THE {SMOOTHIE} THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK

I have a love/hate relationship with my kitchen rugs.

I showed them to you not long ago, and how I cut and pieced an extra one together to make them the perfect size for my kitchen.

Love the black and white.

Hate that they looked dirty five seconds after I cleaned them, and I had to throw them in the washer more often than I wanted to.

Love the bold graphic statement.

Hate that they wrinkle up and get pushed around easily, even with a rug pad underneath.

For the past week or so I've been thinking about looking for something different.  I hunted for the striped ones forever to find the right size, so I wasn't looking too forward to that prospect.

After cruising through Target, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Pier 1, I found nothing that was the right color or size.

I started looking around online and had these up on my screen for a day:

and spotted this one in Emily A. Clark's kitchen.  She was nice enough to tell me it was from Ballard Designs:

They are all indoor/outdoor rugs made of synthetic material.  Not what I would particularly want in the family room, but perfect for the abuse that they would get in the kitchen (easier to vacuum than the others or to hose off if needed!).

And then, while cleaning out the fridge that evening, this happened:

That's what I get for trying to clean out the fridge. :)

I took it as confirmation that it was time for the striped rugs to move on.  They will most likely find another home, they just weren't right for the kitchen.  Live and learn!  That's definitely my decorating motto...although I'm really trying to get things right the first time around!

Last night I was {this} close to ordering the Ballard rugs when I thought I'd hop on eBay to make sure there was nothing there for a better deal...I was so surprised at what I found!  These are all indoor/outdoor versions of nicer quality rugs I've seen around the web:

They are all actually from Overstock but were listed on eBay.  The price was slightly better than the Ballard rug that I wanted, I ordered directly from Overstock so I could use a coupon, and the shipping was WAY better (I can't stand to spend a lot of $$ on shipping!).  I love eBay and have bought a huge variety of items over the years, and have always been happy! Well, except for once, but eBay was good to right the wrong.

Which one do you think I picked?  I'll show you when they come in!