We’ve shared a few behind-the-scenes posts about side gigs in the past, like how our lighting collection came together and our experiences writing a book. This time we want to tell the story of a side project that didn’t work out, despite months of effort. We try to be honest about the wins and the missteps, so it felt right to share a collaboration that ultimately stalled.
Without naming names, a reputable company that produces wool and cotton rugs approached us about creating a Young House Love rug collection. The opportunity arrived just as we were working on our lighting line, so it seemed like a natural extension. When we accepted the lighting partnership, one of the reasons we were excited was that the partner shared our focus on affordability. They wanted to offer options priced for everyday buyers, and that aligned with our values. We hoped for a similar approach with rugs: attractive, well-made pieces at realistic price points we’d feel comfortable recommending.
Over many months we exchanged emails, held calls, and shipped samples back and forth. We collaborated with the company’s designers and manufacturers to turn initial ideas into renderings and then into physical samples. During that initial sampling period we were enthused by how well the designs translated to actual rugs. We spent most of our time refining color palettes and adjusting pattern scale so each rug would look and feel right in a home setting.
The company produced high-quality flatweave cotton samples that we genuinely liked. Our preference for natural materials like cotton and wool came through in every prototype, and the craftsmanship was commendable. The primary obstacle that emerged was price. We’re very price-conscious—call it frugal if you want—so it was a shock when final pricing estimates arrived significantly higher than we expected. That mismatch became a real sticking point.
We kept asking ourselves how we could fairly recommend a rug that we wouldn’t buy at the offered price. After several in-depth conversations and a few sleepless nights, both sides agreed the partnership wasn’t the best fit. There wasn’t sufficient room to lower price without sacrificing the quality we cared about, and neither party wanted to compromise on that core value. In short, it would have felt disingenuous to put our name on a product that did not align with our price expectations.
The designs themselves weren’t wasted. The company was free to move forward with the collection under their own terms, and the work we did during the design phase contributed to the finished pieces. For us, the project was far from a loss: we learned a lot about the product development process and clarified the most important points to settle early in future collaborations—chiefly, the balance between quality and price point. Those lessons will help us avoid similar mismatches going forward.
One broader takeaway from blogging and running creative side projects is how intensely you work when you’re responsible for the outcome. The effort you invest often reflects directly in the results, but the experience also reinforces a valuable principle: never let potential revenue drown out your instincts. If a deal feels wrong, the right choice is to step back, even after significant effort. Walking away is preferable to attaching your name to something that doesn’t reflect your values or that you wouldn’t personally buy.
So that’s the story of a rug collaboration that never reached the marketplace under our brand. It taught us practical lessons about negotiation, manufacturing timelines, and the importance of nailing down price and quality expectations up front. Have you ever spent months on a project only to realize it didn’t match your original intentions? How did you handle it, and what did you learn?