Getting a Great Bargain

A couple of weeks ago I posted about some furniture rearranging I'd done, putting the family room furniture in the living room and moving the furniture we'd bought for the kids into the family room.  This was the end result of the family room:

I like the furniture itself, the microfiber fabric, the neutral tan color, and the red pillows my daughter picked for them from Costco.  But there was something missing.  Can you see it?  Or rather, can you not see it?  Or rather still, can you see too much of one thing because of what's missing?  Yeah, too much floor and nothing to break it up.  It needed an area rug.

Problem is, those things can get quite expensive.  I wasn't about to shell out $250 or more on a 5'X7' rug that would be trampled on and laid on and filled with dog hair and crumbs, but I couldn't leave it looking unfinished either.  So I went online to see what I could find.

I knew I wanted something modern, contemporary.  I knew it had to have red, and any of the other colors on my curtains in the family room so that it would work well.  I also knew I didn't want blue.  I'm just not a fan of blue.  I don't like it, and I don't want it.

I looked at rugs at Target first, because I love their styles, but the prices were still a bit on the steep side at $130.  Since I'd found my previous living room rug at Lowe's, I decided to see what they had to offer.  Nothing I liked.  Same with Home Depot.  There were a couple of nice looking ones at Walmart (of all places) going for $90, but I wondered how they'd look once I saw them in person.  I realized I didn't want to shop for rugs online; I wanted to see them, touch them, and appreciate them firsthand, so off I went with my daughter to Target, since it was her day off.

I saw one rug at Target that was just what I was looking for.  There were 2 problems.  One, it was only available in a picture; I'd have to go to another Target to actually see it, or have them order it.  Two, the price was still $130 and I couldn't see myself ordering it and then deciding it was over my budget, so I walked away, wondering if I'd made the right choice.

I had to go to Walmart to do some grocery shopping today, so I figured I'd take a look at the rugs and see if there wasn't something I liked.  Well, wouldn't you know it, they had rugs on clearance!  There were 2 rugs in particular that I liked, one was a better quality with a price of $64, but the color looked more orangey than red.  I could make it work; it would mean buying new pillows for the sofas, but it wasn't what I wanted.  The second rug had the reds, greens and browns I wanted, but it also had blue.  Well, not exactly blue, more like teal, but still in the blue family.  It didn't have a price tag on it so I decided to scan it and see what the damage would be.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  $49.96!  Well, I think I can live with some blues at that price!  Here's how it looks now:

What made me even happier, was seeing some stripes on the curtain that are blue, though they are few and far between.  What I like best is that it gives the room a warmth that was lacking before.  I love a cozy room!

Here's another bargain, if you live in the South and have Publix Supermarkets in your area.  They have Duncan Hines cake mixes buy one get one free!  If you're like me and bake lots of cakes in the fall and winter months, you will want to take advantage of this sale.  At $1.99 each, they end up costing less than $1.00 a box - better than Walmart which sells them for $1.25 - $1.50 a box.  This baker/bargain hunter will be enjoying a new look in my family room and delightful smells from my kitchen!