Two rugs arrived in the mail last week, one for the dining room and the other for the living room.

Adding new things to the mix always throws things for a loop. For example, with the rug in the dining room, there is now too much pattern in the chair upholstery. It just clashes. And of course, the wall color is STILL not right, but that’s no big shocker because it hasn’t been right from Day 1 when it was christened with a fresh coat of Applesauce Cake (I now never want to even try Applesauce Cake, if there is such a thing). So now, added to Applesauce Cake is Kilim Beige, Latte, and a chocolatey color below the chair rail that was originally there with the Applesauce.

But otherwise, we love the rug. Now we must rebuild the room around that rug.

And then there’s the Citron Green rug. It’s one of those jute rugs from West Elm, a fabulously nubby boucle feeling under the feet. I’m thrilled. But when it went down on the floor in the living room, where it was intended, it looked … off. I started grabbing all of the Citron Green accents I could find to kinda tie everything together. No dice.

The rug has now seen every room in this house. And it has found residence in the kitchen, where it vaguely mirrors the avocado green of the Formica on our vintagey cabinets (metal!) However, it only draws attention to the dirty linoleum, which is in fact, anything BUT dirty. It’s just old. And crusty. We hate it.

Last night, our friend and interior decorator from church came over. I love her because she always has a fresh new way to look at the stuff we already have, while able to make great comments on things we should/might buy in the future. She has made FABULOUS recommendations on rearranging our furniture, and switching around rugs. She has made great strides in helping us pick paint colors for the dining room (relief! a golden cream!) and encouraging us to move Citron Green Jute underneath the table in the breakfast nook.

The first time Interior Decorator Friend came over, I was slightly upset. My ego reared its ugly head – “I went to design school! I was revered for an excellent understanding of color management!” But then I realized, I was just like almost every other client I’ve ever had – I think I know what’s best, but at the same time, I had hired a PROFESSIONAL to come in and give her opinion, so why wouldn’t I accept that? She’s far more educated than I am, so I need to hear her out. And I love what she does.

If only every client I have could have this revelation.