Let's make a deal

Side Note
First off, for those of you following this who have not purchased a home, you're in luck! CNN announced today that the Senate reached a tentative deal to extend the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit. And, it gets better for you current homeowners - they're considering offering $6,500 to those who purchase a home by April 2010.

Onto today's topic: Rugs...
Minus the bathrooms, my entire house has hardwood floors. They're everywhere: living room, kitchen, dining room and all three bedrooms. I briefly considered carpeting the bedrooms, but decided against it. I'm not quite sure why I went the all hardwood direction. Probably because my last two apartments were covered in wall-to-wall nasty carpet and I missed the idea of hardwood floors. I never thought I would take such pride in my floors - but they're beautiful. Before moving in I had them stained a very, very dark color. Since moving in, I've learned they're a little bit more work than I anticipated. They collect dust easily (yeah for Swiffers!) and I had to put pads on every piece of furniture to avoid scratching the floors. Although, within the first few weeks I managed to scratch them by sliding boxes across the floor and made tiny indents in the floor with my high heels.

Despite the work, I love them. After moving in, I began looking for basic seagrass rugs, nothing too fancy, just neutral ones that would be a good addition and 'warm' up the dark floors a bit. Pottery Barn has some great ones, but they're a little pricey for me.

Meet Natural Area Rugs, a Web site with a wide array of fabulously economical seagrass and sisal rugs. I chose a the basketweave pattern for my living room and the herringbone for my dining room. I was pleasantly surprised when my herringbone rug came with a free 3'x5' seagrass rug, which is now in my kitchen. What a deal! They're constantly having specials and sales. Just sign up and you'll be notified when those are going on. Warning - these rugs aren't particularly soft. However, they're fine for bare feet and my dog-niece loves rubbing her tummy on her seagrass rug. They're great for the time being, get the job done for me and are a perfect addition to the hardwoods.

Also, a big, big thank you to my sis who helped me put these rugs down and arrange my furniture. The 8'x10' rugs are a beast to carry and unroll by the way.

* Photos coming soon...