I have been debating purchasing a new rug for our family room for quite some time and recently decided to try to actually commit to one. Without one it felt like the furniture was somewhat floating without an anchor.
This is what I had previously but it drove us insane because no matter what we put underneath it, it kept moving all over the place. Plus I am not in love with the color anymore. What do you think about the size? Do you like the smaller dimension?
I decided to try this IKEA rug but it is far too brown for my taste and even if I shimmy the furniture around, it still feels wrong. I keep going back and forth between going lighter or darker. What would you do?
Here are a few of the lighter options that I like:
I love #1, the loop rug from Bolia. It is super cool and has a little dark thread in it to hide dirt, but I am worried that the loops will tear up easily. I would buy #2, the Souk Rug from West Elm if it were available here! (Could someone else go buy it in the US and let me live vicariously through you… please!) I love the idea of a vintage rug like #3 from Jayson Home, but I just have not found one locally that I like yet.
What would you do? Go bigger/smaller? Lighter/Darker? Go nude and live without a rug?
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
We are having the same issue! I can’t find a rug for our livingroom. It’s tile and echoes so much. Plus my littlest one is working on the step for learning to walk. I’d vote for smaller in a lighter color. I love #2!!
I like the #1 rug and it is similar to one we bought at Bilka years ago which has endured over the years and easily wipes off if threre are spills. You have such great taste, you’ll find the right one eventually! =)
I like the color of the first one. I think you need something with color. If you could just find one that did not move around and would stay flat it would be perfect!
@Heather M I think that is why I want one too. It softens the room up both physically and visually!
@Kim Thanks! That is good to know!
I prefer a larger rug to the smaller first one. I do like your brown one though. Have you thought about a cow hide? We have a great one, but I’m trying to work out where it will work in our new house where the main ‘family room’ is carpeted.
OK, first of all, your living room is LOVELY. I love the sofa! And where´s that print from, do you mind sharing? As for rugs – rugs are hard. I never seem to find the right ones either. For your space, I´d vote for something light and simple like #1 – but actually I would go for a larger size.
Have you checked out what’s available at World Market? They have an extensive selection, and often have pretty good prices. I love the Beni Ourain-esque rug (#2)! Maybe MyMarrakesh would offer you a special deal on one of her Red Thread Souk rugs if you offer some free advertising… ? Good luck. I’m sure you’ll find the perfect rug!
I think with your (gorgeous) room, the size of the turquoise rug, but in a darker color would look great.
First, I love all your pillows, and the way you have captured a crisp yet cozy room!! To me the rug is important and adds to the cozy element of a “life space” room. I definitely agree it gives an added depth. I really like the texture of your new brown rug.
If you are wanting to change it, maybe a dark grey would contrast well (darker than the chair) and also bigger. If not, and this may sound strange, but what would it look like if you angled the brown rug starting from the far left (if looking from this same view) towards the near right? Sweeping the long edge in front of the grey chair? (Im someone who has to try every angle to see it visually) Crazy, maybe?
When it comes to rugs, I like to split the year in fall/winter and spring/summer.
During spring/summer I think it’s ok with NO rug, especially with your nice flooring. Alternatively, I would choose a smaller light-coloured rug – the size and thickness of the blue is fine here.
During fall/winter I would go for a cosier/darker/thicker rug. I really like the size of the brown Ikea one – maybe just move it in the middle of the floor, like with the blue one?
Have you considered sewing several smaller ones together, like this: http://www.hegeinfrance.com/2013/02/tuesday-tips-rugcycle.html? That way you can start with few and add more if you think the rug is to small…
Would something like this Ikea rug work http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40227902/ ? I’ve seen it on a couple of blogs and it looks great, I just assume it’s available in Ikeas all over the world!
@Victoria I love the look of skin and I pin those images all the time because I think they are beautiful, but it totally freaks me out to actually touch them. I know. I’m a total baby.
@Katrin Thank you! The print is from the Love Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/93001506/not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost-16×20?
@Janice World Market has some amazing rugs! Unfortunately I think shipping would kill the deal for me.
Same for ordering from Morocco. That is one of my biggest regrets. I wish I could have found one of the berber rugs before I left, but in our region I had no luck.
@ShannonC That is a great idea! Perhaps I can try that as well!
@Yvonne I think that is my problem! I’m getting the springtime itch to pull up all the rugs just as winter is passing. I guess the only good thing about deciding to wait is that it would give me loads of time to save up for something I really love. Oh, and the link with the sewn rugs is super awesome! Thanks for sharing that!
@Gabrielle As soon as I saw that rug online I went to the store to purchase it, but maybe I’m too picky but I didn’t love the edge. I even looked at it the other day and told my girlfriend that was with me that if they had chosen a different accent color I wouldn’t have debated buying it because it’s so cool!
love the larger rug – the smaller one seems lost in the room….and i think that ikea has a similar cream “shag” rug (they did at one point, i had it
– i highly doubt costco is there, but i actually got a perfect one from there that’s a mix of earth tones but appears off white (just won’t show dirt as easily)…oh, and i forgot to vote – i say #1 and if not, wait it out till you find the perfect #3 …good luck!
I think lighter and a size larger than the Ikea one.
That B&W Ikea one a PP mentioned is pretty cool. But the edges are annoying, aren’t they? It’s not super expensive though, so maybe you could DIY the edges somehow…maybe a shoe repair shop would have a strong enough sewing machine to stitch a black band over the colored edges….?
I so feel your pain. I’m ready to drop kick our LR rugs b/c I’m so sick of the red. They were the only thing that worked in our last apt in terms of size and noise-proofing, but here they’re obnoxious in every way. Just last night I was whining about being fed up with the red, lol. However, no rug seems big enough/affordable for our space, but with stone floors we really need something.
We had the same problem with our living room rug moving around as well. The solution was to buy a carpet liner, which is soft of like a thin, soft pad that’s a little rubbery on the bottom. It helps keep rugs in place and also extends the life of the rug especially if it’s made of a thinner fabric (ours is made of woven cotton). For a 2m wide rug we spent less than €20 on the liner.
Oh and our rug is from House Doctor. They have some really nice ones! http://en.housedoctor.dk/-/soft-home/rugs
i would say go lighter…love the souk rug!
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@Denise Shaw I am SO tempted to throw an insane amount of color in with a bright rug! I will be sharing some of my favorite colorful rugs next week!
@Danielle I saw two pale shag rugs at IKEA and opted out because the first was bright white and even I am not that brave with kids! And the second was very tempting but it was all one color and I just felt like it needed a little bit of another color in there… again, gotta hide some of our dirt!
@Juliette You are so right! That rug would be perfect for a DIY. Now the question is… do I want something that bold in there? Oh, the decisions! Oh, and completely HILARIOUS about drop kicking the rug. That’s what I need to do to the turquoise one I have! LOL! IT will be the latest trend in kick boxing… bring your crummy rug and sweat away your cares!
@Deepa Would you believe that we have bought three different kinds of rug pads? This rug is stubborn! Plus we all kept catching the edge when we walked over it so it was constantly folding up. I have a light rug in my daughter’s room that does fine with the rug pad because her heavy bed holds two sides down. OH and I LOVE the House Dr rugs! My favorite is this one: http://en.housedoctor.dk/-/soft-home/rugs/Ad0220
@Jen I’ve actually extended my search to places we might visit this summer in the hopes of finding a rug like the souk rug on this side of the planet… and within my budget!
… I have the same debate with a carpet: In your room the bigger IKEA one looks very good, but it definitely is too dark. I would go for the Beni Ourain type of carpet. Maybe you find a good source to buy one here http://pinterest.com/pin/397583473323751020/
You might not like this, but I love it all together without the rug. The first one is too small and will be annoying when it gets kicked or lifts, the other I found made your space feel somehow smaller. The bare floor I love, mostly because it is white and the cushions on your sofa adds enough depth and cosiness to your lovely living room. I can’t help but think if you really wanted something outrageous and different, go for a black and white cow hide.
But that’s me. Gorgeous room.
What about a cow hide? Completely different to what you are playing with – but it would look super cute with all your furniture and artworks etc. The pink pouf would tame it!!!!!