I think an area rug would look great and help define and ground the area a bit. I would select something that not only had burgundy but also some of your other room colors.

You have such beautiful wood floors it's a shame to cover them more, but I can and do understand your reasons for wanting a rug there. I think you're on the right track about looking at a cream or light colored background, then with some burgundy added, it would blend well with your other rug and the sofa. It will add warmth to this area, and you'll have to post pix of what you're interested in for us to see.

I would keep looking for a larger hearth rug. I just don't see a rug between the tv and coffee table. I'm not a rug person though and use them sparingly, preferring as much of the wood floor to show as possible.

I think what is throwing things off is everything is dark except the light coffee table. Maybe some pillows and/or other accessories in lighter shade would help.

I agree, I think an area rug would work and enhance the space. I'm guessing since both rugs will be so close to each other, the colors should some how coordinate.?. Good luck!

I don't think you have to try to match the other rug in colors, as your room is set up so that they are separate areas.

I also think that it wouldn't matter if the new rug overlapped (actually underlapped) the hearth rug, as hearth rugs often lie on top of other rugs. It might actually be more cohesive than trying to have separate hearth rug, separate couch area rug.

As for cream, I know I wouldn't go there. With a fireplace that is used all winter long, I think it is inevitable that the cream wouldn't stay cream for very long in my house. Blotches of ash here and there.......

I would probably look for a patterned rug that fit the rest of the room. That might mean another oriental style rug, but maybe not.

Barb, you're probably right about not getting cream. I do want a lighter background for the rug so it brings more light to the area.

The room was perfectly lighted until we put the shutters back on, and now they really prohibit light into the room

I think during the Spring/Summer I'll take up the hearth rug so the two rugs won't look sloppy together.

The style of rug will be anywhere from tradional to country.

I love braided rugs, would one look out of place because of how the other rug is made? I could get a light multi-colored rug. I have a smallish braided rug in the kitchen in front of the sink, and also one by the back door. You would not believe the dirt and crumbs they hide! I also want a large braided rug to center on the kitchen floor. Now if I could get DH to agree! lol

I think a braided rug could look really nice. And the oval or round of it would bring some cohesiveness as your other rug is round. It would also fit with the country feel of your coffee table.

As for if it would match the other rug or not, I think that is really personal preference. Kind of like how some people want matching bedside tables and matching lamps for symmetry, and others like to have a difference. DH and I have different bedside tables, so you know which camp I fall in, lol.

Are you set on not having the coffee table set on the rug as well? I think getting a larger rug so that the table was on it too would look very nice. That way you won't have islands of a rug, then a table, then a couch, but rather the rug would work to bring everything together as a unit; the TV/fireplace relaxing area.

Barb, in this instance, I'm not sure whether to set the table on the rug or not. Having the rug stand alone would make dusting under the table much easier.

The rug in the back of the room has the sofa table sitting on it.

IMHO, I just can't see a rug in front of the coffee table.

Can you find a heat resistant runner to replace the hearth rug?

If not, and you still want a rug, I would go to a carpet store and have one custom made to fit under part of all your furniture.

I think you should roll up or move the hearth rug on top of the hearth when the fireplace is not in use. Then, I'd get a large area rug that is on the diagonal of the couch/tv/coffee table area that runs under a leg or two of the blue chair too (hard to know dimensions or whether this will work).

I see some of these rugs as possibilities:

Could work with hearth rug:
http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/radici-noble-1318/ivory/134NB1318IV-91001210.html

Shakes things up -and adds color:
http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/oriental-weavers-sphinx-11111/beige/13211111-10013.html

More contemporary but adds light:
http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/couristan-spring-vista/light-beige/11021041040-204.html

More traditional:
http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/safavieh-pl519/ivory/101PL519D-203.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Maybe my favorite choice...

Gracie, what bothers you about a rug in front of the table? If I got a rug/carpet just to have the furniture sitting on it, then it defeats my purpose.

I don't have to have a rug there but the large area of dark wood makes the space way too dark.

That's also an area where my grandkids play/lay.

Whenicit, I'm leaning towards rugs like you posted. I'm confused though when you say lay the rug diagonal with the table, TV, FP.

I was going to get a rectangle rug, and the width will run from the TV to the table.

I planned on taking up the hearth rug when not in use. I can't find one hearth rug as nice as mine in larger sizes. Only solid colors.

Coffee Table was cleared off because kids were out yesterday, and that's where Henry drives his Hot Wheels. :)

I think I mean parallel to the angle the TV and couch are but my impression is that is diagonal within your space?

I understand how the TV and sofa/table are parallel to each other.

Oh, I think I know what you mean. Because the FP is at an angle, the floor space looks like it is also. Is that correct?

The FP is the only area that's on a diagonal, so a rectangle rug would look better laying parallel between the TV and table.

The chair in the forefront of the picture is green, (DH will not let me get rid of it!) the recliner is burgandy. The sofa is burgandy with a medium gold paisley print.

I've been searching for pillow shams with burgandy and gold and can't find a thing! I'm wondering if those two colors would look good with the furniture? The back of the room has more color than the front.

One more question, since we're talking colors. I love buffalo check and other checks. Would pillows of gold & burgandy check of some sort look good against my sofa for sofa pillows?

Just my personal opinion, but I think it would look odd to have the rug and no furniture on top of it. I agree with others about getting a larger rug so part of it is under some of the furniture. With all the angles you have going on in the room maybe an oval rug would look better than a rectangular one. Also, I would roll up the hearth rug and us it only when needed, I think it is actually too small for that spot.

To lighten up that area, I agree using lighter colored pillows and a throw would help.

Roseabbey, the hearth rug is definitely too small for the area, but I had to get one pretty quick so we wouldn't hurt the floor while having a fire. Haven't been able to find a bigger one since!

An oval rug is a great idea, didn't think of that. There's also some oval archways in the room so that will be nice.

If the rug did sit under furniture, it would have to sit under the front of the coffee table, and maybe a bit under the green chair. Can't go any wider past the chair, and the space is iffy in putting it partially under the recliner because of the angle of the hearth.

We're also going to do a big "no-no" in decorating. lol. We have 3-way table lamps on each end table next to the sofa.

With the two lamps and our over-head canned lights, including one over the FP and in the book nook, it's still not enough light at night since the light from the lamps "float."

So we're going to buy a bigger lamp (not in height) to put on the sofa table.. So that's three lamps in a row. lol.

I'm eying the wider and not so high 2-light lamps. We're both heavy readers and we're craving a lot brighter room at night. Function over beauty, right?

Could you take your DR oval rug and put it in the LR to see how it would look? IMHO you want the rug to define the LR furniture space and pull together the variety of colors you have there, or neutralize them. I think you need a great big rug or maybe no rug at all. If you did go with no rug at all could you use a different sort of rug for the hearth rug? Like a runner? I'm not sure the purpose of a hearth rug, my fireplace is gas :-)

Could you post a pic of your room from behind the sofa looking toward the TV?
I think it would help to clarify things.

Whenicit, that's not the dining room where the large rug is, it's the back of the living room.

The rug is too gorgeous (round persian) to set a lot of furniture on and hide it. Part of the sofa table sits on the rug, and we have a game table sitting in the middle of it.

Peegee, here's a picture taken last winter. You can't see it in the picture, but at the very end of the room on the left is a book nook. A separate little room full of bookshelves where I keep a small area rug in it.

The entryway is also on the left which you can't see since it's "off" the living room.

I think the rug should be in the same family as the DR rug, similar in color and style.
Try a 5 x 7 or 6 x 8 --
this way a lot of the floor will show.

Let the coffee table anchor the rug, also try and slant
the sofa to one side slightly and the rug as well.

I think ours is a 6 x 8 in our LR and I like that size,
mostly because is allows a lot of the floor to show.

Also my rug is not under the sofa, it has about 15"
of floor showing in front of the sofa, I know that is a decorating no no ...but,
I like to be different, even the rug in our family
room is 'floating' and only anchored by the two
brunch tables.

C&J, that's not a dining room. It's part of the LR. Dining room doesn't have a rug, nor is it close to the LR.

I can tell you now the room will look funny if the sofa was slanted. I can try it, but that means the green chair will partially enclose the open area and limit me on getting a long rug, plus it will make the space smaller and I don't want to do that.

I'm not understanding though. Why does the rug have to be anchored? You said your's isn't, so why does mine have to be?

I don't get why a rug has to be anchored instead of floating for it to look nice.

Since this isn't your typical LR, I think I can get away with not anchoring the rug, since the rug in the back of the room is anchored, along with the rug in the book nook.

The furniture will be very close to the rug which will fool the eye into thinking it's anchored with furniture on top.

"Rugs are not supposed to float or fly except in fairy tale air space. Rugs that are too small are not only hazardously easy to trip on, they float in the middle of a floor, break up a room and are distracting. Before you decide on a size for a rug, use blue painters tape to outline where you want the rug to go.

A rug should anchor the furniture. In a seating arrangement, at least the front feet of the furniture should rest on the rug. Similarly, do not put a too-small rug under the dining room table and have the chairs float around it. It should be large enough for the chairs to fit on as well so that the furniture is physically and visibly connected.

A room-size area rug should have a 9 to 12 inch border of floor showing between the rug and the wall. If using a room-sized area rug, it should be large enough to tuck under the edges of any furniture around the room, such as servers, or china cabinets. If you already have one that it is too small, use it somewhere else."

Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to #10

Ahh, see, natal explained it. My rugs are fairy tale rugs,
only our dining room rug is correct, in the other rooms,
the rugs float.
The only thing keeping our rug 'anchored' so that it doesn't fly away, is the coffee tables. :)

I'm living a fairy tale, I tell you...

Joann, that was copied and pasted. It's pretty much the same answer no matter how the question is asked. To each his own.

yes, I know natel, I saw number 10.
I have read that many times over, that the rug should
be under the chair or sofa legs.
It looks
nice to me either way, floating or anchored
by furniture legs.
One good thing about my floating rugs, is I'll never
have to worry about it wearing out in front of the
sofa, or hubby walking across the corner of the rug
with his muddy gardenung clogs on... :)

"If I got a rug/carpet just to have the furniture sitting on it, then it defeats my purpose.
I don't have to have a rug there but the large area of dark wood makes the space way too dark" (sorry, don't know how to italicize here as others do).

I am not sure then what your purpose is. If it is to lighten the space, a rug will still do that if there is furniture on it as long as it is the right (big enough) size-your absolutely beautiful round rug and game table show that, although (I know you didn't ask, but can't help myself) I would put up the leaves of the table and have four chairs around it, so it would fill the space better and look ready to use. I am another who does not like to see rugs just floating in a space (c&j, having your coffee tables on the rugs does anchor them, doesn't it? Still, living in a fairy tale is good-I myself favor a fantasy world-teehee), but that is me. Rather than do that, I would lighten my upholstery and/or add lighter pillows. Might be a way to keep DH happy (keep the green chair) and make yourself happy (recover it). The floor would be stunning with lighter furniture I think. I would definitely remove the hearth rug until you need it. I agree with the others that a runner would look better and with the width of your hearth and the fire screen, it would be perfectly safe.

In agreement that the rug should anchor the furniture, not float in front of it. Also, you want to keep the fireplace half moon rug. So if you float a rug beyond that and then have seating arrangment, I think it would look odd. I don't think I've ever seen a rug just floating in a room without some pieces of furniture anchoring it - more like it has a purpose. JMHO

#10 doesn't even pertain to this topic, because I have no desire to place a too small rug like the one shown.

It's going to fill up the space between the table and TV, and extra space length-wise. If anything, the corner of the green chair may have to sit on the rug. I'm going to leave about 5" (if possible) between the rug and TV. Maybe less between the rug and table, so basically it won't be floating. Not in the way floating is defined here.

I just finished looking at a lot of living room pictures with the sofa and chairs placed the way mine are. Surprisingly not one piece of furniture is on the rugs.

Cyn, if I kept the leaves open then it would give it a too crowded look. I love the open "inside" of the rug. Especially when company's over.

I open the leaves when I do crafty things, or we may eat there when friends are over. My old LR was so tiny (12x20) and so cramped, I don't want that feeling again. lol

What I read is if you want to define a sitting area which is what this space of our's is, then to NOT anchor the rug. Unless it's a very big rug, and I'm not getting a big (room size)rug.

Now that we have that out of the way, lol, let's get back on topic.

What color do you think would go best in that area to help brighten up the space?

Oh, this is sweet. Just to give me an idea, I took the book nook rug out of there and laid it in the space where I want the larger rug. My big dog saw the rug and has been laying on it ever since instead of plopping on the sofa! Awww.

I absolutely love the rich coloring of your sofa, and think it holds it own well against the beautiful dark floors and lovely stonework. I might lay down various blankets or tablecloths in color/tones, and fold to try various sizes, (of available rug sizes) and effects, including extending under the coffee table, although you clearly state that is not your preference. You may be able to get a better sense of the impact of the color with your furnishings. Earlier you mentioned the possibility of a braided rug. Personally, I would not combine the hearth rug with a braided unless maybe it were one of the chennile-type ones in a solid color. IMHO the look would be too disjointed.

I know you think you absolutely need that little hearth rug even though you have a very deep hearth with out it, but maybe you are just used to it being there. It seems to be the cause of making this area rug decision so difficult as it just sticks out there and prohibits you from doing as much with the floor area as you wish. The hearth itself isn't big enough to put wood on the side of it and still have one of you fixing the fire? When we have had wood-burning fireplaces we had hearths much smaller than yours and had no trouble putting extra wood on the side of the hearth, so maybe I'm not understanding correctly why that little rug is so important.

Work & Peegee, I said above I'm not going to use the hearth rug when a fire isn't burning.

Peegee, Today I put a light green and white quilted table runner on the coffee table. I usually have a light, multi-colored lap quilt laying on top of the green chair. I have a lot of throw pillows, but I need to get a sham that I really like without having to buy a whole pillow.

C&J, I have to applaud you for doing what you want instead of doing what the "rules" tell us to do.

Remember the old thread about how it's okay to break decorating rules? I think this qualifies. lol.

I'm figuring someone got bored one day and told everyone else how to place a rug, and it's been taken as gospel ever since.

I think we should go on a room by room basis instead of saying "it should be done this way" no matter what.

Forgot, some of the pictures I looked at where they had the front of a sofa sitting on the area rug looked "staged", purposefully put there so we can see it's "anchored." Honestly? It looked funny to me.

Oakley, Shee uses the painter's tape trick (mentioned above) and it seems to work for her. You might want to try that before you invest in something.

Oakelayok -LOL! I think I wasn't very clear - I meant to try blankets or tablecloths on the floor to get the effect!!! You know, I'm so with you on the "rules"; years ago when I was in art school, we were taught to learn the rules before breaking them.

I would be tempted to put the round rug in your living room and buy a rectangular rug similar in colors and put that underneath your game table. The round rug looks a bit large for that area but I think would work well in your TV area with lots of space for your grandson to play on. As far as some of the rug being covered with furniture, an area rug is not a picture, you dont need to see 100% of it. IMO, breaking the rules is fine as long as it looks good and makes sense.

Here's the rug I bought! I love it. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it's up my alley in combining the rustic & cottage of the living room.

And because of the size I ordered (6x9), it HAS to be anchored. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Rug

Love your new rug...the lightness and all. Don't kick me, but I think you should paint your coffee table dark to match the game table. Leave the top the wood tone but paint the lower part dark. Your room is very nice and so big!

I see that you've made a purchase, but please understand that my response to your post really had nothing at all to do with whether or not you keep or discard the hearth rug. In my opinion, and responding to your original post, I think a rug that serves no real purpose other than to float (take up space) in front of a seating group, will look odd. I do not think it looks at all odd when a grouping of furniture is placed at or on the outer few feet of rug. That is the way most area rugs are used IRL.

It's your house, do whatever YOU like, and what YOU think looks good. Oakley, this is like anything else, you can ask for opinions, but you may not hear what you want to hear. So you read, take what you want to from the responses and do what you want.

Taste, is very much like chocolate and vanilla, not everyone likes both flavors. Sort of a different strokes type thing in this case.

Also, I must be pulling up the wrong rug from the link. The rug I see when I link to it is very feminine in a Victorian sort of way?

I was wondering the same thing about the link.

"Oakley, this is like anything else, you can ask for opinions, but you may not hear what you want to hear."

Work, here's the thing, I did not ask for any opinions on whether to anchor or not. Go back and read my post, nowhere did I ask where I should place the rug. All I asked for was color! lol

I still disagree about anchoring. I think every situation is different. My rug wasn't going to be there JUST to float as you say. It will serve many purposes including adding light to that area which I call "The black hole."

I do agree if there is lots of wood around a rug, especially if a rug isn't scooted right next to the furniture, it does look like wasted space. But that's not what my rug was going to look like even though it will be anchored now because of size.

Sorry you and Natal don't like my new rug. It's a "country" style even though it may look victorian to you. Guess what? A home doesn't have to be a Victorian in order to have a like rug.

I do have a LOT of Victorian things in my home. This is mostly a masculine room and now I get to add the feminine touch I want which will blend in beautifully with my accessories and colors.

Oakley -

Did I post that I didn't like your rug? No.

It really doesn't matter to me what you choose or whether your choice compliments your current decor.

I will refrain from responding to any question you post going forward.

As you may or may not know, when you take a swipe and then put a smiley face or an "lol", it is passive agressive behavior. You are acting like a petulant child about this thread and my post thereto.

I am now finding how very difficult you are to deal with. I know for sure that am not the only poster holding that opinion. Why do always have to have some sort of drama? Must you always have a chip on your shoulder? Really, you might want to think about past problems that you've had with so many contributors to this forum.

As far as answering my questions, they are rhetorical, meaning I will not be checking back for an answer, and please refrain from a shout out as well.

I think the problem comes when someone doesn't really want advice, they want accolades, and then when they don't get it, there's snippiness and hurt feelings. I'm remembering the "Sofa Table" post and the "What to Put on the Mantel" post, for example. The OP claimed to want advice, but then summarily rejected every single suggestion, because obviously, her mind was already made up before she hit publish. There was a reason why EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ADVICE wouldn't work.

If you're going to do what you want to do anyway, you shouldn't be asking for advice.

braider, our daughter has a Victorian home, with all
Persians rugs in light colors, none have burgundy in the center.
All her furniture is cherry, with light walls and light
rugs. The pictures that you linked to were kind of 'heavy.'
If that's the look 'you're' going for, that's fine, however, it's not everyone's idea of what they should
invest in.

Braider, the reason you're seeing all burgandy medallions on that link is because it is focused on burgandy decorating schemes. If you choose a different color scheme, you'd see different colored medallions, lol

From an investment prospective, some of the most costly and desirable rugs have a very mute, earthtone pattern.

Wanted to mention that I don't trust that link, Braider. Any decorating site that includes 80's wallpaper borders scares me.

You're right Paulines, about the muted colors in Persians.
I don't have a good pic of our daughters LR Persian,
only a pic that showes a piece of it, however, it is
muted with no deep contrasting color, like the blue in her dining room Persian.
You're also right about the muted
tones for investment purposes, as they are a major investment.

Traditionalgir, you are SO very wrong.

For one thing, my feelings aren't hurt. Not sure where you got that idea. You have to have thick skin to be on this board, everyone's been treated this way at one time or another. And it's posts like your that keeps people lurking for years before they add another layer of skin. Too bad, really.

Sofa table topic, I wanted ideas on how to decorate the top of it. That was all. Instead I got replies telling me to take it back to the store etc. Hardly any ideas on how to decorate it.

Mantel topic, - Ditto. I need ideas on how to decorate the mantel. I got replies telling me to tear it down.

THIS topic. - Ditto again. I wanted advice on COLOR ONLY, and look what I got instead.

I did not ask for unsolicited advice, and that's when topics can get nasty.

One of our long time favorite posters left because she did a topic similar to mine, and people were merciless with her and the room. She wasn't asking for advice on her room!

I don't know why that's so hard for you and others to understand.

If someone needs info on color, don't tell them to get rid of their furniture like was said to me above. It's not nice and it's crossing a line.

So when I ask for advice on whether or not I should anchor a rug, I will TAKE that advice, but I did NOT ask for any advice on anchoring.

So don't come telling me I won't listen to advice, when I was more than open on getting advice on COLOR only.

Whew!

Back to COLOR. :) You can't tell from the picture of the back of the room, and other rooms, but there are colors that will blend in with the new rug. I love the dark red that surrounds the rug, and I have a shelf of pink depression glassware in the back of the room, and other Victorian accessories I have in storage.

The back of the room has a bit more feminine things to it, the front of the room is just a man cave.

Now I can bring the whole room together.

The Persian in the back of the room has some burgandy/rust designs in it with the muted turquois background. Love it!

This new rug isn't a Persian, because it will get a lot of traffic and play time on it with the grandkids. Spills, etc.

Now, If end up not liking it, I will ship that baby back, pronto.

I'm sure you're lurking so I have a few choice words for you too.

If you think I'm going to do a "shout out" on the board for you, you must think highly of yourself.

When I put in a "LOL" I'm not being sarcastic, I'm literally laughing in a good way. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.

When you (and natal) said you must have brought up the wrong link because all you saw was a Victorian rug, of course that was your way of saying you didn't like it! I was cracking up at that and said to myself, "good one! tacky, but good!"

Why would you think that wasn't the rug I ordered? I told myself before I posted the link that you all wouldn't like it, and by that catty remark, I was right.

I'm sorry you can't admit you're wrong. It's true. I told you all I wanted was color advice but you were he!!bent on giving me advice about where to put the rug.

You are as difficult as I am.

Again, I think it's extremely rude to go off topic when a poster ask for a specific thing and people start telling them things about their home instead. That is just wrong and that's why this topic has gone to the birds.

That and others who like to chime in JUST to gang up on one poster. The crowd mentality here is awful.

I also won't be coming back to this thread. GW isn't fun anymore. I've always been kind to people who create topics on decorating. I've never crammed my ideas down someone's throat like a dog with a bone. If they don't like my advice, fine, I'm not going to harp and harp on it!

Deja vu.

cliff_and_joann, I really like your daughter's rug, in fact, I've been looking for something similar. I like rugs that look rich, without being loud or busy, if that makes sense.

oakleyok, I've been here a long time and sometimes the best and most informative threads are ones where folks offer unsolicited or OT advice. Most folks here are helpful or trying to be.

Every time I see a thread started by Oakleyok that has a bunch of posts, I know to get my popcorn ready before opening . . .

LOL, Kelly, so true!

Oakley, your room has a lot of potential, but I'm just going to be blunt here, it needs help. People try to make suggestions and you won't listen. I know it's your room and ultimately you're the decision maker, of course. I get it that people are offering unsolicited advice.

It's just that you put the pictures out there and it's just too tempting to not say anything. There are some decorating geniuses on here, and I think you should take note.

If people kept commenting on the same things over and over about my room, (even if it's unsolicited), I think I'd have to step back for a minute and think, "Hmm. Maybe there's some merit to what everyone is saying... Maybe I need to rethink some things."