In a house with lots of foot traffic, kids, babies, (a husband!), pets, and a busy working mom- the last thing we have time to worry about is taking care of the rugs on our floor. When I shop for rugs at this stage of our life, I want value and durability AND I want them to look like they were WAY more expensive than they really were!
The rugs included here in this guide are affiliate links where I have found great rugs at great prices. If you use my links, you help support my design business at no additional expense to you. (Thank you!)
I regularly watch for home sales, or flooring sales, on my favorite sites: Wayfair, Target, World Market, and sometimes Amazon. While these items may not be on sale right now- bookmark this list and check again! When the one you have your eye on drops below 25% off- GRAB IT! This round up is from Target- which has been my favorite place to order durable, affordable rugs online. Let me know what you think!
These rugs have great personality and will make a huge impact without spending lots of dollars. Many of them are indoor/outdoor, or outdoor rugs- I love them! They are largely synthetic materials and can be SCRUBBED if needed, or even taken outside and sprayed with the hose. (Now that’s my kind of durable!) We have indoor/outdoor rugs from Target in our living room, dining, kitchen, and sunroom/office. They are holding up great and they have seen daily foot traffic for over a year.
Sometimes there is a space that needs a little personality, and is begging to be a reading corner or a welcoming entry…. but nothing really fits.
Enter: the loveseat.
This little gem of a piece can serve as an over-sized reading chair, a foyer bench, a dining banquette, or an apartment-sized couch. It can turn an office into a welcoming meeting place, or a pair can transform a fireplace into a formal sitting room.
This furniture guide contains affiliate links because I think they are a great deal and will add style to your home. Using affiliate links helps support my business and adds no additional cost for you. Thank you for your support!
Here are some of my favorites for every budget:
The Adrianna Wingback Loveseat is classic and formal without being stuffy. We have this piece as a dining bench in our narrow dining room, and it completes the room with style! It holds two adults for dinner easily. This is on sale at the end of 2016 for $356 (but keep an eye out- it goes on sale!).I am a sucker for the Chesterfield style of sofa, and this Huntingdon Loveseat is the perfect miniature version of the classic! The tufting, nailhead trim, and turned furniture feet are so handsome and charming. On sale for just under $320 it is a great investment for your space.The Langley Street Zelmo Loveseat has classic, modern lines and will make a great statement in your office, guest room, or sunroom. It comes in a good array of colors, and is sure to blend in with a modern design easily! The Caroll Loveseat has comfy cushions, stylish turned feet (that’s the term for when furniture feet have a shape, instead of just being square!), and nailhead trim. For housemates (like my husband) who aren’t a fan of tufting- this a great compromise piece. It’s marked down to less than $360 right now- watch for sales!Oh, what a classic beauty. This plush statement piece is dying for attention (and she gets it!!!). Perfect in a formal entry or even as the accent in a master bedroom, the Velvet Marian Loveseat is a winner.Oh, how fun are you?!? (Who said furniture shopping was boring?) There is nothing boring about this beauty. Filled with character from the rolled arms, to the turned legs- and that PRINT!- The Nicola Loveseat is to die for. Add this piece to your home if you’re looking for a focal point, need inspiration for a new design, or just need to keep up with the rest of your eclectic style 😉 T he Sarah Loveseat has a sturdy silhouette and blends modern and traditional styles easily. Originally $499 it’s a STEAL for holiday 2016 at $189! I know I already said I love a tufted sofa, (I really do!) but this one is worth a special mention. Not only does it have a classic shape and design details, but each button is covered in a unique patterned fabric. How cute! It is aptly named the Erin Cute-As-A-Button Loveseat , and is a great investment for your eclectic home at $449. Rumor is that it goes on sale, so keep an eye on it!This Felton Tufted Loveseat is a great combination of classic/traditional and modern styles in one piece. (OK, OK….. I’ll quit with the tufting!) If you’re looking to update a traditional room, or blend more modern pieces in to your home- this is a great place to start for less than $400.In such a great fabric of peacock teal and gray fleck, this mid-century modern loveseat is a charming, quirky, and confident addition to your home! A great choice for modern or eclectic spaces, the Teal Kaira Love Seat is one of my favs.
That’s the round up for now. Have you found great furniture that you’d like to see featured here? Or want to know how to work something in to your room design? Let me know!
And please share photos of your latest designs with me on Facebook or Instagram. Can’t wait to see what you’re working on!
If you have checked out the progress pictures of our fixer upper (on the ABOUT page!), you have seen the original state of our 1925 Tudor in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The home had been rented for almost a decade and was in SERIOUS need of attention. It was NOT move-in ready, and I was pregnant with a three-year-old in tow, and so we spent 4 months before we moved in undertaking a major renovation project to inject style, function (and love!) into this forgotten gem of a house. Here is a quick glimpse at the kitchen cabinets (falling off the walls), sunroom with leaking windows and moldy carpet, original master bathroom (it was SO TINY!) and main living room. The home screamed potential, but just wasn’t a good fit for our family…. YET.
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Hi! I’m Alyssa Turner Cairns. Welcome to my site- where I hope you find inspiration, motivation, and education to help you create the home of your dreams! I believe that you deserve to live in a space that is perfect for you and your family. I’m looking forward to seeing your projects and working with you in the future!
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The old kitchen was converted into a mudroom, half bath, and dining space. Function was the name of the game when I designed those spaces, and style took a backseat. The dining room ended up being a VERY narrow space due to the placement of the back door, the refrigerator in the kitchen, and the plumbing components we needed to hide in the walls. We relocated the half-bath so it is tucked away out of nightlines from the living space, and added a wall to create the mudroom. That space is a lifesaver and one of my favorite places in our house.
You can see how the dining room has one small window and opens at one side to the stairway as well as the entrance to the mudroom and back door on the other side. The radiator forces me to keep the table offset in the room for the safety of our diners. This room is also open to the kitchen. It just felt like a big hallway with a table plopped in the middle.
While the function of the mudroom and half bath are perfect for our family- I just wasn’t in love with the dining room! I love the chandelier, the exposed banister we added, and the windowsill trim. It was time to take it further and get inspired….. You can check out all of my inspiration links as well as some great tutorials on my Dining Room Style Pinterest board.
Introducing: Board and Batten! This is a traditional wall paneling look that usually involves boards (large panels on top of your wall) and battens (the strips that cover the seams and hold it all together). When I asked my contractor for a quote – he came back with an estimate for over $4,000 to finish the dining room and the kitchen island. (NO THANK YOU!) Back to the awesome resource that is Pinterest and the experiences of other home improvement DIY bloggers.
This isn’t a DIY Tutorial blog- there are countless ways to achieve style in your home that fit your budget, your home, and your skill level. Thanks to the tutorials from other bloggers I have saved on my board- I decided on a plan. I opted to skip the panels because our walls are in pretty good shape, and go for a faux-board-and-batten by adding the trim pieces and painting it all white.
Thanks to the stories of the bloggers I have pinned, I knew some complications to look out for and a general idea of the look I wanted to achieve. (I still spent WAY too long at the home improvement store trying to decide on the material that would be the best for our home!)
Ultimately, I chose to use pine boards in several widths that would mimic the look of our original window sills and trim in our 1925 home. We have tried to stay true to the original details of the house throughout our improvement projects, and the dining room was no exception! I had to use dry wall screws to attach the pine boards to the wall because nails were NOT going to work- our walls are not 100% straight, and the pine was so hard and brittle that it pulled away from the walls almost immediately. I compensated for gaps with liquid nails, sandable putty, and silicone caulk, and covered everything in 3 coats of paint! (whatever gets you to the finish line is OK by me!) I opted for WHITE semi-gloss paint because I want to be able to scrub it in case it gets food/paint/crayon/chair scuffs on it (which it will!).
The whole project costed LESS THAN $200, and took me 4 days- 2 of those days my husband was able to watch our kiddos, the other two I relied on preschool and a play date to help me steal away a few hours to work 🙂 I also had to go to the store 4 times, which added some hours to the total project time. In the future (when I apply this same treatment to our kitchen island!), I will be much quicker at the store, I’ll save time figuring out what hardware will work best, and I’ll be more confident with my saw cuts. Here’s hoping my next board and batten adventure is even quicker and just as satisfying.
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I am SO happy with the finished product. Our dining room has the foundation of the farmhouse/1920’s style that we want to be consistent throughout the space. My next details will be to paint the walls a darker shade of gray (likely Sherwin Williams Dovetail), swagging the chandelier over to the left to create a larger walkway on the radiator side of the room, and adding an upholstered bench (where there are folding chairs in the photo) for more comfy seating against the wall. The room feels bigger, more grounded, and so much more intentional than before. Bye-bye hallway, HELLO gorgeous formal dining room!
Have you struggled to help a room figure out its purpose? What room in your house needs a quick injection of STYLE to make it really come into its own? Share with me in the comments, or head over to our Facebook Group and show us your Before&Afters!!!!!
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