upcycle image from wikipedia.com

so, life with a toddler teaches a lot. there’s the usual…how to love, how to take care of another person, how to help another person grow up with manners and with gratitude. also, when you bring a little one into your house, there’s something else…you learn how and what you need to do with all of the home decor items that you’ve had at or below, say, three feet from the ground. because you learn very quickly that a toddler will get their sticky little adorable hands on just about anything they put their mind to.

that’s what happened at our house. and how we ended up framing a rug. sounds odd, right? yeah. well, this was an instance of saying,  “i have two ‘scrap’ materials…what can i do with them besides throwing them out?”

our gallery wall screaming for another photo

i’ve posted before about our gallery wall that we’ve been developing in our great room. well, there was one spot left on our wall that was just screaming to be filled with an 8″ x 10″ pic of little mr. re-nest. the pic was chosen and printed. the frame was purchased (a great black gallery frame with white mat from target). all i had to do was get the pic put in the frame and get it on the wall. and this is where toddler-bedlam came in. 

my poor frame was leaning against a chair. (hindsight = not the best idea.) all of a sudden, “uh, oh” was uttered. i was met with a little boy (with socks on, thank goodness), pointing at the frame on the floor, with shattered glass. yep, my thirty pound little mr. re-nest stepped on the glass and it broke. important thing was he wasn’t hurt. and the glass was cleaned up.

but then, i had a frame and a mat that’s still in good condition. just no glass. what to do?

new runner in our mudroom

earlier that month, i had purchased a new runner for our mud room. it was slightly too long for our space, so i cut it and hemmed it. but then i had scrap rug leftover which i just couldn’t part with. scrap rug + broken (but still functional) frame? frame the rug without the glass = add some texture and pattern to a separate space in the house (and create a cool, mix/matchy pattern look)

rug + frame in its happy home

our lovely little rug-in-a-frame lives on one of my fave ikea finds in our great room…in a completely separate area from where our rug lives. i really dig layering the frame with the patterned canvas (wonderfully created by my sister) and the pillow on our low profile table. 

*you might be asking: she has a toddler. this said toddler was the one who stepped on the frame. how does this toddler stay away from this low profile table which houses: a house plant (with dirt), a canvas, a frame, a stack of magazines and a ceramic owl? answer: he’s never approached any of it. i can’t explain why.

the moral of this story is: i’m so glad i didn’t throw that scrap piece of rug away. yes, it’s unconventional, but it also kept a frame and the scrap rug from the garbage. it’s possible to find some great and functional and cool for the home in what seems like scrap. it’s upcycling in action.

have you upcycled anything for your home? tell us! we’d love to hear!

here’s to being a little creative everyday,
ashley