Rugs.

I love the old oak floors in my new apartment but hardwood floors are not the most "homey" feeling when you wake up in the morning. Hence, I have been looking for a rug for the living room and bedroom. After receiving some great advice from my friend Jen who had just moved into an all hardwood floor in San Fran (and whose lease required that she put rugs on at elast 75% of the floors), I saved over $200 on a great 8' x 11' rug. So of course, I am going to pay it forward.

Jen's advice for rug hunting:

1. Find a hand woven, wool rug that you like. She found a few on Target.com, as did I. Here were my Target finds:

For the living room (colors are dark gray, light gray, with teal, white, and black accents) -

Source: target.com via Lauren on Pinterest

This one wasn't hand woven or wool, but who are we joking, I am not stuck up when it comes to home brands. If I like it, I get it.

For the bedroom (colors are Manor Blue, birch wood, and white, gray, green and black accents) -

Source: target.com via Lauren on Pinterest

2. Note the maker of the rug.

3. Go to overstock.com and see if they have the same rug. In my case I found the first rug but not the second on overstock. Price on target.com: $429.99; price on overstock.com: $289.99.

4. Check retailmenot.com for discount codes. This is a trick I have picked over the past few years (aka being on a student budget). Whenever I am shopping online I google the store name + discount code (or promo code). More often than not, the first result is retailmenot.com. Retail Me Not is a forum for shoppers to post discount codes they know of or solo codes they aren't going to use before the code expires. I have saved hundreds using this site. I saved an extra 10% on top of the 15% Memorial Day Sale. That's right 23.5% (10% discount off the 15% discount) off the original overstock price and over $200 less than the target.com price!

5. Order your rug and Enjoy!

Any tips you guys have when shopping for home goods?