As the holidays approach, the days are getting shorter and the temperatures lower. Adding cozy elements like faux or real fur, or a flokati or shag rug to your home can be an easy way to create a homey environment during the holidays.
There's something about the rugged feeling fur gives to a room that visually softens a space and invites you to sink into a comfortable seat and put your feet up. We like to swap out the rugs in our home for warm, white flokati ones, while also adding fur throws to the backs of sofas or chairs. Without even hanging a garland or mistletoe, hauling out any holly, or adding a Santa Claus figurine, the home instantly feels more ready for the season.
You can find sheepskin rugs and furs at retailers like Room and Board or Ikea, and inexpensive wool shag rugs at Cost Plus World Market and also Ikea.
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I love this last picture with the wool chair and old fashioned bar cart. So Mad Men!
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I don't even want to think about the mess that my flokati rug caused in my first apartment. Ikea. White fuzz everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Plus it ruined my vacuum. It became disaffectionately known as "the pet."
I miss the look and coziness, though.
Any tips on cleaning a plush shag rug? It's not flokati, and it's cream colored. Someone walked over it with boots..... sigh.
We just picked up two 5 x7 Vitten rugs from IKEA. The look is similar to flokati, but there's no shedding. The best part about the Vitten rugs is that our cats don't seem to claw at them like they do to other floor coverings.
I have sheep skins all over the place. The arm rests of my couch are kind of worn out so I threw a sheep skin either side and it looks great...
Cleaning tips for flokati and similar wool stuff:
Where I come from - Bulgaria - flokati are very common, absolutely ubiquitous. They are called kitenik. The way to clean them is to wash them. In Bulgaria we have special places by very clean rivers in the mountains, where they are washed just with water. But living in the city, your best friend is the bathtub. First shake your kitenik/flokati really well to get rid of dust (you should be doing this every week, while doing your general floor cleaning. Never vacuum a kitenik!). Then fill up your bathtub with lukewarm water -neither hot nor cold. Add wool washing detergent (or shampoo, if you don't have a special detergent for wool). Let the kitenik/flokati soak for a while (30 minutes at least). Get in the bathtub and stomp around - or if this is not appealing, or you have sensitive skin, just put on a pair of rubber gloves and do some old-style washing motions. Drain water. Proceed with rinsing several times, again with lukewarm water. Drain as much of the water as possible. This can take a while and involves some turning around of the flokati/kitenik. Finally, air dry (outdoors with the sun and wind is the best). I usually wash my kitenik twice a year - once in the beginning of summer and once in early fall - making sure to get two days of warm dry weather. Alternatively, you can see if your dry cleaner's offer laundry services for fine woolens. I used their services once, but the dryer kind of ruined my kitenik, so I have never repeated.
Hope that helps.
Where did #5 come from? It reminds me of an English designer who's name is escaping me, if someone stole some of Joan Crawfords Billy Haines pieces.
I have the Vitten too, a bit of shedding, but nothing outrageous though.
O my God, Anna Bananna! my mother still keeps several old Bulgarian interior magazins from 1970-80s - so very beautiful & everything still looks so totally chic & modern with a lot of those rugs!
practice kind design and use faux fur only please.
@Anna Bananna: It has never occurred to me to use my feet to stomp a rug clean. It's a smart idea and I'll give it a try next time I clean my small rugs.