Before I get started on this little upgrade, I feel compelled to share this photo taken about after moving into this house.

The peachy beige walls, the old rail, the blah tile are all bad, but those red curtains take the cake for me.  Take note of the rug, a wool West Elm rug I found at a thrift store shortly before we moved.

Notice it here, circa 2016.  Obviously, this was close to Halloween, just after we changed out the entry tile.

That same solid gray, slightly textured for pattern rug has been in our entry literally since move in day.  It was a great 15 dollar purchase, and has held up very well.  Other than it being a solid gray against our dark slate floors, it showed every piece of debris on it.

A couple of weeks ago, after vacuuming it two days in a row because it already looked terribly dirty, I decided I’d had enough.  Time for a new rug, something still dark enough to wear well, but with variation to help hide whatever gets tracked in between cleanings.

I scoured the internet, looking for a 3 foot by 5 foot rug that ticked all of the boxes.  Dark, slight variation in color, patterned, not gray and these were some of my favorites:

1 Blue Loft  2  Flatweave Solid Tassel  3  Handwoven Gray  4  Moroccan Trellis  5  Tribal Tale Triptych  6  Overdyed Vintage

Unfortunately, some rugs didn’t come in the size I needed (number 4, which is the blue version of our living room rug), while others seemed too plain (number 2).  I love number 5 for the fun pattern and bold colors, but the 3 by 5 size is sold out.  But then, I found another that had a slightly vintage without the traditional medallion pattern, the Georgetown.

The deep blue should hide dirt while the color variation should be forgiving.  Fringe on the ends helps it stand out against the dark tile.

At 49 bucks, it’s not a precious rug I’ll be worried about in an entry space.

Blue and green is a favorite color combo of mine, creating a happy, cheery welcome inside.

And for the sake of appreciating how far we’ve come over our journey of turning this house into our home, I’ll present you with this before:

And after:

Covering the huge heavily textured entry wall in tongue and groove and replacing the front door with nearly full glass panels are still some of my favorite home improvements.  Both lighten and brighten the entry and are seen from several rooms throughout the house.