You've been busy! I love the first empress kirman. As soon as I opened the email and before reading, I said "aha, that's the one"

You will have whichever bookshelf you choose for a long time-- possibly through other houses and other generations of kids. I would get the one YOU like the best and best fits your style-- now and tomorrow. That said, I like the one you discounted due to the distressed finish.. second choice is either the other macy's bookshelf o the stuart david in black (though it also looks to be somewhat distressed).

Have you thought about putting some of your photo albums on their side? It will add some visual interest to the shelves.. and the bigger ones will fit better.

Love your choices-- your room will be great!

Squirrel just did a mock up with the empress kirman and the red does not match the chair--but it was taken in artifical lighting so the only way to know is to purchase each of the smaller rugs and try out at home as this chair is proving a difficult match.

funky: So you like the ebony one? Hmmmm... I'll need to digest that. OK, we'll keep it on the list. Somehow it seems safer to just get a matching set, but hey I can be pursuaded otherwise since the price is so much more money for the custom one. I have thought of putting some of the taller photo albums on their sides, though I do have about 10 of the taller ones. I'm so behind on my albums if I say I will redo them in different albums, it won't happen until retirement!

Is that a Cherry finish you're considering for the Macy's unit?

I have used Ruglinkoutlet several times to order rugs. They are located in Charlotte, NC.... where we use to live. They recently changed names to Rugstown.com There # is 866-977-9990. They have had the best prices on the three rugs I purchased. Usually they offer free shipping so if you buy the smaller rug, you could ship it back inexpensively. Can you find a Karastan dealer and go look at the rug instead of having to buy it. I like the black version better, the first version looks like it has more "pink" in it and teal. Picking rugs is so difficult...I just went thru it. The three rugs I have ordered online I actually saw in person so I knew they would work. Good luck.

I like the rug in your last post the best. Did you decide against it?

Laurie

I love the first Karastan rug. I looked at 2 different sites that carry Karastan and one had your size at $2299 and the other at $1919 so the $1547 looks like a good price. Good luck.

I love the first rug. The second doesn't seem quite right, but then a rug can look VERY different in place.

I wouldn't go with the custom bookcase just to match the molding to the TV console for a couple of reasons. First, your room is already open to the kitchen, which already has a lot of matching woodwork. Second, I hate matched set furnishings. Hate them. Always looks like someone just walked into a showroom and picked the suite. Your house is so carefully thought out, there's no need to go that route.

I like both of the other options. Not sure I care for the distressed black in your room, but otherwise I don't have an opinion about finishes.

Well, as I said, I prefer the two Macy's shelves over the custom shelves. I was not sure about the black either-- especially because it is distressed (even more than the macy's one you discounted). The thing is, I don't care for the swing open glass doors in the wood finish. My thinking was the black would retain some of that library look. The truth is-- I really like the window pane doors-- I have looked at them for my own home (but they are too wide).

Have you considered putting some of your photo albums on their side? It will help them to fit better and add some visual interest to the bookshelves.

squirrel: It's a mahogany finish in cherry veneers. As you know my camera is making things appear more orange than they are IRL. Must be the Macy's lighting or something.

gk5040: Thanks for the referral for the rug place. I know already I can purchase the smaller size at Macys as they carry them in stock I imagine for people to test out the colors. So if I order elsewhere I would already know which rug works better.

msrose: I do like that other rug as well, only in some of the mock ups that squirrel did the color was reading out as burgundy which clashes with the paisley chair. I called them up and the salesperson said it was a burgundy which is unfortunate as it's a lot cheaper. He did say I can order and for $29 extra if it does not work I can return it and they'll take care of the shipping cost.

saraschlos_remodeler: In theory I agree with you and that is the route I took in the LR/DR with great results. I do like the collected look. My only fear is it'll start looking like a hodgepodge of mismatched pieces. I am not fully confident of my decorating abilities so it's wonderful to get everyone else's insights. When you say you do not care for the distressed black, do you mean the second Macy's piece or the one sample board that looks like it has a rubbed through finish? The Macy's piece that funky likes is distressed and has a worn look to it with the pinholes, etc. in it. That is what I am unsure about.

funky: I also really like the window pane doors and I would not have that with the custom option, though I believe the glass would be beveled. I think I can work something out with the books and since I'm not buying the end tables just yet, if something does not fit, perhaps I can work it in with either the end table or coffee table/ottoman. You know that black sample did not look like that when I saw it. I would not go for that. They have a painted black, but that sample I took must have a special finish. You have me now leaning towards the second Macy's piece only I'm concerned about the door clearance since we are thinking of adding a chair in that vicinity. Here is a slightly different angle. I should've done a close up of the distressing.

{{!gwi}}

Any other votes between either of the two Macy's pieces?

Here is a link to the bookcase funky likes. You can zoom in on it and see the distressing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Old World Bookcase

Here is the other one:

Here is a link that might be useful: Pontevecchio Bookcase

I prefer the first one; not crazy about the French Provencial swoopy things on the bottom of the second one for your room.

I do too! When I showed it to DH, he though we did not have that style--Old World distressing. I'm still a novice at this whole collected look thing so don't know quite how to phrase it that it works.

Really like the first rug even though I think the second one would look nice as well.

I know you ruled out Macy bookcase #2 but that's my favorite. Reminds me of the entertainment stand I have in my LR which is also distressed. I like the 1st Macy one over the SD. I think I'm drawn to the glass doors. It would be nice to have them do a custom to match the existing items but if I remember your kitchen is right beside this room and has lots of wood. Would you have those big bull ring handles on the front of the SD one? If you did go the custom route I don't think I'd do the black option for sure. I like black but I think it would really draw the eyes to it and your room is so pretty you don't want the bookcase to steal the whole show! :)

I love the Old World bookcase. The style is beautiful as is the finish. It looks like a much more expensive piece. Count me in the camp that doesn't like everything looking matched.

When you're dealing with new furniture of Macy's quality (I have a kitchen table and chairs from there so I'm not being snobbish) some distressing helps a lot, with both the finish and its eventual wear.

My set was bought sight unseen and will scratch just from dusting.

Old World from Macy's sounds like the top vote and gets my vote too. Only it does not have DH's vote yet. :( Squirrel, I think I need to ask you for one more visual with this bookcase (with nice decor on top) and the first rug, no valances though, and maybe not even the club chair. I have to phase in these changes.

It's amazing how much more my DH likes the sofa/TV in the new positions and only bemoans the cost/hassle we will have to go through to rewire everything. Now he sits every night in the chloe chair to read a magazine and watch TV and there is less of a distrubance if anyone is working in the kitchen.

As for the rugs, I plan to go in on Thurs and just buy (and later return) a smaller version of each of the two rugs so I can see what they look like IRL. It is looking like the Sat. sale at Macys will be a pretty good price for a Karastan. There is a stain protection plan for an extra $100 I am considering as well--since we use this room all the time, with kids, etc. When I told DH about the $1.5K rug, his first comment was what if someone spills stuff on it?

Val, I was just on Overstock, looking for DR and LR rugs. They have some hand-knotted ones much less than the Karastan.

Why do we have to have budgets, huh? :)

parm42: My concern with overstock is how do I know if the colors work? Can I return ship it? With this option I don't think the technique of purchasing a smaller one to try out would work as I believe the stock turns over daily. So I'd have to gamble on the return shipping. I did check with rugsUSA and they allow you to purchase option to return ship a rug for $29 which is pretty good. My red chair is proving hard to work with though.

Overstock has some rugs with limited stock but some have smaller versions. I did that when i ordered my aubusson (not as nice or expensive as what you are looking at. but still). I also found the feedback from others helpful in determining if the color was true to pic or not. Not all rugs have feedback.. but some do and I found it especially helpful in discounting rugs that were on my list of possibilities.

I haven't returned a rug to overstock, but i believe the return shipping is more than $29 based on some complaints I have seen.

Shipping was very fast though-- I received one rug in 2 days, the other in 3 days.

I do still like the first karastan but if you want to expand your options, I wouldn't discount overstock. I have seen many of the same rugs on rugsUSA, rugsdirect and overstock.

funky: Thanks for the tips on using overstock. I've been tempted, but I'm not confident enough of my ability to choose a rug via the internet. For comparisions sake, here is the other rug from RugsUSA:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

The red in this rug is classified as a burgundy. Think that would go with the chloe chair? As I wrote about, if I were to order this one, the most I'd be out is the $29 and the hassles. I suppose the Macy's Karastan sale will come again?

Val.. are you bold enough to walk into macy's with a chair cushion under your arm? PS is great... but it is very limiting when it comes to matching/coordinating close or similar colors.

I am not loving the burgundy but it isn't awful. I know you said the chair is a true red but I still slight bit of orange in it in the close up. I'd take the cushion in and try it with the karastan rug. It doesn't have to match-- but do they look like they are on the same color strip? adjacent color strips?

Of course, if you want to save some $$ stick with overstock or rugsdirect or another seller. If you are worried about colors, stick with designs that use red as an accent rather than the primary field.

Good luck :)

funky: I just checked my chair and the cushions are not detachable. Squirrel suggested I ask Macys to move the chair on the floor over. You post a lot of good points and some I have been pondering myself and have come up with the same conclusion--limit red on the rug to an accent color. I've pretty much eliminated the first Karastan as the colors/pattern are too similar to the chair. I do like some black accents on the rug as well which is part of what I like about the RugsUSA and black Empress Kirman, though have been looking at overstock.com for other possibilities. Their pics are really not very good, though I've been reading the feedback. Perhaps I'm overthinking this?

You know the rug I have there actually works really well, colorwise, I think, and perhaps I should look for something similar in a larger size. It's amazing its a cheap $50 rug made of olefin I picked up last year from MacFruguals as a temporary solution until I could figure out what I wanted to do with the rug. I rotated it and moved the chair to the other corner to get a feel for some of the changes we are considering.

{{!gwi}}

I must say that the first Macy's bookcase with the sliding door will really work better if I decide to put a chair here as with a 52" wide bookcase the door clearance needed for the Old World bookcase to open the left door will be partially blocked by the chair. If I move the chair any further to the right then it blocks the view of the TV when sitting at the sectional. I still lean towards the Old World one in terms of styling though and am thinking I could put the books we actually look at on the right side and more decorative items, books we do not look at often on the left. DH doesn't think we really need a chair here anyway, though I think it looks nice. Do you think either one would work? It'll probably come down to when DH and I go to Macys and he can see IRL.

Val, with all the agonizing over expense and woods, I'm wondering why you don't just keep the bc you have now, maybe get another, or paint it, or flank with two single maybe lower units, or even have doors added. It looks nice sitting there in the grouping. Maybe a carpenter could even build on two narrow units to the sides, a bit lower perhaps. That might have to be painted or totally refinished. Currently, those three tones pick up on each other in the cluster and don't look bad at all, imo. I do like the adjoining chair in the mix, and a soft chair there. Is it too much irl looking in from the kitchen area?

Looks like a touch of burgundy in your current rug and doesn't clash with the Chloe from here. I'd reached the same conclusion about just a touch of the red also. Also like a touch of black/dark value in the rug, as well.

squirrel: Actually the bookcase is one thing DH and I both agree on needs to be replaced. Neither DH nor I care much for oak anymore and find the grain patterns too busy for our taste. I briefly entertained painting the tall oak one darker and leaving it where it was before and DH said no way, too much work. So, it's on CL for $100, though I'll have to relist tomorrow and probably drop the price since I've had no nibbles. Nobody seems to be interested in solid oak furniture anymore. I also like the idea of putting all the photo albums under glass and protecting them from the dust. This one I am earmarking for my 7-year-old's bedroom in 1-2 years when she outgrows her toy shelf and is ready for a desk/bookcase setup.

I'm starting to question the rug, actually, since I roatated this one. Sure, it'd be better to have it one size up, but really only if DH agrees to an extra chair. There are a couple hand knotted ones on overstock.com for around $900-$1,000 that are possibilities, though I still like the Surya one with the black accents.

The conversational grouping with that rug size looks nice from here, as above.

I haven't bought a rug yet from Overstock, but from what I've read on the site, people say that the best color gauge is the written description.

It will tell you the exact colors in the rug.

parma42: It's very temping.....