A tale of two rugs

Hi all! Hope your summers are going well so far! Mine has been crazy busy. Seriously, every weekend we've been booked...the summer is flying by!

Anyways, I'm popping in to ask for your advice on a rug. While I was shopping around for a rug for the entryway (more on that another day!), I decided I wanted a new rug to go in front of our door that leads to the deck. Don't you love how one project or purchase always leads to another? :)

This door gets a lot of use, because we use it to get to the backyard to take the dog out. So we're always tracking in grass and dirt, and we have at least a couple pairs of shoes there too.

Last year I bought this mat from Target, and it worked pretty good. It was easy to clean and stayed in place with a rug pad. But it was nothing thrilling to look at, and it was just too small. There wasn't enough room to keep shoes, so we were always tripping over them, and when the shoes got pushed off the mat they'd leave dirt and puddles on the floor.

So I was on the search for something bigger and something that was also durable and would hold up to dirt and lots of use.

While at HomeGoods, I stumbled upon this cute little printed jute rug for just $17. I was drawn to the Moroccan pattern and the natural fibers.

But...I wasn't sold on it. This front room is pretty lacking in color, with the wood floors, dark leather chairs and black-and-white art. This rug left me craving a pop of color, but I kept it anyways until I made up my mind.

Then, I happened to walk by this rug on sale on Target. It was a bit more money at $27, but is more substantial with a thicker weave.

It's an indoor/outdoor rug that you can rinse clean, according to the label. It's marked "neon yellow," but it's actually more of a yellow-green, and still just the pop of color I was looking for. And another geometric pattern -- yes! (They sell larger versions of this rug online, but for some reason don't have this size on their website.)

But...I'm not sure about it either. I'm not convinced the color works with the seafoam green of the walls, and the color feels very summery, so it leaves me questioning whether I'll like it in the middle of winter.

So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite? I'm leaning towards the Target rug because of the color and because it seems like it'll last longer, but I'm pondering keeping the other rug and using it in the winter months. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

No matter which rug I go with, it'll definitely be an improvement over what's there now. Although Colby seems satisfied with it. He's so easy to please!

Latest design crush: Bee decor

Hiya everyone! Hope your week is going well!

Today I'm sharing the design trend that's totally got my eye these days, and that's bees. Yes, bees. I feel like the bee is going to be the next owl and just popping up everywhere.

It seems like I'm spying bee-related decor everywhere. I spotted these cute ceramic containers at Target. I just love that little bee on top! I couldn't find them online though.

These honeycomb vases are to die for too.

These hive vases from West Elm are great too (and on sale right now!).

Source: westelm.com via Mindy on Pinterest

I totally want some of these bee glasses.

Source: target.com via Mindy on Pinterest

This honeycomb lamp is also from Target.

Source: target.com via Mindy on Pinterest

And I seriously, seriously love this honeybee door knocker. It's pricey but oh-so-cute!

Source: firsthome.tumblr.com via Mindy on Pinterest

I stopped into HomeGoods a few weeks ago and came home with two bee-related items.

This honeycomb vase was on clearance for $14, and I knew it would be the perfect umbrella stand for our entryway. I just love the cutout on the top. Who cares if I only have one umbrella and don't really need a stand??

I also fell in love with this zippered storage box to use to store the photos and other items I rotate through in my gallery wall. This bee is obviously the queen, as she has a crown.

As I was seeing all this bee decor, I realized I already had my first bee item. For a year now my gallery wall in the kitchen has included this free printable I downloaded from a blog that I can't remember. But it's probably just as well as I got a computer virus when I downloaded it! But it's so cute it was worth it (don't tell the hubs I said that).

And perhaps my favorite bee item is something I got for free. I found this little nest in the backyard, and now it's hanging out on the console table as part of my spring decor.

So what do you think -- will bees and honeycomb designs be everywhere in just a few short months? Or have they already been around and I'm just late to the trend as usual? :)

Storage on my mind...

I don't know if it's because I've got office organization on the brain, but I couldn't go two steps in HomeGoods the other day without finding awesomely adorable storage containers. I found so many I had to snap some pics with my phone and share their awesomeness with you! (So excuse my crummy phone pics.)

Love-love-love the pastels in these ekat totes.

I almost died over these metal cut-out containers. They had black, gray, red and aqua.

Black and white geometric = perfection

These Waverly-print containers had me falling all over myself. Aren't they gorgeous?? They had boxes with lids, boxes that zipped up and travel containers.

Apparently I'm very into black and white these days...with a touch of green, that is! I like the simplicity of these square and rectangle totes. I think the pattern either looks like leaves or amoeba.

Okay, these weren't at Home Goods -- I actually spotted them at Lowe's. But they get an honorable mention for being super cute. And for not being black and white! I'm digging the Moroccan-looking pattern on the inside and the leather trim.

So, I'm sure you want to know what I came home with, right? Here ya go!

Now picture me walking around HomeGoods trying to carry all these things AND take pictures with my phone. :)

I had to snag this flower box because it's the same print as the fabric I used to jazz up my bulletin board (also a Waverly fabric).

See?

The pattern is called "Button blossoms"

I totally fell for this damask-esque print, so I bought this lidded box. The lid is even a little padded, so it really feels like a substantial storage container.

And I picked up a pair of these metal baskets. They seemed like the perfect shape and size to hold notebooks or file folders.

I also bought this organizer for our desk drawer. It punches up the inside real nice, and it's useful.

We're still organizing the office, so I can't show you these in action yet. But stay tuned!

Where do you find cute-and-functional organizational supplies? Did you see anything in this roundup you're coveting for yourself?

A little bamboo box

Remember last week when I posted about this cute little bamboo box at HomeGoods, and how I thought I could totally DIY it?

Well, I did, but it was harder than I thought it would be, mostly because of my own stupidity. I should go easy on myself. I was kind of making it up as I went along, after all!

Anyways, I started with a bamboo placemat I had at home. I bought it years ago at Target and actually used it as a photo holder: I hung it on my wall and tucked photos in between the slats. It was cute, but the photos didn't ever really want to stay in place, so I had a sole bamboo placemat and nothing to do with it.

Enter -- the jewelry box! This jewelry box was cute, but not really my style (I totally forget where it came from). I was planning on taking it to Goodwill, but I decided to give it a second life.

First, I measured how much mat would cover the box and marked it with a pen.

Next, I took some hot glue to the seams of black thread to reinforce the placemat. I realized that the only thing holding the mat together was the thread, which was tied to a large piece of wood on each end. But I was planning to cut that piece of wood off, meaning the thread would unravel. A little hot glue (OK, maybe a lot) would keep the pieces of bamboo and the thread in place.

Then, I got to work cutting the mat down to size. I used the coping saw I bought my husband for Christmas. Merry Christmas to me too! This took a lot longer than I thought it would -- those little bamboo slats didn't like to hold still and splintered easily, so I had to go slow.

Finally, after making all my cuts, I was left with this.

Then, I got to work gluing all the pieces to my jewelry box. I used the larger wood pieces to disguise the sides, and they ended up being practically the perfect height.

So, long story short, I got the whole thing glued up and realized I cut the mat way too short -- the edges didn't hang over the sides of the jewelry box enough, and the lip under the lid was still visible. Not cool.

I was about ready to throw in the towel, but then I decided to see if I could use what was left of the may and start over. Luckily, I had enough left to cover the jewelry box, AND the thread would be symmetrical. Score! I got the saw again and did some more cutting. I yanked off what I'd already done, and hot glued my new pieces to the jewelry box.

And yes! This one came out good! At least, I think so.

The HomeGoods box had a fancy little tassle on it, but I was too lazy to try and figure out how to DIY something like that. Instead, I tied a couple buttons from my collection together with some black embroidery thread and glued it to the front of the box. Charming, isn't it?

Here it is on my bureau, with my DIY necklace holder in the background. Our bedroom has lots of green, so this little box fits right in.

Here's a side-by-side comparison.

Not bad, eh? Especially considering I bought nothing for this project. Otherwise, you'd be hard-pressed to make this for less than HomeGoods' awesome $7 price tag. But there's just something about making it yourself that's so much more satisfying than swiping your debit card, you know? Of course you do. :) Plus, the yellow wasn't really doing it for me.

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