Binding to get the perfect rug

Hey hey! Whazzzzup.

OK, I’ve been meaning to post about this little tip for months and months and just…I don’t know…didn't. And then a friend told me about the rug sale at Rugs USA yesterday (75 percent off people! GO. After you read this post!) and I found two rugs (crossing fingers they work) for hecka cheap, and then another friend mentioned she was bummed she couldn’t find any runners that were the right size for her space.

So THEN I told her about this little tip and realized I need to just post about it and share it with you all!

So say you have an awkward space, like our foyer that I showed you last week:

I know it doesn’t look awkward, but I’ve ALWAYs struggled with the right size rug for this spot. Before we had the buffet piece in there, it wasn’t as hard. But after, when I wanted something long and skinny, but not too long, that’s when it got harder. A 4 x 6 rug would have to go under the buffet which looked odd to me, a 3 x 5 just kind of floated around and looked weird, and a regular runner (about 2 1/2 by 8 feet) was too long.

We can’t have a rug up by the door because there's not enough clearance under it – by the way – if you are looking for a rug for an exterior door, make sure to check that. In my decorating days many a client would have to send back beautiful rugs they had searched for for weeks because the door wouldn't clear it. (Interior doors can be cut down pretty easily so it’s not as big of an issue there.)

So anyhoo, last year we needed a new rug for the foyer, and my long, arduous search began again. I finally found a runner I liked at Burlington Coat Factory:

It was too long though, so I decided to try out a little trick I had learned long ago.

Did you know you can have rugs cut down and binded to fit your space?:

Mine was eight feet, so I had two feet cut off and the one edge binded. I took mine to a local carpet store to do it. It’s been so long I can’t remember what the cost was, I think $30? My rug was a steal so it was worth it to me to do.

And I’ve seen that you can do this on your own, but I’ve never attempted it. If you have, let us know!

Only thing is you need to be specific with the carpet folks about the kind of binding you want. They did mine so that the “new” end looks different than the other:

 

I was going to take it back but then later decided it’s not a big deal. No one but me notices it. And you know if they did…THEY’D GET A COOKIE.

I think it’s cheaper to have it done another way, where they kind of use the fabric stuff to close off the rough edge, instead of the thick thread. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but look at some of your rugs and you’ll see what I mean.

Or not. ;)

So anyway, be specific about how you want it to look. I wasn’t.

But now we can open our door and have a spot to wipe our shoes – both good things:

The other great thing about this is that you can pick up carpet remnants from store and have them bound as well – so if you need a huge rug and don’t want to spend $1,000 and up, check out the remnants and have them bound! (Remnants are usually a fraction of the price of the carpet off the roll.) This is also great when you need an odd sized rug – say 10 by 14 or something like that.

Awesome eh?? I like it, I do.

Just do a web search for carpet stores or carpet binding near you and I’m betting something will come up.

I think picking out a rug is just about one of the hardest decor decisions to make – it’s usually an investment, it is a BIG statement in the room so it has to be the right color/design and it can be hard to figure out the right size.

Rugs USA has extended their 75 percent off sale by the way – check it out here. My charcoal rug in the family room is available here too! And no, I’m not being paid to tell you this, it’s just an AWESOME sale. :)