I Think I Missed The Memo

On one of the blogs I check in to every few weeks, the blogger typically has a Saturday round up of things she had found of interest to her around the internet complete with links.  A lot of her links are of things that do not interest me, so I don't click on every one she posts.  Some, however, pique my curiousity and I go to see what the article is about.  The other day, I followed one that ended up being to a decorating blog.

Now, I am definitely not the target audience of those who have decorating blogs.  My decorating style has typically been along the lines of 

a) I needed an item like this (couch, lamp, blanket) and a hand-me-down of that item was given to me. It may or may not match anything else in the house, but I have it and I'm using it.

b) I needed an item and found one I liked for cheap that sorta goes okay with the other stuff I have.

c) I wanted an item, waited years to justify the expense, and finally found one used for cheap(ish) (hee hee like here and here).  I love it, it matches good enough and I'm probably never getting rid of it.

d) I wanted an item, didn't feel like I could justify buying it, and put it on my wish list and then (depending on the size/cost) one or more of my kids (went together and) bought it for me for my birthday or Christmas or sometimes Mother's Day (that one would be small stuff).  Because it was on my wish list it is exactly what I wanted and is the right color and style and everything.

All to pretty much say I don't acquire furniture or other household type stuff on a whim, and especially don't get something because it's the "in" thing of the moment.  The Color of the Year has no value here.  I painted the interior of my house in 2003, when we were building it.  I liked those colors then, and I still do now.  Nothing has been repainted a different color.

Not only that, once I have an item I like, I rarely replace it unless it wears out.  I've never been one to discard something because it is no longer 'fashionable'.  My tastes don't tend to change.

Similarly, I'm not one for changing my decor from season to season.  That, to me, is rather a lot of stuff to purchase, store, and take care of in order to put it out on display for a couple of weeks or months, then stick it back in storage until its season comes around again.

So when I read recently, on that decorating blog I got sent to when I clicked on the link that aroused my curiousity, about changing rugs with the season I went "Whaaaaatttt????  People do that?" (Imagine a seriously confused look on my face.)

To me, a rug is a serviceable item more than a decorative item.  Its function is to protect my floor, typically from dirt.  Being able to pick up a dirty rug and shake it out is much more appealing to me than having to sweep and wash the floor all the time.  In my brain, a rug is a dirt trapper, not a piece of decor.

Which is why I have a rug in my tack room.

I found this rug this summer when I was shopping for something else, liked the color, and figured it would be appropriate for the tack room.  I like shakeable and washable rugs better than the coir mats or waterproof type rugs for near doors.  Now, I do admit to picking that particular rug because of its color, and how well it would match my tack room versus, say, the blue one of the same type.

But, evenso, buying that rug in that color didn't make me fashionable. My first inkling that I was out of the loop on current rug usage was when I wash removing the label from my new tack room rug and saw this:

Layering rug?  Why the heck would you layer your rug?  A rug is for wiping your feet on, it doesn't need layers.  It's not like you step onto the first layer, then peel it back and actually do the wiping on the second layer.  Is it?  Nah, that would be dumb and unnecessary.

Apparently, to be fashionable, you now layer your rug with another rug.  So it looks good.

Which to me, also seems awfully dumb and unnecessary.  Not functional, as only the top rug is receiving the dirt, plus two rugs obviously cost more than one.  But, whatever.  People can layer their rugs if they want.  I'm going to keep using my rugs singly.  For catching dirt.  Pretty is secondary.

Oh, and I'm not changing it (or any of the rugs in my house) seasonally.  I like mine to be timelessly classic. 😉