Disclosure: I was kindly sent this lovely teal rug for the purposes of this review. You can buy it in various sizes, shapes and other colours — plus lots of other lovely rugs — from the Benuta website. Pop along and have a look www.benuta.co.uk All photos, thoughts and words — as ever — are entirely my own.
You know when you have something in your head — and nothing else will do? I had set my heart on a teal rug. I searched high and low for the right one.
Until Benuta got in touch with me!
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Introducing Benuta
Benuta have a fabulous selection of rugs, in styles to suit every home.
Modern, vintage, short pile or deep.
Or shaggy; round, square.
Plain or a myriad of colour — basically — whatever your taste, I bet you a tenner they’ve got something to suit.
Including the teal rug I’d been searching for!
In Praise Of Pattern
Now I love pattern.
On clothing, in our home. Very often, I’ll choose clashing patterns — sometimes in similar tones, sometimes in complementary colours — and I love to see a mix of designs sitting happily together.
But where I’ve always been quite confident in using patterns on transient items, such as fashion — or on cushions and throws — putting pattern on the floor has always filled me with a little trepidation.
Maybe it stems from the garish carpets I grew up with as a child? Very possibly.
Our family home was a paragon of the 1970s and I distinctly remember the swirly, patterned dining room carpet.
Clearly designed by someone who’d taken a little too much LSD ~ and enough to induce a migraine.
Who knows what the reason was? But pattern on the floor is something that I’ve always shied away from.
But when I saw the perfect teal rug — with a gorgeous trellis pattern — I knew that I had to have it.
I decided to put it in our conservatory — which we use as our adult sitting room — and true to form gravitated towards a simple design but (after a little word with myself) decided that as I was being given the opportunity to try something different I should buck the trend and pick something out of the ordinary.
And, given I’d been looking for the perfect teal rug, this was the perfect opportunity.
The Perfect Teal Rug
Historically, we’ve always had a simple cream rug in the conservatory so seeing such a strongly patterned teal rug in it’s place took a little bit of getting use to, to begin with. But do you know what?
I love it!
Almost to the point that I’m now thinking I’d like to introduce a little more pattern to the floors of our home.
The fact that Benuta’s company strapline is ‘fashion for floors‘ hasn’t escaped my notice either.
Fashion changes with the seasons and their fantastic — and incredibly affordable — range will make it easy to change the look of a room by adding pattern and colour to the floor; just as I always have done with my wardrobe.
But whilst fashion is currently enjoying a resurgence of the 1970s, that swirly dining room carpet will not be enjoying a revival anytime soon.
Some things are best left in the past.
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
Ooooo I love it!! #twinklytuesdays xx
Thanks so much gorgeous — me too!! :)
All my baby photo feature those 70’s carpets! Love your conservatory, Looks beautiful. #twinkytuesday
Hahaha!! SO glad it’s not just me! They’re the stuff of nightmares aren’t they?! xx
I love the rug – such a vibrant colour! We are still desperately in need of a rug for our living room floor – I just can’t decide which one I want! xxx
Would definitely recommend Benuta — they have a HUGE range!! Only thing is, you almost get spoilt for choice!! xx
eek I love love love the look of that rug!! It looks so swish with your Sanderson cushion!
It’s so hard to find funky rugs in the UK! So I’m pleased to have found a new retailer to go and snoop at!
#twinklytuesday
Thanks lovely — they work really well together don’t they? I LOVE a clashing pattern!!! :) xx
Love it! Am so rubbish with patterns!! Good to see xxx #twinklytuesdays
Aaah the trick is — just throw as many different patterns on as possible!! People will think you’re a style maven ;)
I can see why you love it, it looks great!
#TwinklyTuesday
Thanks so much lovely! It was really, really hard to choose!!!! xx
It looks stunning! I love the way you have styled the room, and photographed this post. Amazing :) Great colour choice! What a superb room and fantastic space. Jess xx #twinklytuesday
Aaah thanks lovely!!! Initially I wished I stuck with the original plan and gone for the chartreuse one but the blue has really, really grown on me. I love it now. Nice to have a bit of a change too — the old cream one had really seen better days!! x
I love it, Caro! A great choice. In fact, I love your whole conservatory. I bet it’s wonderful to sit and relax there of an evening. Heaven!
Thanks pet! I love it too — I was a bit unsure at first but now I really think it works :) Nice to have a bit of a change from the norm. Initially I’d ordered exactly the same one as Jess but changed my mind and decided to go for something different!! Can’t believe we chose the same one!!!
I love this blog post – beautiful photography as per usual. But the colour and the shapes are just phenomenal… plus I found myself screaming ‘FIG ROLLS’… girl after my own heart xx
Thanks pet :) I’m a real fan of colour and pattern — pretty pictures are easy to take when you’ve got a lovely subject. And yes. I blooming love a fig roll. Particularly the ones by Bolands — in the red packet. They are absolutely the best sort!! ;) x
Beautiful photos Caro! The rug really suits the space and the bold colour works well with the pale sofas and all that light. The pattern is great too. Well chosen.
#homeetc
Thanks pet! All taken on my iPhone!! Who needs a big camera these days eh? The Nikon’s been resigned to the back of the cupboard!! ;) x
Aaah that’s SO funny!!! The cushions are donkeys years old but I still LOVE them. I keep looking for some replacements but can’t find anything I like quite as much. Really happy with the new rug — so nice to have a change :)
Great choice – goes perfectly. Was just looking at our worn living room rug this morning thinking we could with an update. Nb. Your pics have also made me really fancy a fig roll – SUCH a good biscuit choice! #HomeEtc xx
Thanks lovely :) We’d had the same, old cream one for AGES!! SO nice to have a change :)
100% thumbs up from me!! It looks incredible and I really think is the perfect piece for the space (your adult sitting room is just gorgeous by the way!)
Am in total agreement with you about all those patterns from the past, I think there’s a whole generation of us who will have nightmares of growing up with brown floral sofas clashing with pink floral carpets! X
Thanks pet :) So nice to have somewhere not strewn with plastic tat and toys!! The rest of the house often resembles the bottom of a toy box!! And yep. The 70s has left an indelible mark on my psyche. Some of those patterns are enough to give me night terrors! ;)
It looks fab Caro, I love the colour and the pattern! I would definitely be tempted to introduce more in the house. It can be a bit scary when you just see it on it’s own but I think it has settled very nicely in your conservatory, looks just like it belongs there! xx #HomeETC
Thanks so much darling :) I think you’re right — in isolation, pattern can look a bit daunting, but chuck it all in together and it can look AMAZING!! XX
Wow! I’m loving it and good for you for going for some fashion on your floor. Your conservatory is to die for and you have styled it beautifully – I’m green with envy right now.
Gorgeous post and pics
Sammy x #HomeEtc
Thanks so much pet! Yes! I think floors are overlooked — why shouldn’t they be fashionable too? Although I draw the line at the 1970s carpet ;)
Beautiful. Not the 70s carpet of course, I know exactly what you mean about those swirly patterns. My parents even had an orange and yellow boucle sofa. Yes, exactly. Thankfully we’re a lot more tasteful than that and there’s absolutely no way in years to come people will be saying that about this rug :) Thanks for hosting #homeetc x
Boucle? Oh gosh — that’s taking things to an entirely new level!!! LOL!! The awful thing is, I can actually picture it!!!! Hahaha!!! Yep — fingers crossed we’re not an unstylish era. I’d hate for my boys to be knocking my style in a few decades time!! :)
Yes. Boucle. I am scarred!!!! ;) x
Yep. I totally feel for you ;)
That rug is fabulous. We have moved a few things round in our house and now def need a new rug!
Thanks chick — I’m so pleased with it :) Funny how a new rug changes the look of the whole room isn’t it? xx
I love that pattern, it’s so neat and classic looking. I have never really favoured cool colours but I am loving blue so much at the moment and, that shade is beautiful. I know about the 70’s thing, I have always avoided swirls on the floor too, but this is lovely xx
Aaah I’m a massive fan of blue :) Funny isn’t it? I’m not keen on hot colours — reds and pinks — funny what floats our boats! xx
Oooo this is gorgeous, I absolutely love it and I also love love love your conservatory. The rug adds so much colour it totally works. Stunning and very good choice :) thanks for hosting #HomeEtc
Thanks so much pet. It was a bit of a shock to start with — so different from the old cream one!! Loving it now though — it’s really cheered the room up :)
Looking good Caro #HomeEtc
Thanks so much Helena :)
I love it!! I always love how other people choices open my eyes, I’m always to scared to go for anything drastic but I love the whole room, the mixing colours & patterns. I’m definitely going to be a bit braver at mixing patterns x #HomeEtc
Thanks so much Toni :) I don’t think you can do wrong, mixing patterns on accessories. I’ve seen people do it with wallpaper and carpet and sometimes I think it looks amazing, other times it looks so hectic, it would give me a headache!! :) Just start small and you’ll soon get a feel for what works xx
I love it! Well done for being brave and going for the blue! It matches your other accessories so well without being too ‘matchy matchy’ ;-) I love it when I see people mixing colours and patterns in their homes. I always feel so nervous about doing that but it (almost!) always pays off! Your conservatory looks fantastic xx #HomeEtc
Aah thanks Sue :) I’ve never been a fan of things matching totally — I really like an eclectic mix. That goes for furniture too; I’ve always mixed new with old. The two white sofas were £9.99 off Ebay — for the pair!! ;)
The room looks lovely and the colour combo is fab! For someone who is painting everything white in my house, I definitely need to add some colour! #HomeEtc
Aaah I went though the white phase in one of our previous houses :) I’m all about colour these days — PLUS it doesn’t show the dirt as much ;) xx
Great choice! I love the bold colour #HomeEtc
Thanks so much Lizzie! I’m so pleased with it! :)
I’ve always been shy of pattern too but I love your colour scheme and that rug and cushion are lovely! #HomeEtc
Aah thanks Michelle. It’s an odd one isn’t it? Some folk love pattern, others not so much! It’s a bit like Marmite ;)
Love love LOVE! Goes so well in the conservatory and looks just gorgeous with the colour scheme x
Thanks so much darling! Really, really pleased with it :) xx
I love the rug, it’s gorgeous, what a beautiful colour. I’m similar to you in that I always tend to stick to plain colours for flooring (we also had awful carpets growing up) but the pattern you’ve chosen looks great. Sadly, our conservatory is the playroom although I’m now wishing to reclaim it as a more grown up room. xx
Thanks lovely :) Our snug — which is our TV room — is now the playroom. If we were clever, we’d swap them round as you have to walk through the snug to get to the conservatory and it always looks such a mess! It would *almost* be better to be able to shut the door on the toys and not look at them. I love the light in the conservatory though — I don’t want to give it up ;)
Oh my god, I LOVE it! The colour goes so well with your cushions, it’s so bright and cheerful, such a good choice. I love clashing patterns too, you’ve definitely got an eye for it, as it can go wrong sometimes (ha ha, thinking of the 80s ;-P)
Sabruna xx #Homeetc
Thanks so much pet! I’m pretty pleased with it :) Clashing patterns are the way forward — I love the way they don’t show the dirt as much!! ;)
I love it – you definitely made the right choice going for the blue. I am very envious of your conservatory (and lovely cat) – gorgeous!
Thanks so much lovely :) I’m happy with the blue — it took a little bit of getting used to, as it’s a lot brighter than it’s predecessor. Love it now though
PS — I feel VERY grown up having a conservatory ;)
Oh Caro I just love that rug it is so stylish, I looked at that several times myself. I love the choice at Benuta it is almost impossible to choose and I totally agree with you although I went for a plain rug in the end to match the room there were dozens and dozens of pattens I just loved x
Thanks chickie! It’s SO hard to choose isn’t it? They really have got a fabulous — and affordable range. I’ll definitely be keeping them in my address book for future purchases :) xx
That is such a lovely rug, I think it looks great! The other benefit of a darker colour is that it won’t show marks so easily as a more neutral one! I stupidly chose a mainly ivory rug for our lounge (what was I thinking?!) and Thea went to town with several different coloured fluorescent highlighters which will not come out! Grrr. Becky x #HomeEtc
Thanks so much Becky — yep — I totally agree! Our old cream looked pretty grubby, even though I’d Vaxed it to within an inch of it’s life. It always showed the dirt so badly — I’m hoping this new one will hide it all!! Maybe you could ad some more highlighter marks to your rug? Make it look like a pattern that’s supposed to be there??! ;) xx
Ha ha it might work! Like adult colouring in xx
YES!! That would be amazing!! ;)
First of all…fellow fig roll lover! Second of all…I love it! What a great space you’ve created. I love soft furnishing and rugs for adding a splash of colour. I’ll check them out, as we’re looking at rugs for our new kitchen/living room.
Oh and I remember those brown carpets!
Thanks for linking up #bloggershomes
Haha!! I DO love a fig-roll ;) And YES! DO check them out if you need a new rug — they’re prices are amazing and the choice is even better :)
I love the print on this rug! And such a gorgeous colour too. I’d love a nice rug in our bedroom, but I don’t think my husband would go for it! x
Aah me too Steph! And re your husband, if it were me I’d go ahead and buy one anyway. Chances are he probably won’t even notice!! ;) xx
I remember the swirly carpets too I had a lovely brown & orange one in my first two homes in the 90’s ( not my choice) I recently went with a patterned rug similar to that in grey & cream and I got a huge one from Amazon for £50 which makes things more affordable and easier to change but I love that blue one il also check them out as am moving soon so always looking for new ideas
Those carpets were nuts weren’t they?! Who on earth thought they were a good idea!! Even the thought of them gives me a headache!! Thanks so much for your comment lovely! So nice to ‘meet’ you!! :)