stick, some won’t, but that’s the fun of decorating: discovering what feels right through small experiments.
And yes, the plushness underfoot is heavenly. Even our dog Burger has started sprawling on the rug instead of staying in bed—definitely a canine seal of approval. What did you do this weekend? Any deal hunting, rug rolling, or quick vacuuming adventures? John ran the James River Scramble, we strolled through the art museum with Clara, and we popped into a new doughnut shop. Good times. Tell us about your weekend.