Raceway restyled
What to do when playful puppies — or crazed kids — have your front hall leaving far less than a good impression
The rug in our front hall is getting destroyed. It always looks messy because every time our dogs run down the hallway, the rug gets crumpled into a ball. Between my husband’s giant shoe prints, our kids’ muddy boots and the dogs, I’m ready to throw the rug out the front door. Can I leave the floors bare? Will they get damaged when it really starts to snow?
The messy front door rug is a pretty common issue. My girlfriend recently sent me a frustrated email that read: “What can I do to fix my damn rug!” Her dogs like to race down the hall and slide into the closet door. I swear her Westies think the rug is their personal crash pad. We solved the problem with an inexpensive non-slip rug pad. The pad definitely helped, but she still deals with a wrinkled rug.
I’ve heard of people making the mistake of taping down rugs or applying lines of caulk on the back of their rugs. If your rug is in a spot that gets hot from the sun or a radiator, the tape or caulk could melt and damage your floors.
A thick, weighty jute or wool rug will move less than a cotton dhurrie. I know, I know, the patterns on cotton dhurries are so fabulous and the look is casual, but a scrunched-up rug in the entryway is not a good look.
Both West Elm ( westelm.com) and Pottery Barn ( potterybarn. com) have a good selection of jute rugs, but you will still need to use a rug pad. Heavy wool rugs (choose a dark colour) are durable and have a lower slip factor but, again, you’ll need an underpad.
As an aside, in my early days of styling, I learned from Michael Pourvakil of Weavers Art (weaver-sart. that you should never use harsh carpet cleaners on wool carpet. Mist any spills with water and blot with a towel. In more severe cases, I’ve used warm water with a couple drops of hand soap and then blotted with a towel.
I’ve always liked Flor modular carpet tiles ( flor.com) as an alternative to rugs in the hallway because you can choose different patterns, colours and textures. The carpet tiles stay in place with adhesive stickers that won’t damage your floor.
The website’s “Flor builder” will help you not only customize a pattern, but also determine how many tiles you will need for your space. Two of the 19.7-inch squares work as a good width for hallways. Modern Mix in brown (as seen in the photo) will hide paw and boot prints in between vacuumings. And, when a tile gets really dirty, you can clean it in the dishwasher, or in more serious cases, replace it. Plus, the ecoconscious company has a returnand-recycle policy so your carpet won’t end up in a landfill site.
You can leave the floor bare, but be prepared to have a rag nearby so that you can wipe up melted snow, salt, sleet or even just dirty rainwater.
Keep in mind that glossy tile and shiny wood floors can get slippery. One of my guests once slipped and fell flat on her back when I had temporarily removed the grungy front door mat. Thankfully, she was fine, but she could have really hurt herself, which is (and was) terrifyingly worse than the messy look of a wrinkled rug.