HOUSE: Newburgh + Scavenging

A little work in the living room.

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Apologies for the lack of updates, it’s been so busy around here! We did manage to put a new rug down in the living room, though. After much deliberation and stalling, we finally settled on the Alvine Triangel flat wool rug from IKEA. Yes, the flokati was nice, but cleaning up after it (and brushing it, and hand-vacuuming it) for the past two years has been more than I really feel like dealing with. Plus, we really needed something bold and graphic in the room, and I think this really does the job! I love how soft the white parts of the rug are. It has a Moroccan feel to it that’s very appealing, and a nice contrast to all the Victorian features of the house and the Danish Modern/mid-century furniture.

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I also took the time to give a good oiling to the Arthur Umanoff bar cart I scored a few months ago. It was really looking very gray and haggard, but Danish oil once again saved the day and made it look great. I strongly recommend trying to oil old furniture rather than putting polyurethane on it! If the old finish is scuffed or damaged you can sand it a little first, but you’d be amazed how many flaws oil will hide. Every now and then you can give it a light re-oiling if it starts to look dry, and the finish will stay looking rich and warm.

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15 Comments

  • Reply DawnMarie December 22, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Stunning living room. Crisp pallet but still very comfortable and cozy. I love Danish oil. My grandmother told me about it many moons ago. It is amazing what a piece will look like after it has been cleaned and oiled.

  • Reply carlene December 22, 2007 at 11:55 am

    Oh, wow, what a beautiful room! I just love (well everything, but especially) the still life in the fireplace.

  • Reply kelly December 22, 2007 at 12:59 pm

    that rug is really fantastic and i am so very jealous of your beautiful cart! which oil are you using on your wood?

  • Reply Belinda December 22, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    the rug looks great & bruno looks so regal in the chair!.

  • Reply Julie December 22, 2007 at 6:24 pm

    that’s a very stunning rug. it all looks great!

  • Reply Anna at D16 December 23, 2007 at 12:30 am

    Kelly: I’ve been using either Danish (linseed) oil or just plain mineral oil. Both give great results (mineral oil is a little easier to work with and easier to find, but I find you need to apply more coats). I’d try first with mineral oil, since you probably have it on hand already if you have wood cutting boards or salad bowls. If you like the result, you can move on to Danish oil or tung oil the next time. Just make sure that whatever you use has as few ingredients as possible (one!), and is wax-free.

  • Reply Katja December 23, 2007 at 3:46 am

    What a beautiful room! I’ve had my eye on that same rug, I’m really liking black+white these days.

  • Reply michelle December 23, 2007 at 11:57 am

    great room! the fireplace, rug, everything.

  • Reply sulu-design December 26, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    Your home, as always, looks lovely. The rug looks amazing in the room. And I second the oil treatment that you used on the cart – it has spruced up many pieces of furniture in our home, too.

  • Reply zee January 4, 2008 at 9:56 am

    Hey Anna! Happy New Year! The rug looks perfect. and thanks for the Danish oil tip too! We have a couple of teak pieces of furniture that need sprucing up which I’ve been afraid to do anything with in case I inexpertly wind up doing them more harm than good.

  • Reply jaime January 5, 2008 at 2:53 pm

    that rug is fantastic in that room! good choice.

  • Reply kacia January 22, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    what a lovely home! i particularly like the very minimal decorations in the fireplace. i have one question for you: what can you tell me about oiling wood to look like new? i recently bought a lovely wood endtable off of craigslist, but don’t know how to make wood look new other than to paint it. any suggestions? thanks!!

  • Reply T November 3, 2015 at 3:59 am

    what do you use under you rugs to keep them from slipping and sliding? any recs?

    • Anna @ D16 November 3, 2015 at 8:37 am

      Regular old rug pads!

  • Reply Marta April 24, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    Just found this old post because your rug back then inspired me to hunt down that end of line rug in the UK. Fortunately we were driving up to Scotland on a holiday so could check in all the Ikeas en route and we found one. Since then I went to live in Malaga, Spain and the rug came with. Considering bringing it backover to Scotland but is hard work to vacuum it. Now in 2022 I have stumbled onto your blog yet again as I debate whether I want to have a black bathroom floor or not. Thanks for still blogging. Marta xx

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