Dare to Dream: Rugs

Carpet may be the most common renter's woe. Carpet worn bare over years of use, carpet harboring the former tenant's pet's fleas, carpet wearing stains that you hope had nothing to do with the former tenant's pet. Adam and I have faced all of the above in our current apartment alone. Someday when we live in our own home with herringbone wood floors we're going to reminisce about the carpet angst of our youth. Like the reasonably attractive but obviously defective remnants in our Seattle apartment. Not only did the unbound edges continually unravel, the carpet coughed up enormous poofs of synthetic fluff, even after six months of weekly vacuuming (and even more so after it choked and killed my vacuum). We'll think wayyyy back to the very, very green wall-to-wall carpet of our last Spokane apartment and have a good chuckle. Oh, how green it was.

My current complaint is perhaps the most common of all. Our carpet, even now that it's passably clean, is just hideous. The bedroom is swathed in matted orangey-brown plush (gag), and the living room sports dingy loops of gray, mauve, and blue. A posh tiger rug can only help the situation so much.

So, here's a dare-to-dream that I think all of you renters out there can relate to. I dream of covering up this hot mess with a much prettier area rug (that I could roll up and take with me when I ditch this joint). Something with a practical, show-no-dirt pattern that compliments my neutral palette...

Clockwise from top left, Dash & Albert Diamond Indoor/Outdoor Rug in Charcoal/Taupe, Modern Damask Wool Tufted Rug in Silver from World Market, Hooked Quatrefoil Rug in Mocha/Charcoal from Shades of Light, Dash & Albert Diamond Indoor/Outdoor Rug in Khaki/White.

Of course, rolling in at about half a month's rent, all of these practical investments are sadly out of this girl's price range. Ah, dare to dream.