Creeping Wool Rug & The Colors of Fall

You know, wool rugs are wonderful because they are made of...well, wool. They last forever, they feel so warm and cozy underfoot, and they clean up beautifully - although the dog's gooey dental chews are a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, they are wonderful.

Not long before we decided to move from the "Log House Up on the Hill" I bought a wool rug at HomeDecorators.com in their Outlet Store. It had great colors and a great price. Then we decided to sell and build a new house with everything on one floor - our "old age house."

While I was still looking for an affordable wool rug, I was looking for one to highlight the tones of the large hardwood floor of  the log house and to tie in with the furniture and decor. When I found this one at Home Decorators, I was a little nervous about all the color and designs. But was also smitten.

I had raised my boys on our hardwood floor in the log house and, while it was beautiful, I felt ready for a change. So we put heavy duty carpet in the new living room and picked a color that would tie in with the new WOOL rug. I expected it to last a very long time - still do - so I planned to put it over the carpet to "define the space." It is so nice. And it matches everything so well.

The piece that is a perfect match is a painting that was done many years ago by an artist who grew up just down the road from our log house. And she named it "Hills of Home." So it is from the very area where we built our log home, raised our kids, and very near where I buried my late husband. I know where her home was and have found the very scene depicted in her piece. I may be the only one of any of us who values the painting, but to me it is a treasure, a piece of my family's history. And just look at how it ties in with that wool rug.

BUT that rug has been a source of frustration since it has come to rest on our new carpet. It crawls. The entire rug slowly, but not so slowly, creeps counter clockwise as we walk on it. It wouldn't be so bad but the coffee table legs don't crawl with it so it forms wrinkles. Often when I vacuum, I slide the heavy oak table off the rug, straighten out the wrinkles and enlist my husband to help me shimmy the rug back in place. Only to have it begin traveling again, inch by inch in a matter of a few days.

Last fall, I had the brilliant idea to buy some Ruggies and we were sure they would stop the creeping and crawling. They didn't. The rug is too large and heavy to stop for those contraptions. What the Ruggies do do is get bunched up in a wad, full of rug fibers that have to be straightened out each time I vacuum.

My youngest son keeps encouraging me to just take up the rug and be done with it. But the painting, the "hills of home," the colors... I can't do it. I will continue shifting it back into place and continue hoping no one falls from the wrinkles. And not let son hear me complain about it.

It is home, after all.

And speaking of home, isn't autumn just glorious? I saw this the other day and decided it was time to make the inside of our home fall-like once again. Next week, after I find some pumpkins, the outside will be fall-like, as well.











So here's a brief "photo album" of our cozy nest, wool rug and all.

And my favorite. A simple plywood hanging that reminds us to never forget to be thankful. Ever.