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The LL Journal

Spring is just a few weeks away and I was really wanting to warm things up in our living room and bring emphasis to the many textures. I had been wanting to try this Diamond Jute Rug and decided to go for it and man, I can’t tell you how RIGHT that decision was… but I can show you! 😉

In today’s post I am going to talk about our fireplace brick and how we removed the dark soot spots, share the photos of our living room dressed for the warmer months ahead and answer all of your questions about living with a jute rug.

Get the Look

First, let’s chat about this 100% Jute Rug that is my favorite thing ever right now!

Jute Rug Q&A

– Is it soft? Yes! Surprisingly much softer than we were anticipating! The fibers aren’t rough or scratchy at all.

– Does is shed? No! We haven’t had or seen any shedding whatsoever!

– What color did you go with? We went with the Gray! Since we have so many warm natural tones going on in this room with the coffee table, mantel, and baskets, I wanted to make sure I was choosing a foundation that was a bit more subtle. What I do love though, is that even though we went with a cooler tone option, the rug still feels very warm!

– Can the kids sit and play on it? Yes! Kids haven’t skipped a beat and don’t even act like there is a different rug down in here. They also are pretty particular with rugs and haven’t complained about this one at all.

– Can I layer with it? Yes! Jute rugs are a great base layer. I would suggest layering a lighter vintage rug over top or just a more neutral layer to create some contrast.

– How to Clean? Vacuum on a low-powered setting. If we see any loose threads, we cut them immediately. Don’t drag furniture across it. For spills, immediately blot dry.

Fireplace Brick Cleaning

Now, let’s talk about the fireplace brick! If you follow along on Instagram, you know that we worked a few days trying various methods of how to remove soot marks from our limestone brick. Before I get into what we tried, what worked and didn’t, one of the most common questions we get asked is what color did we paint our brick… our answer- we didn’t! Our brick is handmade limestone brick by Arto Brick in the color Rice.

Here is what we tried…

– Dish Soap and Baking Soda Paste (this helped to lighten it some but was quite messy when it came time to clean it off)

– Equal Parts of Vinegar and Water in a spray bottle, spraying it on, letting it sit, scrubbing the brick, spraying the brick with a Baking Soda and Water Mixture to neutralize the vinegar, and then using a blow dryer to quickly dry the brick. This method is the only one that has worked in the past and it did lighten the soot marks significantly, but not as much as I had hoped.

– One of our readers recommended trying Hydrogen Peroxide and Flour mixture to make a paste to lighten the limestone. You mix peroxide with the flour until you have a thick paste, then apply to the brick, let it dry completely and then scrub it off with a soft scrub brush. We were shocked how well it worked! You can see below a little bit of discoloration still but nothing like it was!

Honestly, I was prepared to just paint the brick- which I would have never considered but editing out the soot marks every shoot in here was a pain! Not having to edit any of these photos was SO nice!

We foraged some Carolina Jasmine from our property and I love how organic and fresh it makes this space feel. This basket tray is another favorite addition in here- it keeps everything tidy and organized on our coffee table.