I rarely show my living room on the blog, because it’s never felt like my style. From the beige carpet and old under-sized beige rug to the droopy, almost-green couch, not much was screaming Modern Industrial Glam. The lack of style was a minor embarrassment, but the condition of the rug and ottoman had crossed over into the MAJOR embarrassment category.
Seriously. The ottoman was torn, scratched, and missing buttons. The rug was stained in multiple places, including lots of large greenish-yellow splotches from slobbery tennis balls. So gross. I put off replacing both items, assuming I’d eventually do a whole room makeover.
This month, I reached the point of not being able to wait any longer. On the blog, I could hide the living room or only show strategic angles. In real life, it wasn’t so easy to ignore the bad vibes in the main space we use for ourselves and for entertaining. It was time to make a rug and new ottoman/coffee table decision.
I really underestimated what a HUGE impact updating those two items would make. Check out the difference!
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
The rug came from my new favorite rug retailer, PlushRugs.com . It’s always a bit scary to order rugs online, but you can’t match the selection. Plus, after struggling to get a 5’x8′ rug into my car last summer, I realized there was no way I could get a larger rug home from a store.
PlushRugs.com is way easier to navigate than the other places I’ve shopped for rugs. First, they have categories like glam, mid-century modern and even ikat. My favorite thing is the color swatch tool. For each rug you look at, the website shows color swatches from that rug, which click to find more designs that feature the same colors.
I knew I wanted something in a neutral color, but modern print. The tricky part was finding something that would look great with all the current furniture AND still work if I replaced the flooring and sofa later. The Wellesley pattern from Artistic Weavers hit all my requirements and came in 8’x11′ for a great price! Doesn’t it fit perfectly with our wall of G’s?
After deciding on the rug, it was time to figure out the coffee table situation. After 10 years with a faux-leather ottoman, part of me wanted an actual coffee table. But where would we put our feet!?! And when we have larger groups of people over, we always moved the ottoman in front of the TV to provide extra seating.
After much internal debate, I came up with the perfect situation! I didn’t buy a coffee table OR an ottoman.
I ordered TWO Safeviah benches from HedgeApple.com instead! The have more structure and style than a stuffed ottoman but function the same way. PS: I’m not sure how I wasn’t aware of HedgeApple.com before, but they have a ridiculously good selection of stylish furniture and lighting. Most of it is stuff I haven’t seen other places, which is important as I try to make our home unique to us. 
Most of the time, the benches will be side-by-side making a large almost-square surface.
When we just need a couple extra seats, one can be moved to the fireplace.
For larger groups, like our big Christmas Eve get-together, we can use both for seating.
If you decide to duplicate my bench idea with different benches, just make sure you check the height compared to your couch before ordering. These are 18″ tall and perfect with our couch, but other benches I saw were 21″ tall and would have been awkward.
With the new rug and benches in place, I added some plants and gathered some other accessories from around the house to freshen up the room without blowing the budget. We already owned all the pillows I added to the couch, but I did pick up a couple inexpensive pillow covers to update some dark fall pillows for spring.
I used the same end tables we already had in the living room, but swapped them from each end of the couch. Shopping the house is always a good idea when you’re making a quick change!
Here’s one more look at the before & after. Can you believe what a huge difference a new rug and benches made?
This transformation reminds me of the entryway update I did last summer. I never seem to fully learn how different a room can look with minor updates. In both spaces, doing a rug swap made an unbelievable impact on how the room looks and feels. Why haven’t I been rug-obsessed my whole life?
Nadine N. Bone says
Really love this post! I always thought patterned rugs were a pain because they were hard to match with the rest of the room but now I can visually see how to do it right 🙂 Looks great!
Melissa George says
I’m so glad it was helpful Nadine. I totally understand your pattern-shyness. Every time I order a rug that isn’t super plain, it makes me nervous. It keeps paying off, though!
Lidia says
That rug! Those benches!! Absolutely perfect picks for the room – gorgeous!!!
Melissa George says
Thank you, Lidia! I’m totally obsessed with both of them and the change they made to the room. So lovely to not hate seeing the space every day. 🙂
Zan Turner says
I love how easy a rug can change a space! I have been making some updates to our otherwise boring spaces and rugs are definitely on the list. I find it so hard to shop for rugs online but in store overwhelms me too. That rug site, though – how easy it is to navigate?! Also, those benches look awesome – have not heard of that site either. They’d be kid-friendly, too!! Your living room looks gorgeous with the updates!!
Melissa George says
Me too! And yes – so much easier to navigate than all the others I’ve used!
SR168 says
What a welcoming, bright room it is! A terrific example of how a few changes can make a huge difference – often much more likely to happen for most people rather than a top-to-bottom start-over. I am totally re-smitten with your wall of Gs!
Melissa George says
Thank you Sally! Because we have all the windows, it never even occurred to me that the room would feel brighter with the new rug, but it really feels that way in person as well. And yes – the G’s finally feel like they have the room they deserve! I’m totally re-energized to do more small updates around the house now.
Patricia says
Room looks great. I like the changes you made. The room is more pulled together but still just as comfortable and functional. One thing I like to do with slumpy couch back and seat cushions is to unzip and add fiberfill to plump up the cushions. I leave the cushions inside and just add the fiberfill and squish into shape. You don’t want any big lumps. Between that and a little upholstery cleaner, my couch looks brand new.
Melissa George says
That’s a great tip! I’ll definitely try it until I can save up for a new one! And I’m glad you said the room still looks comfortable. That was one of my goals! I always wany guests to feel welcome and not afraid to touch things. 🙂
Evelyn B says
Ah Melissa what a delightful change you’ve made to your living room! I thought those pink pillows were new until I went back and looked at the original photo. The rug with the pillows all stretched out really made a big difference. Just love the functionality of the double benches/table. Actually much more usable and still very friendly looking. Love what you’ve done with it and using the new rug really set the stage. Great mind you have girl!!
Melissa George says
Thank you so much, Evelyn! Those pink pillows are so fun for spring and summer and were only $5.99 at At Home!