Here’s the most recent update in my adventures participating in the American Express Membership Rewards “Live On Points” challenge to revamp my bedroom using points only:
So, for my initial 50,000 ($500 value) points purchase, I decided to get myself a new rug to replace this positively nauseating one my husband and I have had for years. I actually think the “rug” is a banded piece of carpet we got a like, Home Depot or something. Both of my kids have barfed on it at some point or another, and our dearly departed cat peed on it a few times too. Lovely, no?
I don’t think this photo does the stains justice.
In order to find a nice replacement, I went to the mall to look around, stopping in at Pottery Barn. I’m a big fan of PB’s rugs – they’re really pretty and durable, and I figured that they’d likely have one that matched the robin’s egg blue and khaki color scheme in my room. They can be expensive, but the other day when I was in there I noticed that they were having a really good rug sale, and found one that I knew would be perfect for space, not to mention my points budget.
So, once had made my decision to purchase the rug from Pottery Barn, I knew I had to cash in my first 50,000 points for a Pottery Barn Gift card. I logged onto American Express – Membership Rewards and saw that with my points I could actually get two $250 gift cards, which would allow me to get them within a few hours and then use them immediately in-store or online. The online points redemption process was super simple – after creating an account, I went to “use points”, then to the “shopping” section, then “gift cards”, which is where I found the PB ones. I picked the ones that equaled 50,000 points (the two $250 gift cards) and then a few hours later, the link to print them out appeared on my membership rewards account page. Really, it was as easy as pie. I’ve had online Target shopping experiences that were more labor-intensive.
Here’s the rug I’m going to get (as well as a rug pad to go under it to keep it from slipping around!):
