Change Your Rug, Change Your Room

Can you believe an entire month has passed since we moved into our new (old) house?

Friends and family alike forewarned me that once we move in, years will pass before we finally finish the renovation, let alone decorate the entire house – I say "entire" like it's some sort of gigantic McMansion – it's not.

I am sad to report that if the past month is any indication, they are, unfortunately, right.

Decorating a house is a slow and painful process – at least for me, anyway. Don't get me wrong – it's exciting to purchase all-new furniture for every room in the house, but you can't ignore the overwhelming magnitude of this mass undertaking. Add to the stress the fact that I'm incredibly indecisive when making large-item purchases, and it's no wonder I've made so little progress over the last month!

I'm crossing my fingers that the One Room Challenge will help motivate me – at least improve the living room situation, if nothing else – but as far as other rooms are concerned – or life in general – I'm having the most difficult time making the simplest of decisions.

Case in point: the husband and I both want (read: desperately need) to take a vacation with the next few weeks – a few days of relaxing and recharging, where the biggest decision we'll have to make will be whether to lay by the pool or down by the ocean.

The problem? Neither one of us can decide where to go. Like, how does that happen?

Decision fatigue is real, y'all, and it's crippling thousands of long-time renovators and home bloggers across the country – and I'm living proof of its effects.

Melodramatics aside, when Wayfair invited me to join their upcoming "Change Your Rug, Change Your Room" campaign with Home Dynamix, that particular decision was an easy one; Everyone and their mother knows that there's nothing like a rug to make a room feel more homey – and y'all, I need homey. I crave it. In a house cluttered with heavy-duty tools, paint buckets, bricks and God-knows-what-else, a rug seems like the perfect antidote to this insanity.

Allow me to illustrate my point with photos.

Exhibit A: our less-than-thrilling, almost empty dining room, which includes a dining table that is far too small for the space, along with four chairs (which I will be replacing as soon as I find a white table that fits my preferences), and that is, really, about all there is to look at. It's sad, y'all.

Exhibit B: A dining room, which, only seconds ago, was bare and boring – except now it feels so positively cozy that you don't even notice the (oh-so-conveniently cropped out) unfinished mess of a fireplace on the right side.

But there is that missing AC vent in the ceiling that made it into the picture. Do you see what I mean, though? I can't look anywhere without seeing a million projects that have to be finished.

In case the lack of artwork on that empty wall behind the table is throwing you off, here’s a view of the transformation from another angle:

BEFORE THE RUG

AFTER THE RUG

Now, isn't life after the rug so much more pleasant? 

While the nearly finished kitchen may have been my favorite room in the house thus far, the dining room is now a close second. I love spending slow Saturday mornings at the table, cup of coffee in hand and my back turned to the unfinished part of the house. 

Ah, there's that homey feeling I so desperately needed to feel. Just for a split second, I forget the extensive, growing-by-the-minute to-do lists and just relax. 

Isn’t it amazing what one simple change like adding a rug can do to your entire room? If you're like me and enjoy decorating but are too exhausted to commit to major changes, check out the amazing Home Dynamix rug selection at Wayfair. 

I’ll be back soon with more updates from the magical world of bungalow renovations, along with an update on the One Room Challenge, which goes live every Thursday. To catch up on what we’ve renovated so far, you can browse “Our Bungalow Renovation” series. 

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Wayfair and Home Dynamix, who were kind to gift us the Killington Gray Area Rug. As always, all content, ideas, opinions and words are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make FOXYOXIE.com possible!