Manolo for the Home » Flooring

Help NtB Choose a New Home Office Rug!

Christa Terry — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:13:36 +0000

I’m writing this in my new home office – okay, home office nook – which is an awesome thing to be able to put down even if the doors aren’t painted and my art is currently learning up against the wall on the floor. At least everything else is painted, and my furniture is all in. Only thing missing? A rug for under my feet since it gets awfully chilly in this house in the wintertime. Right now, it’s a toss up between this:

Gray on gray with gray plus giant flowers

And this:

Possibly in orange, possibly in green

Both from West Elm, and both on sale for cheap when compared to some of the usual West Elm prices. Why am I telling you all this? Now I need your assistance, of course. Help me decide on an office rug: Which do YOU like better?

When I See Things Like This I Have to Ask Myself:

Christa Terry — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:30:19 +0000

Why have I not tried painting a floor before now? Have any of you lovelies done it? How did it work out? Because we have, in our house, what is essentially an unfinished room. No walls, just beams. Sub-floor. Bare insulation. Windows that are older than my mom. And as much as it pains me to admit, we don’t have the means to finish it any time soon. Currently, it’s storage space, which is nothing to complain about. Unless, that is, your husband wants an office and you want a craft room and a little more family-oriented space. Point being, I can’t do anything about the room structurally, but I’ve been toying with the idea of sanding and painting the sub-floor and when I see these things… well, how could I not want to do it?

No trick, just stencils - heavy duty ones.

Think they did it freehand?

Yellow! *dies*

Am I totally crazy? Or could painting the sub-floor actually work? Why can’t I go out and buy a copy of this book and go to town?

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Do Carpets and Food Mix in Your Home?

Christa Terry — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:55:21 +0000

Here’s an interesting fact about my home: While I love little rugs and carpets, I have exactly zero in my own house. It’s wood flooring all the way, with wood-look laminate in the kitchen because that is what we could afford at the time. Carpets are cute – see here, here, and here – but with smooth wood or woodesque floors, I can sweep and swiff without having to drag a bulky vacuum up from the basement. We did have a number of throw rugs once upon a time, but with five cats and a mobile toddler, I was vac’ing every day. Not cool.

And exactly how long will that stay looking nice?

You can imagine, then, how squicked out carpets in kitchens and carpets in dining rooms make me. Built-ins are one thing, because there’s not much you can do about that until you’re ready to refloor, but to take a kitchen or dining room with a perfectly good wood floor and then put a throw rug precisely where food is doomed to fall… that just makes me scratch my head. You tell me: Is there some benefit to carpets in dining rooms and carpets in kitchens that I am missing? Saving food for later perhaps? Because I simply cannot wrap my brain around the practical reason for putting a what is essentially a crumb catcher under food prep and food consumption zones.

Inspiration: Flokati

Christa Terry — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:52:09 +0000

Did you know: A flokati rug is a high pile handmade shag wool rug? Because I didn’t. At least not by sight. I always assumed that those ultra soft shaggy rugs were sewn together from the hides of some shagariffic animal and thus considered them off limits. Turns out, though, that flokati rugs are vegetarian-friendly, being woven together from wool gathered the usual way. After weaving, the rug is dipped in a cold river to get that gorgeous shag.

Naturally, now that I know I can have one I want one. There are different price points, and how much you pay for a flokati rug will determine how thick and plush and springy yours is. A $170 flokati will not be as shaggy or soft, while a more expensive model will have a much longer nap and will feel softer. But honestly, they all look pretty good from standing height. Here are just some of the ways you can use a flokati rug in the home:

via Domino

via maya*made

via Living Etc.

via LOFT4027

via Angie Hranowsky

Chalkboard Paint: Know When to Say When

Christa Terry — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:40:13 +0000

Because this is what happens when a person doesn’t know when to say when to chalkboard paint. Yes, chalkboard paint is the bee’s knees, but let’s all show a little restraint, shall we?

A Felted Wool Rug to Put a Spring In Your Step

Christa Terry — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:01:00 +0000

How adorable is this colorful rug designed by HAY? Named after a Danish candy – colorful, sugarcoated licorice balls – the Pinocchio rug is crafted in Nepal using hand felted balls of wool that are strung together like beads on a necklace.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I see a rug like this, I am definitely going to smile. And maybe dance around a bit on it just to see how the felted wool feels under my feet. Unfortunately, the Pinocchio rug costs just about as much as you’d think, coming as it does from HAY. But it is available in a 35″ size and a 55″ size, and it will make me smile, so if you have a space $500 or $1,200 lying around, why not spring for one?

A Rug for Philatelists and Anglophiles: The Queen’s Head Stamp Rug

Christa Terry — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:02:28 +0000

Talk about majesty of design! Rug Maker was officially granted a license by Royal Mail to manufacture the Queen’s Head Stamp Rug, a larger than life version of the Queen Elizabeth II stamp that’s suitable for hanging on a wall or *gasp* laying on the floor.

Hand knotted and woven in Nepal from 100% New Zealand wool, these rugs come in a various sizes and colors. The best part, in my humble opinion? The scalloped edges, so like an old fashioned postage stamp just torn from its sheet.

What to Do With a Greek Key Rug

Christa Terry — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:27:09 +0000

What to do, what to do with a Greek key rug… It’s a popular pattern nowadays, though I’d wager it’s never fallen out of fashion in any major way. This pattern, also known as a Greek fret or meander, is not one pattern, but rather many, because it’s just a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif.

To answer my original questions, here are a few things you can do with a black and white Greek key rug:

Er, I realized after the fact that the second and fourth pic are different areas of the same room. Still good for ideas, though!

(Images via: 1, 2/4, 3)

Even More Animal Magnetism

Christa Terry — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:04:04 +0000

Who else wants a Hare mat? Because I can’t be the only one! The Hare mat, designed by Ed Annink for Droog, makes use of the fact that Gerd Arntz‘s amazing statistic pictograms are free of copyright and re-purposes the image of the hare and of the hippo.

Oddly, those two animals have appeared together before here at Manolo for the Home, which makes me wonder what their relationship really is.

(Short) Inspiration: Purple Underfoot

Christa Terry — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:02:08 +0000

Painted floors are a dime a dozen (okay, not really – not at all, in fact) but purple painted floors are relatively rare. So much so that when I wanted to find a pretty picture of a purple painted floor my options were worse than limited.

So instead may I present a real purple painted floor. One that is not making its grand debut in a magazine, but rather one that started out as a kind of crummy wood floor topped by wall-to-wall carpeting. You can read a short tale of this purple painted floor’s evolution. If you’re considering embarking upon a floor-centric DIY project, it may just inspire you to take some risks!