If all that bothers you about the rug is that it is too close in colour to the table, I'd suggest you sell the table and keep the rug. I like both, but I do get your feeling about them.

Something like this, from Overstock?

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Alaterre-Pomona-Metal-and-Reclaimed-Wood-Coffee-Table/10411216/product.html?refccid=GU3IJF6SRFXKWB2ETUWJ7NKHEY&searchidx=5

Beyond the table matching the rug, I'm concerned that a number of neutral grays make the room boring. Gray wall, gray, coffee table, gray carpet, white shutters.

That overstock rug is still gray, but the table above it has some brown towns that create contrast.

I think I need a lot more contrast to bring the room alive, but still make it classy and not a dorm room. I am just concerned about continuing to make expensive mistakes.

You've made some great individual selections, but they don't work together. Tonal values of grays and beiges are too close. You need more contrast, patterns, and an accent color.

--Charcoal gray couch is fighting with gray walls. Consider repainting the walls white. Others on Houzz can advise you on how to pick the right white for your lighting conditions, floor, and furnishings.

--Grays and beiges don't play well together either, but it's fixable. This is why the rug looks blah against your very nice "greige" wood floors. You need a dark patterned rug for contrast with the floor--charcoal background with abstract greige. It might be a good idea to get a third accent color in the rug. Keep in mind that the eye takes in a floor as another wall.

--With a patterned rug, you could then keep your coffee table, which has great lines. Just put a great modern bowl or tray on it in an accent color or metal.

--If you really can't repaint the gray walls--a lot of work, I know--then introduce more pattern and color via a very large piece of abstract art work over the couch maybe in charcoals, black, teal and/or red, orange, lime, electric blue. Then tie your sofa pillows to the art. (Art lovers usually start their rooms with the art then choose wall color and furnishings afterwards. Guilty as charged in my case. But it's okay to go the other way, too.)

--Oh, fill your fireplace entirely with chunky wood logs or white birch logs for contrast and texture.

Rugs from All Modern:

Well, for a 1st timer, you really have done a pretty good job. You've selected some very nice neutral pieces....ones that you could still work well together as a very nice "foundation" to build on even if you decided to keep everything.

Having said that, if choosing between the rug and table to change out, I'd probably choose the keep the table and change the rug. Why? Well to your point, for contrast. On top of the light wood floors (of a similar tone), the rug almost disappears. The same effect with the similarly colored table on top of the rug.

So, by changing the rug, you'd be adding a contrasting element in between the floor and table.

With the rug being a nice neutral, maybe there is another area in your home that it could be relocated to? Also....how long have you owned it? If less than 30 days, RH is really good about returns. If more than 30 days, maybe RH will allow a store credit of some kind or an exchange?

I would get a rug with some color this is a very gray room and after a while you will get to the point where you will be crying for some color. You have 2 choices either go get a huge piece of art for that blank wall and choose a color from there or get a fabulous rug and use it for other choices. I think the coffee table is fine and would work with either of these rugs some pillows that are interesting on the sofa and you will need art on the walls or for fun some really cool decals some good lighting an arc lamp would work well for one piece of lighting a bigger end table with a decent sized lamp

Here are a few more rug ideas....with a little more pattern and/or color.....also from West Elm.

More options/ideas (3 rug styles/6 pics) - if an exchange is do-able at RH and if you prefer more of a neutral/monochromatic look.

I would suggest something in a gray and with a very apparent texture (like pics 1-4) or pattern (like last 2 pics below).

Some pillow suggestions - to add a little more texture, pattern, color too.

Repaint, add contrast pillows, a large light, and add a couple more red objects if that is what you like.

I can't repaint, unfortunately. But I can definitely add a contrast rug.

Avery's got it going on.

I would change the Table not the rug..

I would also add some color with pillows and blankets and accessories.

Avery,

Question about the set of pictures with gray undertones. Aren't those just going to perpetuate the same problem with too much gray in the room?

Since you cannot paint, you can mitigate that ocean of gray with a large scale canvas over the sofa. Good luck!

Everything depends on what you want, Corey. Although colour can transform a dull room, there are many beautiful monochrome rooms.

If that is what you want, you simply need to enrich the room. The secret to their success is to bring things into the room that add interest in texture, shape, pattern. My rendering below is quick and crude (I made up the abstract on the wall; the sculpture is from Houzz, but I've had to guess at the size), nevertheless it may serve to illustrate a start in that direction. No reason not to keep your little red Eiffel Tower somewhere in the room, but it's not big enough to hold pride of place on a coffee table. Ideally, I'd put more art on the right wall; a smaller vertical (portrait-shape) piece, perhaps. And a throw on the sectional. And books on the coffee table.

https://www.houzz.com/products/wood-dome-sculpture-prvw-vr~32441506

On the other hand, if you like the idea of more colour, go for it. I still think if the coffee table bothers you by looking like a park bench, you should change it. It's a lovely piece, but nothing is lovely if you happen not to like it.

Nothing wrong with the cocktail table, it's the rug that could make the biggest change in the room. If you replace that and bring in colorful artwork, that might change your view of the room.

The trouble with the coffee table, Beverly, is that the OP says it bothers her. She doesn't like it. There's a big difference in aesthetics between "it's good" and "I like it". Pope is a great poet. I don't fancy reading him. So I don't.

I would stick with the coffee table. It's a good size with your sectional, and you can certainly dress it up with a big bowl of some kind, as someone suggested earlier. Pier One has some very attractive bowls that aren't super-expensive and would add some color. Plus---and I think this is a big deal---you'll never be able to sell it for what you paid.


In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with your room that couldn't be totally fixed by mounting a big, colorful piece of art behind the sofa and then finding pillows and a rug to complement it.

Agree, change the coffee table as per the OP's concerns. My concerns with it are what would happen if someone bashed their shins on it, or a kid bonked their head...ouch. I am guessing the red Eiffel tower is a hint re. colours that appeal to the OP. In that case, why not try some red accents? I would tend to go with a muted red for pillows , throw and/or art. The tower is too small for the table.

If you type in red accent items in the Houzz shop search engine there's lots of inspiration for you

I would change the rug. Don't think the color compliments the wood. The coffee table is very nice and looks good with your couch. A colorful rug with your favorite colors and the pillows with colors pulled from the rug would change everything. Good luck! Love the couch.

I love avery's rug suggestions. You may also need a slightly larger rug for this space. Great start!

Perhaps sharing a design we did will inspire you to move forward with your own project.

I vote for replacing the rug instead of the table. I think the table looks great and gives the room a modern look. As others have pointed out, the rug just blends in with the floor. I would pick a modern rug with some color and then get colored pillows that tie into a color from the rug. Finally, a great piece of modern abstract art on the wall would add more interest.

I replaced the rug and added some accent pillows. Not sure about the one in the middle. Kind of small for the couch, but I think I need more pillows than what is currently on the couch (4). Thoughts?

Here's a pic without the middle pillow and the orange eiffel tower added.

This version is better. Three items of similar color helps one's gaze move through the room. Rina had a good suggestion for introducing larger scale organic pattern with black, greys, tan, and white abstract painting. This also makes the view more dynamic.

This rug is better but I wish you had picked something with a pattern. The pillows look kind of random to me as the color is not carried anywhere else. I do like your coffee table but does it still bother you?

I get what you're saying and I think your instincts are right. To me, because the sectional (which I love) is kind of squared off and "blocky" so...the table is also too blocky. I'd suggest something curved that you can see through like this one:

Along with a rug that has something more interesting happening texturally or with another pattern or colors. It doesn't have to be colorful if you want a monochrome room, but I hope you add some art, plants, maybe a throw in the orange of your Eiffel Tower accessory? I like the coffee table guideline of something natural/organic (could be a plant, could be a geode or huge seashell,) something tall, and something you can read.

I know you don't want to make mistakes. That's why everyone here, most of them professionals, unlike yours truly, have multiple "likes" after their comments. The ones with the most "likes" suggested adding bolder patterns and textures either in a rug or art work to balance out what they thought you didn't like--"the beige/charcoal" blahs. Those professional comments, btw, involved research, attaching photos, and Photoshopping.

Is there a reason you pretty much stuck with the beige rug a second time after getting so many suggestions to add much more pattern and contrast? These would've taken care of the blahs. What you do have going for you are quality selections but they don't work together due to similar tones and textures. It is puzzling, though, that you pretty much ignored so many excellent suggestions and repeated the problem you came here to solve. It's fine as long as you like what you picked. But understand that what you didn't like before you still have--monochromatic colors and textures, which a couple red pillows don't solve.

Yes, there is a reason. I am using a friend, who is professional. Every time I picked a pattern, she said it looked terrible. She said it all can be addressed with art and pillows. We added the orange pillow that had a design, and now she wants to add plain white pillows to bring it together. Then we'll put a colorful picture above the sofa. I'm not in full agreement with her, but I also am not savvy enough to do this on my own without continuing to make mistakes.

The darker rug creates contrast that some of the pros discussed. And someone also said that there's nothing wrong with a monochromatic room. I'm trying to direct my designer based on some of the thoughts I'm getting here but ultimately, she's going to make the decisions she thinks are right.

It's helpful for me to see the mockups when I think something doesn't look right, like in the case of the rug that matched the coffee table.

Okay, I get it.I was just wondering. The quality and proportions of the pieces you've picked do work--very important. Patterns and colors are always trickier and a matter of personal taste, and everybody's different. I really love some of the rooms and rugs some of the Houzz pros have picked, including the monochromatic examples. I guess it'll all come together as you add art work and accessories. Good luck!

I like the clean lines of your sofa and hope that you will not be adding too many pillows. You might want to post prospective purchases and perhaps someone will be able to do a mock up before you invest more in more pieces. I am a little worried that all your pattern suggestions are "terrible". So far you have picked lovely pieces.

I agree, Saratoga. Some of the rug suggestions were fabulous. I hope the pro you're using Corey, can do some mock-ups for you ahead of these purchases. In any case he/she isn't paying the bills, right? So you can say: "I want a patterned rug, not a solid. I have too many solids in here, and I dont want a bunch a pillows." Unless, she/he is your "roommate." :)

Corey, I don't have anything huge to say but I want you to know I'm still rootin' for you. A suggestion: why not turn your attention first to finding the art you love? Forget the rug for now -- if you're not sure about the one you now have, return it. If you think it'll be perfect when your art is on the wall, get it back.

The nice thing with art is that NOBODY has the right to tell you what you love. Make suggestions, sure. But look at works of the right dimensions until you find something that will give you pleasure to look at every day -- and then let that help to guide your future choices. What dimensions? Look at the mockups above that show art and decide which you're comfortable with, and measure them out against the back of your sectional. Which, like everyone else, I love.

Rina has stated this very well. A large piece of art over the sofa will make this a completely different room - your eye will be drawn to it and not to pillows or rug. Right now you have no art to look at.

Ideally, art should be purchased before anything else. You may find that you are fine with a very monochromatic room once you have the art piece. But you won't know that until you have the art.

I don't want to make you lose confidence in your friend, but it is a pretty well known design principle that you buy the art first, then purchase the rugs, then furniture, and pillows and paint the very last. Things are purchased to complement the art, not the other way around. Return everything you can, until you have the art. A rule of thumb is that it should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of your sofa/sectional. Other than that, let your taste guide you. With your beautiful neutral sectional, you can go any way you like with the art.

The Saarinen coffee table with the marble top is an expensive item, but you may be able to find something with a similar concept to be a focal point in the room and lend some elegant contrast to the rest of the setup.

I agree with others in that I would loose the rug. You need some type of pattern and maybe a larger scale. A brighter color carpet tiles if you have the budget. I love turquoise with gray

I got an indoor outdoor low pile rug from overstock with a similar look because that was my budget