Yes, that one is pretty!

I'd like to see blue in the rug also.

Not sure of your budget.....

I like that rug, Ingrid. I like the traditional styling but it's still bold and has a lot of presence. I'm on my phone so can't quite tell, but does it have a touch of blue in the design?

http://esalerugs.com/light-blue-8x11-heriz-design-area-rug-33129275#

I'm glad you like it auntjen. Yes, it does have some blue in it also. peppapoodle, that is a pretty rug but I'm trying to avoid borders since I already have some rugs like that, and the one I chose is around $500, which is a better price for me since the wall to wall carpeting has to be replaced.

kelle, I don't have any suitable chairs that I could pull from another room, the only one that would work is also beige. Thanks for your advice, though.

auntjent, we must have cross-posted, since I just now can see the second rug you posted. It's beautiful and I'll look it up, but I have the feeling it may be pricey.

I guess I'm a naysayer, but I like the colors and pattern of the rug you have now if you could get the size to somehow work. I like that it's got an all over pattern as well.

Somewhere in your house do you have a rectangular or square coffee table. The problem isn't the rug (well it might be) but rather the fact that the coffee table exactly mimics the abstract shapes in the rug.

Try a different shape coffee table and if you still don't like the rug then it's wrong. If you then like the rug you have a decision to make.

I happen to like the colours and pattern but without being in the room it's tough to know whether or not the size of it is appropriate.

I do have a small rectangular coffee table but if I use that I'll have no place to put this one. I'm fairly convinced now that the size of the carpet is too small and will never look right there.

I've decided to return this rug and have a look at the one I posted somewhere above which is 8 x 10. There is a store not too far away that supposedly has it in stock and I'll look at it in person before paying for it and hopefully avoid making another mistake.

auntjen, I liked the rug you posted but when I saw the photograph where it was on the floor in a room setting I realized that there was too much blue for my taste. I think the one I like will go well with the furniture I have and give the room some needed punch.

I really like the design of the red rug, but not sure about the red with the coppery color pillows. You'll know if it's right when you see it Ingrid. ;)

I like the rug you posted (and the one Jen put up) and think it would look great. It's got the terra cotta colors to go with your sofa and pillows, and it has a diamond pattern in it which would complement the diamond pattern on your chair fabric.

Hi Ingrid,

. I think the new rug you are considering would look great. The first rug definitely looks too small, and it seems like you agree with that as well. Rugs are so hard, especially when you can't see them in person. Good luck! Post pictures when you choose a new one. Really nice room!

Definitely check out that rug, Ingrid. I'm seeing it more as a rust than a red on my monitor, and think it could work nicely in your room. Let us know how you like it in person!

I like your new choice. I don't care for center medallion rugs under anything but a glass coffee table.

I'm glad you made your decisionto return the rug, sometimes it hard to do when you have been searching so long. If you intend on keeping your cushions, I would take one with you when you go look at the rug in person, just to be sure the colors will go, doesnt have to match but shouldnt clash. Let us know how you make out.

Great tip about taking a pillow along to match the rug, roseabbey. If I really like the rug I may just change the pillows. Great support from everyone, and so glad you like my new choice. I'll be going there tomorrow after I call to find out that they really have the carpet on site. Only problem now is how to send the original rug back. It was encased in thick plastic which had to be torn to get the rug out. Have any of you had to return a rug in the mail and how did you repackage it?

I think it can work just fine if you position it to lay it under the short couch and change out the pillows to a reddish color of the rug. I like it very much.

I did return a rug once, and took it to one of those pack-and-ship places that rewrapped the rug for me. Unfortunately, it was pretty pricey to return it that way so I wouldn't recommend it, but perhaps they can just rewrap it for you and let you take it from there? I dunno. Hopefully someone else will have a better solution for you.

Agree with yayagal. I really like the rug you have now over any of the others that have been suggested. A rug should be an accessory in a room, not something that's the first thing that jumps out at you. Your furniture is very neutral and I don't think a large, brightly color rug is the way to go. It shouldn't be the first thing you notice in a room.

I like the rug for its "abstract" quality but the size is wrong, that and it doesn't go with your current pillows. Late to comment since you are packing it up, but I do like the style and colors in your house, but definitely not the size. To me it can go with traditional elements, but not all. For instance - it does not go with the pillows that have leaves on them, but I like it with your blue and white porcelain. The one you have your eye on is much more traditional which will go, but if you want to shake it up a bit, I wouldn't rule out other styles as well. BTW, your home is so welcoming and pretty, would be nice to come home to!

I appreciate the further comments very much. One thing I do somewhat question is whether it's so essential to have the rug be larger and under the furniture if it's sitting on wall to wall carpeting. I did know if it had been on wood of course it would have to be larger to define the furniture grouping. In this instance I wasn't so certain, ergo the smaller size. I have found out that the original rug that many of you don't care for also comes in a larger size. I also wanted to say that one end of the rug is anchored under the love seat. Also, the rug is not really red, more of an orangey red but still does not match the pillows.

I also like the original rug, but for the size. Many, many people have a smaller rug under a coffee table, placed on carpet. I can see the practicality of a smaller rug; if your feet aren't always on it, there won't be the traveling you sometimes get with a rug on top of carpet. However, I think you will find a larger rug will really pull your seating area together, while also making it appear more open, but cozy! I think the rectangle, as narrow as it is, is also at odds with your square coffee table, so a larger rug will fix that.
So, if you like the first rug better than your second choice, I might try the larger size.

The wall to wall carpeting does not define the seating area, as the wood floor would not either, but the coffee table does.. I have seen "coffee table" rugs, basically a 4 x 6 just meant to define that area, but I think you are looking for more color than that would provide.

I think the wall-to-wall carpeting is still going to read the same as would hardwood. The larger rug (with the front feet of the furniture resting on it all around) will anchor and define that seating area. To me, anything smaller is going to look like an afterthought.

The problem now is that my husband prefers the smaller rug. He says it leads the eye to the fireplace, which should be the focal point, rather than stopping at the edge of the furniture placing where the rug ends. I actually think he has a point, looking at it in real life rather than just on a photograph.

I want to retract my first post about the size, now that I have a few more facts. I agree with your DH about the size. I think a rug on top of a wall to wall carpet should be under the coffee table only and definitely not under the furniture. A large rug over a wall to wall imo looks like someone is trying to hide the imperfect rug beneath with a large rug on top. What I didnt like about the original rug was the shape, I think it was too long, maybe just a 4x6 or a 5x8 would work better. There was a poster here I cant recall her name, she also was asking about a carpet over top the wall to wall carpet. She tried and posted many large rugs for us to look at, and finally in the end, she picked a smaller rug just to go under the coffee table for color. It looked the best.

Now that you've said the colors blend well, if it were me, I'd keep it. I love that it expresses what YOU and your husband like and that's all that matters.

RoseAbbey, I agree the carpet is too long but we've shortened it by slipping about a foot of it under the love seat. It is a 5 x 8 rug but the length looked excessive and I think now it's better-proportioned, about 5 x 7. I'm so glad to know that a larger carpet didn't work for someone else with a wall to wall carpet! I'd hate to go to the trouble of returning this one only to find the bigger one didn't work.

Yayagal, your comment really cheered me up. Thank you!

I think what you have could work, but I would rearrange your furniture. That second chair (closest to the fireplace) looks like a loner, while the love seat is a total rug hog.

Did anyone follow @auntjen's link? An 8x11 rug for only 300$??! Is this real life? eSaleRugs, you may be my new best friend. Maybe......

Ingrid, I returned a 5'x7' very heavy wool rug a few years ago, and wrapped it in saran wrap. I first used packing take to keep it held together, going completely around the rolled up rug, in maybe 5 places. It's east once you get going, but keep DH close by since you might need help. I did it myself b/c I don't have a DH. Good luck.

ascorsonelli, the eSaleRug is polypropylene and not wool which would account for the very reasonable price. That said, these are GREAT rugs. Do a search here for aktillery's rug. She has one of these, and while I don't think it's this exact design, I do believe it's the same maker. It's such a beautiful rug that it's become rather famous around here! :-)

Here's a link to a discussion that features a pic of her rug (first pic posted). So pretty.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3419827/finally-found-some-throw-pillows?n=15

Reviews seem to be good! Glad to hear it first hand also (does this count as first hand??). Love aktillery's rug-on-rug! I may have seen this once before, but I'm really digging it now.

And now I'm done hijacking this thread ;) Ingrid, have you played around with your furniture or angling the rug?

That rug in the link is gorgeous and looks perfect there. It looks like a show home.

I'm working today and haven't played around with the furniture or rug. I can't quite envision the rug angled since the fireplace already is. I'll see what I can do later this afternoon.

Ingrid, I really think it's true that often things just don't look the same in photos as they do in person. For instance, the pictures that I posted of the décor on top of my kitchen cabinets. Several people commented that the things up there looked too small in the space, but in person it all looks just fine. Sometimes the spatial relation of pieces just aren't depicted properly in a picture.

Have you considered a change in the furniture placement? The sofa seems very closed in there. I think if you put the love seat where the sofa is in front of the window it would give so much more breathing room and open up the window area. Put the couch across from it where the chairs are and move the chairs to where the love seat was that will also give more breathing room to that end of the room and open it up. Angle in the chairs. I think the rug would work better that way too. Currently it seems very boxed in. Moving furniture around is about the cheapest method of changing the feel of a room. It can make a room feel totally different.

I personally really like the rug and I think you can tweak the placement of your furniture to make it look a little more integrated and pulled together. I love the colors and design of the rug. You also might try finding some new covers for your throw pillows that mirror the red or blue colors in the rug. That would be an awesome color pop, IMHO. But just minor .02 observations on my part here, the room looks very nice to me.

Thanks so much for some additional ideas, raven and pinkmountain. As you'll see in these pictures, we did move one chair, but you've now also come up with alternative arrangements that sounds interesting. At the moment I'm a bit burned out and almost don't care if I ever see my living room again. Hopefully that will pass!

Please ignore the kilim. The carpeting is badly stained there from our dear departed rat terrier's who was abused and abandoned before we adopted him. I do see that the rust pillows don't work and have replaced the two in the love seat with a pair I had on the bed which are mainly beige and blue.

I'm late to the party but I do like your new rug, Ingrid. For me it would not need to be larger, because I see it as a colorful accent rather than an area-defining rug. I'd carry that pretty red and the darker blue over to some throw pillows or other accessories, too.

Can't really see your curtains in the pics to get a feel for how they go alongside the rug.

I'm currently rugless because of an elderly dog, so I can empathize with your carpet situation. The things we do for love! :)

Thank you maggie, I'm glad you came by. The curtains are a cream and brick red toile, so they go quite well with the carpet. Since I posted this picture I removed the things that didn't look right to me and I'm happier with the result now. I'm also expecting two pillows that have red and dark blue in them on a beige ground.

We had two elderly dogs but the female always indicated when she needed to go out; with the male it was domination issues. He never once peed in his crate where he spent the night in our bedroom. Now that we have only a cat it seems safe to buy another rug.

The reason I suggested that the chairs go where the love seat is, your door is right behind there and as you walk in your running into the back of the love seat. Putting the chairs there angled out opens up that area and makes it much more inviting, not blocked off.

Sounds like the pillows will be perfect with what you have now. Can't wait to see. The rug goes really well with the other rugs/colors I can see in the photo. Looking good!

raven, it's not evident from the pictures, but the area behind the love seat is slightly less than 6 feet wide and the door actually leads out to part of the garden. The front door is on the opposite side since that is where the driveway comes up to a large concrete pad for parking. It's puzzling to us why it was done this way, as though the house had been turned the wrong way around, but we only use that door occasionally, as much of the garden is also on the front side. Country properties with older houses can be strange.

Thank you katrina for the lovely comments. I hope the pillows will help to pull everything together.

Sorry for adding more pictures, but the thought finally came to me that the reason the room wasn't satisfying me is because there was no color coherence. I made a great effort to eliminate cool colors with the exception of the blue and white lamp as a small touch and the painting of the duck. Everything else, even the books on the table, I tried to keep in a warm tone and I'm very happy with the result. The first pic is just to show how wide the entrance area really is. I wonder if any of you are as sick of this project as I am, but I'm so happy that I finally had this "ah ha" moment which makes me feel that the room is more pulled together now and makes more sense.

Very pretty.

I never get tired of pictures or of spending other peoples money or of expressing an opinion. :)

It looks great (and agree with blfenton - I tell everyone, business clients included, "I am never short of opinions!")

Very funny comments, and thank you also for the approval. Much appreciated.

Looks good!

I really like the new arrangement! And I totally understand feeling so OVER a project that you're working on. Fun at the beginning, but when you feel stumped by too many choices - yeah, not so much fun anymore. I think you've got a beautifully welcoming room though, no matter which rug you choose to go with.

Oh yes that's much better! The colors are looking good together and I really like the chairs separate like that. I can see now what you mean, I couldn't get that perspective from the other pictures. You had a good ah ha moment!

Looks pretty now.

Thanks so much ladies. Decluttering this area as much as possible and sticking to a limited color palette has made the room more pleasing to me and, other than new wall to wall carpeting, my work is done here.