Next step: placing the rugs

As I continued in my living room, having arranged the main pieces of furniture, the next step was to place the rugs.  According to "Cozy Minimalism", it's a common mistake to have rugs that are too small, but our main rug is plenty big for the furniture and the room, and it seems like it was made to be there--in the Eighties!

I had to layer rugs a bit, where some edges are getting worn, and I had to do a few small repairs to the lacing of the braided rug that is in front of the door to the back yard.  Not surprising, since that rug spent most of last winter hanging outdoors, while I tried to figure out how to get Cheerio Vomit Glue off it.  Wool really is rot-resistant; that's why the sheep aren't naked until they are sheared.

Anyway, repairing a braided rug is MUCH less laborious and tedious than making one is, so it is almost always worth doing.  With occasional maintenance, they can last a very long time.

The rugs also needed some spot-cleaning, which only took a few minutes.

Another thing I did was to get over to the Habitat to Humanity ReStore.  After two or three searches, I finally found a piece of crown molding to replace the bit that was missing in my living room; different color, but same profile (shape).  There's a lamp right under that spot that lights it right up, and it has been a definite eyesore ever since we moved in.

While I was there, I looked over their furniture section, to see which pieces had "presence"; most of them didn't, and the few that did were chairs that didn't look sturdy enough for my household.

When I got home, I was able to get the crown molding cut and put up, with some work. The problem was in measuring it accurately enough, with a bendy tape measure and a somewhat uneven wall surface. Cutting accurately was no problem; a few months ago the heirs of some old guy were happy to unload his very nice miter box and saw on us, for only $20.  But even a simple miter box would do.  You do have to account for the width of the cut that the saw makes.

With the molding piece up, it looks much better now. I might faux paint it later on, to match the rest of the crown molding, but I don't have all the paint colors that I would need for that yet.