Ingrid, it's funny that you say blue is not your color, because to me your room has a blue vibe (e.g., carpet, pillows, walls). I was going to say that, while I love the red rug, you might want to consider reducing the blue in the room.

I'm so brutally honest, and just can't say I like something if I really do not. I know it would probably be best if I were to just 'say something nice', w/o totally agreeing, but when an opinion is asked, I give mine, and it may not be the words you want to hear, or in this case, read. I have green eyes also Ingrid, and while I love blue, can't use it in my decorating, so I completely understand where you're coming from. As Linelle has said, your room has a soft, serene vibe, and I feel the red is 'running interference.' Look to, and study, your beauriful porcelains for the answer.

Sort of OT, but maybe not. Ingrid and Patty, are you serious about not being able to do blue because you have green eyes?!! Seriously?

I have green eyes and really can't imagine it having anything to do with not liking blue walls, etc. Blue surroundings make me feel chilly and sad (blue), so I avoid it. I love blue and white plates, dark blue.

I love your room without a rug, and another vote for the old coffee table. The new rug is lovely, but the beauty of your room lies in its serene look and feel. The bold colors work against that, and dare I say it....looks like it's trying too hard to my eyes. I think a more muted rug would look best if you want to have one, but since your carpet is new I would just leave it as is for awhile. All that being said, there's only so much we can judge by looking at photos. If you love the rug and will enjoy seeing it in your home, by all means, keep it. We're all really just guessing! Also, I really like the new room arrangement :)

Here is a crude mock up of the blue rug in your space.

Maybe that's why I don't do green (blue eyes here and lots of blue).

How about having the more colorful rug with darker pillows in the fall and winter and no rug and soft pastels in the spring and summer. I exchange dark red pillows and white and aqua regularly as well as seagrass rug and Persian.

I liked your room without a rug; it had a serene and sophisticated vibe. But, since you are still looking at area rugs, it seems that you aren't as satisfied with that look as some of us would have been. I think this rug definitely changes the vibe to something more vibrant, but it's really lovely and I don't think it dominates the room in a bad way at all. There are so many pics of similar rooms that also look wonderful:

View of Living Room · More Info

Modern Farmhouse · More Info

Mountain Chic · More Info

RoseAbbey, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ignore your post and most responders I didn't address personally, and certainly I welcome everyone's honest opinion, doesn't matter if it differs from mine or not. That's why we're here after all.

I took some more pictures after I rearranged the pillows. You poor people, forgive me for inundating you with them. Mostly I take them for myself because I've found that looking at my rooms in pictures helps me to see what's good and what needs to be changed. One thing I have noticed is that the rug looks more orange in pictures than in real life, and that looking at it from the dining room end it's one shade darker because of the nap, I suppose.

About the green eyes and not liking blue, it's not something conscious, I just can't connect with that color, and other than navy, which I do like, I have nothing blue in my wardrobe. I do have blue and white porcelain, but my heart belongs more to polychrome pieces, just like this rug.

Yayagal, I've seen many Oushaks, and dare I confess that they bore me? Yet, many decorators use them for their rich and yet understated look. Linelle, I don't have blue walls anywhere in the house; they're cream except for the two walls flanking the fireplace and they're a warm grayish-green. When I sit in the living room with that rug I feel warm and happy, and that seems like a good indicator. Unfortunately, Yayagirl introduced me to a new rug place which has the Oushak she mentioned, and now I feel compelled to look at their rugs, and they have a huge number. This is turning into quite a project!

I want you all to know that I so very much appreciate your input, even though the result right now is one confused woman. In the end I find that all the back and forth and different opinions bring me to the right place, but I just need to be patient and wait for that moment.

Olychick, while scrolling back up I just now notices the beautiful pictures with similar rugs to mine; I have no idea how I missed it. It's been a weird, hectic day so please forgive me if I miss things.

I'm late to the party here, but figured I'd chime in since it doesn't seem like your mind is settled. I love the rug by itself, I love it with your furniture... but I'm not sure if I love it with your wall-to-wall carpeting. I followed your previous thread on that issue, and I wonder if the subtler colors in the Oushak that @yayagal suggested might pick up on the very pretty tone-on-tone thing you have going on with this room.

smalloldhouse, what can I say, Oushak rugs are just not for me. Thank you for your thoughts, though.

Olychick, you're a sweetheart!

Very interesting.... I have green eyes and blue is not my favorite either.

i have a feeling that the lighting is throwing the colors of the room and rug off. Maybe try taking early morning and late afternoon and see if you like the rug better.

Personally I like it

Ingrid, I hear you about the blue. I have no blue in my home nor have I ever worn anything blue, it's just not my color and I have green eyes too. What the heck???? lol

I wonder if people gravitate toward what looks good on them and, except for navy, blue just doesn't look good with green eyes. Pastel colors don't look good on me either and I have no pastel colors in my home. I'm surprised we have so many green-eyed people here since I believe only 7% of the population has green eyes.

Well, I still have the rectangular coffee table in the living room but the colorful carpet is history. It's rolled up and ready to be returned. I have no plans right now to buy another one and will just live with the gray carpet. Oddly enough changing the coffee table, even without an area rug, makes me like the living room better. Guess I just needed a change!

I know you are tired of rugs, but do you have a closer up photo of what looks like a needle point pillow on your love seat? It

seems like a lot of pastels but maybe it might be a good jumping off point when you feel like looking at rugs again

Well, you have definitely given area rugs a good try! The great thing is, if you decide to add one somewhere down the line, it's easy to do. Picking one may not be easy, but it's not like you have to remodel anything to make that change.

Sorry I'm don't want to confuse you, but I like the red rug. It's classic and it will never go out of style. It's one of those rugs that goes with just about everything. I think it looks great in your living room. The creams match your sofa and carpeting. The soft blues go with the pillows. Of course I'm looking at colors on my monitor. But from where I'm sitting it looks great. The blue rug is lovely too and like others said you can get both and switch them out. The best of both worlds.

I totally agree with olychick, who said it a lot more eloquently.

On another note, I'm seriously eyeing that blue rug whose light twin is in my bedroom.

Ingrid, it must be that green eyed people are drawn to the creative process, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, lol.

Ingrid, maybe it's your camera or the time of day when you take photos, but I've had the overall impression of pastels in your room. But you say you don't use them, so I'm off and confused. I would have described your living room as having soft colors, pastels.

I had blue eyes until I was 16 or so, and then they morphed to green. I don't think it has anything to do with the colors in my house. I don't mind small dark blue things, but I dislike light blues. I think the main reason is my skin tone (lots of yellow) and my gray hair. Gray hair and sallow skin look like death in light blue, or any pastel, green included. Most of my clothes are some shade of red (which loves me) or black. Sad, but true.

Green eyes do not like blue eyeshadow. Ugh. But my eye color doesn't factor into my aversion to blue interiors. Well, I would never have a blue house either.

Linelle, for my eyes at least I've found that soft purple is a good eye shadow and eye liner.

When I think of pastels it's of clear colors without any undertones but my decor doesn't have that. The blue pillows are grayed down, the needlepoint pillow has a greige background with green and a reddish pink, and everything else is basically in the middle of the spectrum. Maybe that's why in the end the area rug didn't work for me because it was just too bright.

This may have been covered long ago, but have you considered a predominantly terra cotta rug? It might not read as bright as the red in your room, and I think it would work well with your décor.

http://esalerugs.com/terracotta-8x10-kashan-design-area-rug-33122729

When I think of pastels it's of clear colors without any undertones

Ingrid, I guess you and I have completely different interpretations of "pastel."

What I think of as pastel (from Wikipedia):

The colors of this family are usually described as "soothing", "soft", "near neutral", "milky", "washed out", "desaturated", lacking strong chromatic content. Pink, mauve, and baby blue are typical pastel colors.

Not saying we're not both right, just that we have different interpretations.

I think your colorful rug looks beautiful! I would change out a few of the pillows and call it a day. The blue gray ones pic up the color from your rug and look great. I do think I would use the apricot ones elsewhere. Don't rush your pillow choice as the perfect ones will show up when you least expect it.

Ingrid, I see you saying quite often about your house being plain or cookie cutter, or just not up to snuff. I have to totally disagree. Your home is quite lovely. It just exudes elegance and charm, and your home has so much character. Your lovely art and porcelains just add to the beauty. I think all you have to do is look at the pic that Oly posted to take a step back and see how beautiful it truly is.

Ingrid, i'm so sorry to hear you're returning the rug, ;( Not seeing it IRL, we couldn't see what you were seeing, and if you liked it and how it looked in your home, that's really all that should have mattered. A monitor doesn't always give accurate colors, so our judgment may be slightly impaired. None of us want to play judge or jury, or make someone unhappy....I personally feel bad for even suggesting another rug, and I'm very sorry if my opinion contributed to your returning the rug. Your LR is lovely as is. An area rug is nothing more than a materialistic item which fills a space and adds color, but doesn't define who you are. Your Asian art is what makes *your* home unique and gives us the insight who Ingrid is as a person. Give yourself time to find the perfect rug meant for your very lovely room.

I love your rug and think the room is very pretty. I have to agree with above poster though, the throw pillows on the sofas are off. I think darker colors that you pull from the rug would be beautiful.

I totally agree with Holly-Kay and Simplifyingmylife. It's a gorgeous rug, and it's only the pillows that need changing to make it all come together. I wish I had Photoshop talent to substitute a few in different colors for you, but I don't. Perhaps one of the artists here can do that for you. I might also change the flowers in the vase on the wonderful coffee table, as they are working better with your current pillows than the rug.

The red rug looks great - in the background, I see you have a couple of rugs that also have red in them. Pillow changes with the same rug will give you a different feel EVERYTIME if you so choose. There are more colors you can pull out of the red rug vs the blue where you are locked into blue and white. Bottom line do you and your husband like it?

Ingrid, I don't think I have commented on any of your rug choices, but I LOVE this current one. It takes your room up several notches with the deep, rich colors. The beiges of your furniture even look richer with that rug...please don't return it! The view that Oly posted looks like magazine picture :).

I hate to be a naysayer, but I really don't even think the rug works with the wall to wall carpet.

You must be very chummy with your UPS guy by this time!

I'm so sorry, I didn't think there would be more comments and so never checked this thread. I'm working right now but will be back soon. Last night I was busy picking out another rug! That one is approximately 4 x 6 and I can just hear the moans. The large rug bothered me because it buckled in various places and I didn't want another one where the edges would be under the furniture so that I couldn't straighten it. I have another 4 x 6 rug which I tested in that area and I really like that size. My husband liked the brightness of the previous rug and I could tell he would miss it. I therefore picked out about six rugs that I liked and let him choose the one he favored, which fortunately is also the one I like best. If I can find a picture of it I'll attach it.

This is the old rug:

New rug:

The new carpet as you can see also has light blue in it so the blue pillows will stay but I think everything else will have to go. Would it be okay to keep the gray pillow on the chair. I think it marries well with the painting on the mantel behind it and the gray rug. Since there is green in this carpet I could even go in that direction. I hope at least someone will like the new rug. In person that area just looks gloomy; the red in the rug lends richness and life to this room.

I guess I'm talking to myself. I believe my rug saga has worn everyone out, which is not surprising. However, posting the two rugs together here and being able to compare them has made me realize I like the new one better. It's less busy and the colors are warmer, and the border doesn't stand out so much and has a rather unusual design. I think this story may have a happy ending. Thank you so much for the many kind comments. I read through this thread again and think you have all been marvelous.

Fwiw, I didn't object to the blue pillows because they are blue per se , but because the extreme casualness of the rug was at odds with their shiny fabric. The rug brings in a much more graphic design feel and the pillows, IMO, were both too pastel and too formal looking for the new look imparted by the rug. I like eclectic, but taking a fairly formal room and simply adding a more rustic looking rug doesn't change it enough to look intentional as a style change. (Re your talking to yourself, don't forget you are in a far western time zone than many of your regular responders.)

It's hard to comment because the two rugs are so very similar.

Yes, there's now green in the new rug, and the red is more rust, there's no navy, and there are larger medallions in the middle, but it's still pretty much the same look. However, the fact that you chose this, means that this look you appeals to you, i.e. colors of reds, blues, creams, pattern, tribal/rustic Oriental.

Have you returned the first rug, or will you be able to compare both of them at the same time?

Ingrid, I don't think you are talking to yourself. It's a holiday weekend and people are shopping and prepping food for tomorrow. And as KSWL said you are in a western time zone.

I think the new rug is beautiful. It is very much like the last one and I liked that one very much as well. Also you said you were going with the smaller size that you like better so I indeed think you have a winner.

Gosh, I'd forgotten it's the Easter weekend. I didn't see the other two responses until just now. kswl2, you make a good point; I didn't think about the formal versus informal concept with the pillows and rugs. Something to ponder. nsm, the other rug is packed up because they're picking it up today but there's no doubt in my mind that it's not right for me and that I don't want the larger size. Sometimes rules can be stifling and, honestly, I'm decorating the house more for what makes me feel good than whether my visitors will think it's appropriate. Most of them wouldn't know about the rules anyway :). Holly-Kay, you're so kind, and I'm glad you like the new rug. Hope you and everyone else here has a happy Easter.

Happy Easter to you too Ingrid!

I think you should try a rug that uses all the other colors in the room. The beige tan ivory peach pale greens and pale blues

Kippy, when I tried to imagine a rug with those colors, I felt no spasm of interest. The rug I've chosen makes my heart go pitter patter, even it it seems wrong to most of you.

My husband cracked me up. I mentioned that a formal silky pillow was thought not to go well with the more rustic rug. He looked at me and said "Haven't they ever heard of eclectic"? I don't know too many men who know what that word means and who could use it correctly. He's been hanging around me way too much.

It struck me earlier today, and I'm sure this is not an original thought by any means, that when you have gorgeous architectural elements in your room there is less of a need to make a big splash with your furnishings. Anything too ornate and colorful in the furnishings would be overkill. Conversely, when the room is a simple shell with few noteworthy features that gives you permission to create richness and layering of objects and materials, and that's how I see my house. A pale rug or no rug would be a lost opportunity for creating a sense of drama, especially when the furnishings are all a pale beige with no particular statement to make on their own. It all really depends on whether you embrace color or shy away from it.

The two rugs look very similar. The background of the old rug was red, whereas this one looks more rusty red...is it? While still bright, imo, it's the 'right bright' if that makes sense. DH has a good eye for color. ;)

Did you already order the new rug? I was just going to throw out there to order the blue one too, just to try...even though you said you aren't a blue person. Free returns right ;-) I like the 2nd one as well as the one you just received. I think both are nice but if the next one leans more towards rust, I think you'll be happy. I know people have sticking points about area rugs needing to have all the furniture on it, I see a lot of pics of smaller area rugs where the furniture doesn't sit on it and I like the look. Can't wait to see the next one you try.

Thank you patty. He's an artist and has an eye for these things. The large painting of the girl in the red blouse behind the love seat was one he did as a present to me. I'm really glad you like the color combination. I'll have to see when it arrives whether the ground color is more rust which is what I would want, but I couldn't find a rug that was more rust than that and I looked at every single one in that size. always, I know the blue won't work because it's just not me. I'm glad you think the smaller size is okay. I wouldn't even consider it if the floor was wood or tile, but on top of another carpet I think there can be more leeway.

Ingrid - I was just looking on the Frontgate website for a rug I thought I'd seen in their most recent catalog, and came upon this hand-hooked rug instead. I thought about you and your room, and wondered how this would look. I think the colors are so unique and just gorgeous. I don't know what you want to spend, and this one is a little pricey IMO, but oh my goodness, it's pretty. Just thought I'd share, FYI. I think it has a richness that would be beautiful with your pretty furnishings.

Thank you for looking for me, Turquoise, I really appreciate that. When I asked my husband's opinion he looked at it and said "It's a rug". Okay....After that I read the reviews and quite a few people said the main color is not rust but rather a cranberry or burgundy red, and there were also complaints about the rug fraying and the loops pulling up. It's cheaper than the rug we're getting, and they've apparently lowered the price quite a bit, perhaps because of the quality issues. I simply cannot return a FOURTH rug, so we're going to have to like it. When I compare this rug to the photo of the one we had, that one looks all too red, and I'm really hoping the one I'm waiting for is more muted. We shall see.....

Sorry, Ingrid - I didn't read the reviews so didn't notice that there were reported issues with the rug. I just thought it was pretty and wanted to share. I'm glad you researched it a little closer though. Too funny what your DH said! Sounds like something mine would say too. ;-)

That is a pretty rug TR.

That's okay, TR, it's my job to research, not yours. I think by this time my husband is fed up with the whole rug situation. However, even now he's willing to return the one we're getting and let me choose whatever rug I want. I just don't think he wants to have to look at any more or have to give his opinion.....I don't blame him.