apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, that's FLOR? It looks fabulous!

Looks gorgeous! Please let us know how the Flor stands up over time. I also love your dove grey walls...very elegant and calming.

Love it.

REALLY love it.

Dahlin's, you NEED some art on those walls to warm it up a bit... otherwise, great job.

BRAVO!!!!!! i loveee it..*le sigh*.

thank you for the image..i love before and afters

Hate to be churlish, but a typo ('deed' rather than 'deep') and a grammar error (their rather than they're) before the jump.

Gorgeous! Makes the room look romantic.

Hate to be churlish

You must not hate it that much...

Room looks great! the rug adds lots of warmth. can you tell us which FLOR tiles you used?

must...know...wall color...

That's FLOR? Wow! It looks fabulous. The color looks like a dead-match with the chairs, and I love how the beige of the rug blends with the wood floor, making the red pattern the star.

You still owe us photos when you put art on the walls, though...

IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I too want to know which Flor it is. I've been iffy about Flor. This is the nicest I've ever seen. Wow. Love it.

Gorgeous!
I think it's FLOR Water Lily.

Wow, great rug choice!

I really dig the wall color too--mind sharing the shade?

Proof that something as simple as a rug can totally transform a room. Love it. Go team AT!

now you need something for the wall....and it goes on, and on...

"Proof that something as simple as a rug can transform a room."

Yes. YES. YYYYYEEESSS!!

I love love love FLOR. I can't wait until we move into a new place to buy some of their squares of beauty.

I have used 3 different types of FLOR tiles and they have all held up very well. I have pets, so they make it very easy to wash (or replace) the tiles individually from spills or pet accidents. The only one that has been a problem is the one the cat used as a scratching post. It does not hold up well to being used as a scratching post ;)

Freaking love it. And I covet those chairs...

If the Flor folks are paying attention, you soooooo should be in the next catalog.

WITH a lovely piece of art on that wall. :)

looks fantastic-- very striking!

I positively dislike area rugs, but I have to admit that this one transforms thr room. Grat job.

Excellent!

I LOVE that color combo of those chairs against that wall color. GORGEOUS!

actually bronxmaria, there wasn't a grammar error.

I have never even thought of a rug in the kitchen, this is really sparked some ideas.

Lizann - which one didn't hold up well due to cat scratching. I'm thinking of getting Flor and my 4 legged monster is a scratcher.

Sassy; I have Toy Poodle, Amazing Lace and Passage Way. I would assume that any of them (or any rug at all for that matter) would not hold up to being used as a scratching post. Passage Way was the one my cat chose to use, and I think that had more to do with it's location than the kind of carpet itsef. None of the tiles have been damaged by "normal" cat claw use like running or playing. He still only used one tile though, so I'm out $16.99 instead of $600!

Nice pick. I'm so impressed. It really looks warm.

Very nice, I love the floors too.

Really makes the room. Very nice.

Just curious. What table is that?

Room is awesome! Agree with the wall coloring as well. What is it?

The rug and flowers really finish the room. Gotta love the before and after!

(And actually, LINDSAYB, there was and is.)

Brilliant choice.

I really like the table. I assume its a Room & Board Parsons (Cherry or Espresso top?).

really looks lovely and works that room :) i too love FLOR. got amazing lace for my tiny dressing room 3 months ago.

by the way, FLOR's site does offer ratings re lite/medium/heavy traffic sustainability, etc to help you decide which kinds might be best for certain areas in your home.

by the way, tho a lovely aesthetic combo, does the table look a bit high for the chairs to anyone else? well, as long as it works for the owners, all's well.

WOW. Thank you, everyone, for the very nice words. I'll try to answer all the questions ...

As 2nd DC Christine pointed out, the rug is the Water Lily pattern from FLOR. We are really loving it because a) it's soft enough that it doesn't feel like commercial grade carpet and b) it's firm enough that the chairs don't leave indents. Also, right after we put it down, our dog ran over and went to sleep on it (tacit sign of approval). In fact, we liked the FLOR tiles so much, we ordered some of the Fedora in "Oatmeal" to make an L-shaped runner in our kitchen (L-shaped to fit around an island). I'll stop before this really turns into a FLOR ad ...

The wall color(s). Both of the paints are from the Ralph Lauren Urban Loft series. The paler gray on the left is called, oddly enough, Pale Gray. And the darker gunmetal color on the right is called Bleecker.

The table is the stock Parsons table from Crate & Barrel. We were looking at another one of their tables in a store, not really loving it, when one of the sales associates gave us their catalog of dining furniture. The Parsons is (weirdly) kinda buried in the back of the catalog, and it's nearly impossible to find it in one of their stores -- odd, because it's extremely well-made, beautiful and costs A LOT less than Room & Board, et. al.

Promise to send more pictures when we're all done. Thanks again for all the great comments!


Andy & Sarah

Yes, I'd love to see your pictures of your rug in your kitchen when its done. I've always been "anti-rug" probably because so many of my friends do it WRONG...this is definitly a RIGHT! now I am energized to make it work in my home.

I'm always curious in regards to price difference(s). I looked at the Room & Board and Crate & Barrel Parsons tables and other than the steel frame, the difference is in the wood. The C&B tabletop is a veneer on top of "engineered" wood whereas the R&B tabletops are primarily real wood. I say primarily because I'm not sure about the Zebra wood. I believe its a veneer.

Either way, Andy & Sarah have given me a great idea for my own dining room. Thanks and Cheers!

Looks really gorgeous! Thanks for the after post. This is something I'd really like to see more of, when readers ask for help and what they decide to do with the advice they receive. Great fun.

I didn't realize at first you had two wall colors going... thanks for clarifying.

If I remember correctly, you were considering a mirror for that wall (or debating it, perhaps!), but I still vote for art.

But the photo itself is really top-notch quality... are you a photo pro?

Even though the photo-stylist in me wants a different vase/flowers in that shot. :)

simply lovely. I love posts like this! It lets the non-pro-designers of us see how we change our space!

that looks fantastic!

Flor looks great and yes, FIX THE TYPOS. Very distracting.

patrick (the other one),

No, I'm not a photo pro, just a serious amateur. I do have some training in film, and hold onto the aspiration that I'll make something someday, but you'd never call me a "pro."

Looks good, but I am curious. What help does knowing the shade of a paint really do? It's a photo, on the Web, your monitor, my monitor.....There's no way to really see the colors well at all.

Nice layout. Really like the Eames side chairs and the serenity of the room. Amazing how enduring the Parson's design is at nearly 90 years old.

I feel like I've found somewhat kindred spirits on table and chair choices. I have a similar Parsons table from R&B Outlet and IMS SRL chairs in two colors: red and black. Anyone near Minneapolis, check out R&B's outlet location. I picked up my Parson table for less than the C&B version and the top is solid wood (walnut in my case).

Kurt, you do make a point, however it's still a valid question to ask despite monitor/setting differences.

It's valid in that just seeing something that you like, despite these variations is enough to ask what it is so you can then go see for yourself if it's anything you'd actually like, if so, then purchase it, if not, no harm done.

As for the photo itself, it's a great room and I do agree the choice of Flor was fabulous and I've always liked the black/white/gray combo with red and those Eames chairs do look great in the red and they do pop against that dark table.

I do agree that some artwork of some kind is needed on the walls.

Love it, love it, love it!!

I have two questions...what does one do to keep rugs from curling up. I have laid two rugs in my living and diningroom and they both curled.
And,
is there a rule as to how far from the table/chairs in diningroom should a rug extend?