The Dining Nook

This is our small but functional eating area. It sits in the middle of the balcony door to the east, a massive window to the south, the living room to the west and double doors that lead to the tiniest and most impossible closet that a builder ever tried to call a second bedroom to the west.

The dining set is from...I don't know where. We got it off of craigslist two years ago when we were living in Chicago. The very nice, harried-looking couple with two small children who sold it to us said it hadn't been used much and that they needed something bigger for their growing brood. The lady was pretty far along with number three, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the entire front of their house was ripped open and covered with a tarp for an ill-timed renovation project. I think we paid $250 for the set, and at the moment, we're not looking to replace it.

But I do want to put it on top of the West Elm rug in this photo from their web site:



I've been dreaming of it since we bought the Condo in February and have managed over the past year and a half to accumulate enough in West Elm gift cards (thanks bro!) to buy the 5' x 8' one without delving into my pathetic reporter's bank account (the rug costs $228). The only problem is, a 5' x 8' rug would cover almost the entire dining nook and come perilously close to touching either the balcony door or our ginormous living room rug. It might look a little funny. There's also part of me that thinks: What's the point of having pretty hardwood floors if you plaster over them with glorified carpet?

I'm considering buying the 3 x 5 rug, but that is almost the exact length and width of the dining room table, which I think would also look odd. What I really need is a 4 x 6 rug, but I have my heart set on zebra print (even though My Man thinks we'll ruin the white stripes), and I haven't been able to find one that captures my fancy. Or that I have a gift card for. If there's life out there, tell me what you think.