I had to think about a great variety of things, while I was choosing a rug for my living room. I thought about the rug’s size, design, price, and color. The last point turned out to be the most interesting and most difficult for me. So, I decided to focus my mind on color point in this post. I am ready to work with you to select the rug color for your living room. Enjoy the process!
Generally, the rug color has to be either the bright accent in the room or the background for other items. In case, if it is “an accent”, the rug tone should be brighter than the main one of a living room color scheme. The rug color should be less bright than the main color as a background. If you doubt, you can always choose a rug of some neutral tone, like white or beige, to suit any style of the living room. Read further to know about the 2 main missions of a rug color in the living room.
Two Main Missions of the Rug Color in the Living Room
Picking the rug’s color to match your living room is an interesting, but not an easy task. Some homeowners prefer to hire a professional interior designer to choose the right tone of the rug to fit the rich color range of the main room in your house.
But if you are tough on the budget, or simply like to decorate your house with your own hands, use my advice to help you.
Before you go into the nearest rug store to get a new great item, look through your living room attentively. Remember, that the rug, which you are going to bring here, should reconcile two missions:
- To define a space
As usual, homeowners put the rug to define a sitting area in the living room. Thus, they lay the rug near or under the sofa. The other items of furniture, which are present in the sitting area and stay on the rug, are armchairs, a coffee table, and a TV set. In this case, the rug should match the color of the sofa and armchairs.
- To bring the entire look together
The color of the rug is that “foundation”, which keeps the entire look of the living room together. So, its color should be either neutral or bright – it depends on the impression, you want to make on your visitors. It should work together with the colors of other items to form the general concept of the living room.
What Type of a Rug Should I Put in my Living Room?
There are two main points you have to pay attention to, while you are selecting the rug type. The first point is the color itself and the second point is a pattern. Let’s look a little closer at both of them.
Rug Color
I can divide all people in the world into two groups: those, who like bright colors and those, who are not.
PRO-TIP
Emily Henderson, the professional interior designer from New York and the author of the book “Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms”, advises people, who like bright colors, to choose a rug of a neutral tone. She explains it in such a way, “Color lovers usually use lots of different tones in their living room. Besides, they add lots of stylish details, like pictures, pillows, or vases. In this case, the carpet should be neutral, so as not to clash with other items in the room. And on the contrary, if you prefer neutral colors, it is better to buy a bright rug to add some “spices” to the calm ambiance of your living room.
3 Easy Steps for Choosing the Rug Color
If selecting the right color of your rug for the living room becomes a problem for you, I’ve prepared five easy steps. Their aim is to help you define your taste and find the best rug color to decorate your living room.
1. Define 2-3 main colors of clothes you have in your wardrobe
The “secret clue”, which helps you to define, what color to choose is hanging in your wardrobe. I mean the colors of your clothes. Look through your shirts, trousers, dresses, and coats and define the color, which you use more often than others. This color should be one of your favorite if you choose it all the time for your clothes. It is a good idea to use it as the main for the interior of your living room, too. Add 1-2 other tones of the same color range. Choose the rug of one of these three colors.
2. Think, if you want your rug to be “an accent” or “a background”
The rug in the living room should be either its main focus (“an accent”) or the background. It’s up to you to decide, whether you want the rug, which plays a key role in your interior, then it is “an accent”. Or you need a carpet, which will serve as a stylish background, which matches the other items in the living room. E.g. if the main color of your living room is baby blue, the rug can be of bright blue or green color as “an accent”. And the carpet should be of grey tone if it is “a background”. In case, if the main color of the living room is pink your carpet should be the color of fuchsia as an “accent”. If you plan your rug to be “a background” it should have the color of champagne.
3. Think about the mood you want to create
I always pay attention to this important step. Each of us plans his living room for some events, like cozy evenings with a glass of wine in front of the TV set. Otherwise, it can be a room for loud parties with friends and neighbors. Look for three adjectives to describe your living room. If it is “cozy, calm, and private”, then you’d better choose a soft rug of brown, grey, or beige color to help you relax after a working day. If You want your living room to be “vivid, loud, and active”, then choose a rug of bright active colors, like red, blue, and yellow. Of course, the color of your rug should match the sofa, armchairs, and other furniture in your living room.
Rug Pattern
I am sure, the pattern is that thing, which can refresh any room. That’s why the idea to get the rug with some pattern for the living room seems quite attractive. At the same time, such a rug is usually multicolored, so the task to choose the right tone of the carpet becomes more complicated.
I recommend my readers, who lack experience, to choose the rug with easy simple patterns, like stripes or geometric figures, which are suitable for any style of the interior. It’s good when the colors of the pattern are in the same range. Thus, it’s easier to make the carpet suite the general color scheme of the living room.
Expert’s Opinion: Penny Morrison, the popular interior designer, advises the homeowners to start the decoration of their living room from the rug. Thus, you can use any rug you want – of any color and pattern you like. “The rugs are really hard to find the matches for. If you have already chosen a rug – you’ve chosen the foundation. It pulls the whole room together. The only thing you need is to create a balance, adding other items in the room”.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, I think, the shortest way to success is to choose a rug of some neutral color. But for my most active readers, it seems too simple and boring. That’s why I’ve offered three main steps to define, what rug color suits you most. But keep in mind, that there’s no unbreakable rule for creating the unique style of your living room. Be creative and listen to your heart while choosing the rug color and other items for your home!