Hey Santa...

Do you think you could roll this up in plastic and stuff it down my chimney this xmas?

Many thanks, and I promise to be good.

xo Christina

madelineweinrib.com

Happy Matting

Our apartment in SF had a front entry which connected to a long hallway leading to the back living room. When we moved in we both agreed we needed to cover the floor. I thought of the matting I once saw once in the very back of Pier1 store. It was a straw-like matting which you could buy by the square foot very inexpensively. I went to the closest Pier1 and roughly estimated how much I would need to make a "custom carpet look" for our rental. I then lugged the stack of mats back to our place. It was a fun project- the mat was made up of 1x1ft squares which were attached with a durable white string. I used the long part (8 ft long) to fill the front space pictured below:

Then I cut the mat to a more narrow size for the long hallway.
Next, I took clear fishing line and sewed the two large pieces together so it looked like a backwards "L". Sorry I couldn't locate a good picture of this.

I loved our carpet- it was durable and I could vacuum over it or pick it up easily to get the sand out from underneath. Also, it was cheap so I didn't care if it got stained. I even replaced a square once when one started to tear at the corner.

When we moved to Encintas, I kept the long runner portion and re-purposed it below:

I have no idea if Pier1 still carries this matting in-store. I recall Cost-Plus World Market had something similar if you have one nearby, give it a shot.

If you like this look - it is casual and outdoorsy feeling - I stumbled upon this at Pottery Barn. It is obviously a little nicer than my Pier1 matting - but it is the same look. I also noticed that they offer it in a 6x6 and 8x8 size as well as a larger 9x12 so if you have a square room/large entry way or a larger porch or room, you could use this carpet.

Have a great weekend!!

Floors First

I went to the Stark warehouse sale in early May and bought 5 carpets for our new house. It was a major purchase and one of the first for our home. I had a lot of guilt after I bought the rugs, mostly because I have never bought so much for myself before and I hoped I made the right decisions! I usually start decorating rooms from a fabric- not a carpet so it wasn't the most natural flow for me, but the warehouse offered so much, I couldn't pass up the chance to get these carpets at such low prices. There were hundreds of beautiful remnants and also discounted stock items which you could order to any size. I had to seize the opportunity and I got there the first day the sale opened to the design trade.

Anyway, I am now SO HAPPY I made the decisions I did. The carpets are amazing and such beautiful quality. I got a runner for the stairs and upstairs hallway, a greek-key type rug for the master br, a blue star rug for Teddy's room, a yellow candy stripe for Athena's room, and a natural sisal in a wavy pattern for the front sitting room.

I will focus on the kids rooms first: I am not changing the wallpaper in these rooms, mostly because the paper isn't *that* bad and I would like to spend the money elsewhere. The wallpaper in my daughter's room is white with green leaves (a little 80's - sort of painted leaves) and even though it was really not my style, I thought I could work with green and yellow since I have an amazing vintage bamboo dresser (yellow bamboo) and Athena's big-girl bed is green. So I looked for carpets which would tie together with the wallpaper but also incorporate other colors so I could use it somewhere else (maybe a nursery eventually).

Athena's wallpaper:

The vintage bureau:

The candy-stripe yellow rug:

And how it looks in the room (as of last night!):

It appears green in this picture, but it is more of a yellow when you see it in person! I think it looks amazing and hopefully will tie everything together!!!

As soon as I saw the rather cheesy lighthouse motif wallpaper in the boys' room I knew I could work in a Stark star rug and play up a larger scale on the floor to downplay the cutesy-ness (is that a word?) of the lighthouses. They aren't that bad, and now with the bold carpet they look cooler. I love this carpet and so does my husband. It is such a great color blue and I think it will grow with Teddy - I can imagine an antique cannonball bed or sleigh bed in this room. For now we are working with the white crib, changing table etc...

Teddy's room before:

Close-up of the new carpet:

In the room:

Here is a shot of the leopard for the stairs and upstairs hallway, which won't be installed for a while...

This is our master bedroom carpet - I love how the Greek key is deconstructed!

I will add a picture of the sisal once we get that one down...

Have a happy Monday!