Your room color reminds me of susans02's & I love this rug of hers...

{{!gwi}}

The cartoon room is looking great! I think the first rug is right on the money. Rug numbers 2 and 3, and 5 are way too victorian for this room. The susan02 rug is also nice, but I like the first one you posted best of all.

If the room is feeling too masculine, there are a couple of nice arts and crafts touches I would recommend. Consider any of the following: an appliqued runner for the small chest, a in whatever location reflects light or a nice view, and/or pottery wall pockets for dried or fresh flowers. Over time, you might find a lighter looking table lamp as well. You could also do some stenciling in this room--Helen Foster does gorgeous a & c stencils; I have used them and they are fantastic.

Oh, and I think the wall color is great! The red curtains look good, but their darkness might be contributing to the "masculine" look of the room.

Here is a link that might be useful: stencils

I love the first one, and I kinda like #3 too, if you want to "feminize" the room a bit.

First Choice: #1
Second Choice: #3

Both would work beautifully in this room, I think.

LOVE the wall color, because it shows off your gorgeous woodwork.

Window Treatment: I think that a coordinating pattern with the rug would be preferable to solid color drapes. JMO. :)

I think #1 and #4 are both good choices, but I like susan02's rug the best, it has a genuine A&C feel to it.

I think if you reupholstered the chair and ottoman in a lighter (gold?) pattern, with throw pillows in the same fabric, it would pull the sofa and drapes together, and soften the room. A bowl of ivy on the end table would help too.

Have you considered a radiator cover? Painted to match the wall color, it would give you more visual "space" around your sofa. And a place to prop a large picture on. :0)

Oops, I see you have the art covered. I was interrupted half way through my reply. ((smile))

Rug #1 with the nice border goes very well, the colors go with what you already have.

I do like the first one and my "brain" would recommend that, but my "heart" is really taken by #2. I think it's because I can actually remember (as a small child, I'm only 48!) visiting people who lived in homes of your era with more or less original furnishings (my grandfather just turned 102 last week and I spent a lot of time in his early 20th century home that contained very few items purchased past the 30's!). I never saw the types of rugs that are now considered "arts/crafts/mission". Instead, they were usually dark background rugs with floral clusters. So seeing rug #2 in the photoshop brought back some really old, early memories for me! I think #1 is predictable for the arts/craft style, but #2 really jumps out as special!

teeda: I think I might agree with you. If not that rug, in particular, then perhaps another similar one: it really grounds the room. :)

My vote would go with #4. Gorgeous.

Thanks for all the input.

I actually ordered a 3x5 version of rug #1 a couple of weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived yet. It's only today that I started thinking about introducing the floral in a rug.

Teeda, thank you so much for sharing your recollections to me. That makes me really lean toward that rug! That rug also made my heart skip a bit. :)

Of course, I didn't mention that the scale of these rugs is off because I just copied and pasted. I'm sure that would make a huge difference in deciding which one works best, but this is the best I can do. Rug #2, for example, is actually like this:

Also, despite the dark stained woodwork, the house really does not have any Arts & Crafts elements. It's more like a Victorian/Colonial mutt. :) So knowing that, do you still think the A&C styled rugs are a better fit?

we love our DR rug. It has some of your colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: PB azari rug

Honestly, I think any of these rugs will "work." Therefore, you are free to buy the one you love. :) Teeda's post won me over to that rug, and since it made your heart "skip a bit," well. . . . ?

I like the first one, but I agree with Teeda that the second one is much more remarkable and is likely to get more of a "wow" reaction from your guests. It reminds me of the rugs in theaters when I was a kid, and what could be more special for a kid than going to the theater? But yes, that is reminiscent of grandparents' homes, too.

If you google "arts and crafts rugs" there are some beauties that come up -- with some beauties in the way of price tags, too.

I like both #1 and #2. Aesthetics aside, on a more practical note, if you have children or pets, you will appreciate the beauty of having a darker rug that does not show the dirt.

I really like #1. Has kind of an Arts & Crafts feel to it.

Number 4 would be my choice, and then #1 .

I love the boldness of number 4 the most, but the colors in 1 pull well from your room. The pinks in 3 kill it for me, and 2 just feels out of place. 5 . . . not quite sure why I don't like it, but something is off . . . .

#2 is my favorite, hands down. To me, it's appropriate for a bungalow because it's rich colors compliment the woodwork. I don't think it's too victorian at all.

#5 looks like a bound piece of wall to wall carpet. I agree with the comments about the pinks in #3 - not right for your room. #1 and #4 are ok but they don't grab me.

I have a question - what's on the floor in the room to the left of the columns? Is that an ivory background rug?

I forgot to mention that these are all under or around $1000. I know there are lots of beautiful rugs out there that would work, but not so many in that price range!

kec01, the rug in the dining room needs to be replaced. It's a holdover from a previous house and it doesn't match the colors here. I am thinking it will be replaced with jute because that's all I'll be able to afford after the living room rug. :)

Thanks again to all for sharing your opinions! I will give you an update when the final rug is in place and I'll probably want opinions about chair upholstery and curtains! :)

I really like #4 and #1. I can't wait to see photo with the final rug choice!
Astrid

I like #4- there's something refreshing about it. It fits and yet it's out of the ordinary. Where is that rug from?

This is me being a little blunt because I'm tired. :-) Although I'm not thrilled to bits with any of them, #1 and #4 are the only two that do anything for me at all, with #4 a distant second. The very dark one, #2 - well, even though it's flowery, you're already grousing about the room being too dark and heavy, and that much color-weight won't help matters any. #s 3 and 5 are a little too far in the other direction, very fussy and foofy IMO... DH took one glance and said "granny rug!" :-) I also think those two would look much better with lighter-weight white/cream furniture and pastel colors rather than the hearty colors you have. I understand being absolutely sick to death of looking but if you can stand to, I'd keep working on this one.

The picture they show kind of blows but maybe check out this one at Peerless Rugs? If you call they will tell you the brand so you can look for a better picture elsewhere - they were very kind about that to me when I called about a rug a while back. (It turned out to be a Karastan, very very nice but whooooo-ee, too rich for my blood.) It's an odd one but I'm wondering about this one too. (I can't remember if you have a tweak about things made in China. If you do, ignore that.) This one may be too pricey depending on how big a rug you need to wring out of your $1000, and there's a wee bit of the "piece of carpet" thing to it, but it has a really nice balance between a geometric and a floral IMO.

Another completely random thought - have you been over to Mardens? Mom says they just about always have pretty nice rugs. If you live around where I think you do, either Portland, Biddeford, or Sanford would be reasonably convenient to you.

#1 and #4. BTW, beautiful room. I like the wall color that you have.

Good luck.

mls0520, #1 and #5 are peerlessrugs.com from the DEEP discount section, and the others are dashandalbert.com.

johnmari, always appreciate your candor! :) I was curious what you thought since you are so knowledgeable about the period. #1 definitely got the most votes here. We'll see how it looks in real life.

And thanks for the links. The first one isn't available in a big-enough size.

Here's the second one. Not a fan of made in China if it's possible to avoid it.

And the last one is 50% over my budget, but I do like it.

Hate to ask you to redo your virtuals but could you paste your upholstery fabric back in there on the last couple? Unfortunately, Madame Champagne Tastes over here is so far liking the spendy one the best. How predictable! Although I don't remember it being quite THAT much. Sorry about that. I'm such a space cadet!

That fabric is just a copy of the pillow on the couch and chair. Not likely to be the final choice, but I had to cover up the pastel 1980s tapestry that's on the chair there with something. Sorry the photos are so dark. Viewed in normal size, it's easier to discern individual objects in the room.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, no I've never been to Mardens. I will check it out. Thanks for the tip!