Den’s Reversible Persian Carpet

It is a fairly useless room. The den has no windows and doesn’t offer much. Because of that I used IKEA mirror squares to cover  a wall to make the room look bigger, but also add some light from the foyer. It started out as a “monk’s room” like the one we had in our Capitol Hill condo with a single twin bed, chair, and a place to hang extra jackets - and face masks. But the room needed to be updated to at least look like a workable room. So we got a couch that could be used as a double bed, but it never has. We just moved it to the side wall and the room looked better. Ideally I wanted a Murphy bed with storage closets, but decided against it. The rug is from our Midwest home’s bedroom. It’s a Persian carpet that’s a bit too intense color wise. So I had the idea to flip it. A few months ago we got a Bissell portable carpet and spot cleaner and used it on the right side of the rug. A couple weeks ago we used it on the ottomans that we put in front of the couch. Yesterday we decided to clean the underside of the flipped carpet. Based on the water that was returned it certainly needed it. Because it wasn’t quite dry we put it out on the balcony for a couple of hours. The underside of the carpet is a bit more muted and looks better for that room. So we anchored it in place with the carpet squares that are sticky enough but do not do any damage to the floor. One of these days we hope to get something a bit less bulky for a footstool, but I can’t think of what would look right and don’t want to bother with that now. At least the room looks reasonably decent - for now. When we moved to northern Virginia three years ago we thought we would update the house with chic stuff. The room is mixed with one new piece and a bunch of old and used items from two past households. I guess it will have to do. 

Removing a Persian Carpet Isn’t Easy

When we moved from our Capitol Hill condo to northern Virginia seven months ago, we kept most of the furniture we had, except for a black leather couch. The Persian carpet was quite large - 12x14, but would fit in the new space “okay.” Last month while we were visiting our friends and colleagues in Milwaukee for two weeks, we decided to get a new look for the living/tv room space. We met with our favorite designer - who did our whole Milwaukee house room by room - and got a much smaller and single color 8x10 carpet. So before the new carpet arrives, we needed to get the old carpet out from under the tv stand/bookcase. And this wasn’t something we would be able to do on our own. We thought we could use a car jack to raise the piece just enough to pull out the carpet, but the jack was too high. So we called our very reliable and dependable do everything guy and his wife to help. Before they came I unloaded the bookcases and drawers to lighten it up. It took awhile to figure out the best way to do it, but once we moved it away from the wall and get behind it, we managed to pull it out. So I was able to tie up all the wires and cords behind the bookcase, and then we all moved it closer back against the wall. It’s actually five pieces, and moving it as a unit requires coordination! Then I rearranged all the junk on it to declutter the top and rearranged the items in the shelves. Lesson learned: don’t put heavy bookshelves on top of the carpet. It looks so much cleaner if the carpet is just in front of it. My eufy RoboVac can easily travel under the furniture to clean the floor. So now we have no carpet and the place looks unfinished, but it’s nice to see more of the wood floor. Hopefully the carpet will arrive soon. 

Searching for a Dining Room Carpet

The question is do you have or do you not have a carpet in the dining room? We did when we lived in the Midwest. It was a silk beautiful Persian carpet that was paired with the one in the living room. We left them, and others, behind when we moved to DC almost fourteen years ago. We didn’t even have a dining room in the tiny 500 square foot unit. Our new condo in Virginia has a dining room. It is composed of a small expandable glass table with a glass chandelier above it. We didn’t need a sideboard because of the huge kitchen peninsula so we got a distressed console table and brought our outdoor garden inside. It all looked good, but something was missing. I wasn’t sure what design of a rug would look good there, but it needed to blend in with the tribal Persian carpets we already have. I tried a few things from Crate and Barrel. I searched on line at rugman, tried to find something similar, but didn’t think the red tones would be right.  But I knew I would know it when I saw it. So we drove around town to a couple of places - Bakersfield Rugs, Persepolis, etc. We got really bored with all the driving, the traffic, the really cheap and ridiculously expensive items, and the indecision. So when we got home I had an idea and searched on Esalerugs. The site just popped up and I took the bait. I found a right size carpet with a bit of blue and red tones. It was different from the tribal reds we have but looked like it would go well in the space. It arrived last week and my husband’s anxieties were relieved when he read the description and actually saw it. I’m all for seeing something before buying it, but I have a good sense of how something is going to look. And I have learned a lot about Persian carpets over the years because my husband is from Iran, I’ve been there two times, and know the difference between the hand woven good stuff and the machine made carpets. I wanted something that was old, uneven, was different in design, had fringe, and would be the focal point of the dining room. Now it looks like it’s been with us forever. And that’s just the way we like it. 

Writing Reviews for Gingko Gardens, Wayfair and Esalerugs

Since we moved to Virginia about six weeks ago we needed to get a couple of things for the new condo. We didn’t have a dining room - all we had was an extendable table and nothing else. So we ended up creating an indoor garden by getting a distressed white wooden console table from Wayfair and using it for plants. We then went to our go to garden shop at Gingko Gardens in DC for pots and plants. The space still needed a cozier feel against the metals and glass, so we thought a semi antique Persian carpet would do the trick. We found one on esalerugs that pulled the colors together while matching our other carpets at the same time. So now the dining area feels complete and I wanted to share feedback with all of the shops by writing emails or uploading photos to the websites where I was able to. Obviously all of the responses were immediate - and all were happy with our reaction. Luckily we don’t need much to complete our 1000 square foot place, although I am sorry we left a couple of things behind. So far it’s been a pretty uneventful experience which is exactly what we were hoping for. 

Bakhtiar Persian Rug for the Dining Room

When we moved to DC thirteen years ago our home was a 500 square foot condo on Capitol Hill. Obviously we lost a dining room space. Because we had no place for most of our furniture, we left several carpets and paintings in the Midwest. We just moved to Virginia and are comfortably back to a 1000 square foot place - with a dining room. Over the last six weeks I’ve been trying to make it cozy. It started with our monster mirror that looks like a window. Then came the chandelier that matched the glass of the table. Because of the peninsula we needed two counter height stools that could also be adjusted for additional seating around the extended table. The stools needed to tie the kitchen to the dining room so we did it with the chrome of the kitchen and turquoise of the table. We didn’t need a sideboard because of the huge kitchen peninsula and ample storage. So I searched for the unexpected narrow but long distressed white wooden console table to place under the mirror. And since we lost our outdoor garden, we decided to bring it inside and found just the right flower pots and plants. My distressed birds finally have a home. All that was left was to find a carpet that pulled it all together. The bare floor just didn’t look right without one. Although Persian carpets are no longer considered “fashionable” they are a major part of our decorating scheme. They distinguish each section of the living quarters and they, along with the paintings on the walls, bring our home to life against a very intentional plain back drop. After looking around in many different places and on line I found the perfect size and color carpet. It’s a “semi antique” wool single medallion traditional piece compared to the whimsical tribal designs in the bedroom, living room and kitchen. It has a hint of blue to tie in with the glass along with the rusty reds to match the living spaces. My husband was worried about what he thought we would get, but really admires it now that it finally arrived. It’s nice to have a dining room again. I think it finally looks cozy.

 

Can Spicer's Reupholstery Help?

We had a really nice "great room"in our Milwaukee home. We worked with a wonderful designer, Glenn, and he really knew our taste and pulled it all together. The room was actually converted from a two car tandem garage, and we built a side by side two garage in front of it. This place had a vaulted ceiling with beams, a fireplace, two walls with windows that looked out on the backyard, and skylights. At the end of the room was a door that lead to the dog's outside fenced in yard. It was cozy, and warm, and the room we lived in. We gave up a lot when we moved here to the city. Our tiny condo here is about the same size of this one room alone. We are thinking about updating the couch with material that has more body and looks crisper. We went back to Spicer's in Alexandria to look at fabric. Unfortunately I don't have a Glenn here and the task is daunting. We picked a few swatches, but I'm not happy with any of them. Perhaps a different paint color on the wall would help? We know what we like when we see it, but to find it in the thousands of selections is overwhelming. Maybe we will end up doing nothing, which may not be the worst idea, but not the one I had in mind.