Zebra Exitus

I remember the day I got it. I had the box delivered to my office, because I was terrified that someone would take it from my porch if I wasn't home. Much smaller a parcel than I had expected, I couldn't wait to open it up. I gently cut away at the tape that held the small box together, and unfolded the cardboard flaps to find my beat up zebra hide, a bargain on eBay, all folded and snug inside.

From April 2010 - November 2015, that old guy made his way around lots of rooms and even three new houses!

Layered over Turkish kilim at CDLV

Featured in Buffalo Spree on Seagrass

 

The dining room at CDLV

The first apartment, with the Swedish pine Armoire and French stools

 

And in the new place

 

Unfortunately, Arlo took a liking to Mr. Zebra, and well, the inevitable happened. What once was a handsome hide, is now sad slivers of what used to be my favorite decorating accessory. The new ottoman is close to being finished, and honestly, it wasn't going to work in the room anymore anyway. So, we wave goodbye to Mr. Zebra, all tattered and torn. He had a good life!

 

The question now becomes, how long will I be able to live without one? I do have a large fawn cowhide that I have been seriously considering dying a bold color. I have no idea how or even if the hide would accept color after the tanning process - but how cool are these:

 

Pretty in pink

 

Gorgeous in Grass Green

 

Outstanding in Orange

 

Yes to Yellow

 

Bold in Blue

 

My cowhide had a very brief, but beautiful moment at the old place in the small bedroom, turned dining room:

 Old Apartment Dining Room

 

Then the rug when to live with a friend who used it to stage a small bedroom in his house before it sold. Now that the house is off the market, the rug is back with me and I have no use for it as is. Dying it might prove to be a huge disaster - but keeping it only means more storage space taken up by a huge cowhide that I don't need, and can't use.

 

The other option of course, is kilim rugs. This is something I already tried with the small kilim rug I took from CDLV. It looked great in the hallway at the old place:

 



But when I first moved into the new place, and I second guessed used the zebra around Arlo, I took the zebra out of the new space and tried the rug under the coffee table. That particular rug was far too small to appreciate.

New place the day I moved in!

 

So, I could get a larger rug, perhaps 7x9 or 8x10, that would eat the bulk of the seagrass and give a little color to the otherwise pretty creamy space. Something along these lines:

 

 

The last option, well beyond living with the seagrass alone of course, is a woven dhurrie or chindi rug - which I'd have to find and buy.

 

 

What are your thoughts? Do you like the layered look? Do you currently have your rugs layered? Which look do you prefer?