I like the rug currently under your table. I like the 2nd one but you don't want it to look like you were trying to match them and there is enough white around edge so it might appear that you were trying to do so.

Also I too think living room rug would look better turned a quarter turn.

I agree with the majority here - the rugs are almost too similar and it looks like you are trying to match but can't - not a good thing. Try to find either a solid or textural compliment to your area rug for the dining room - I think it will be a much better combination than looking for the match.

I sometimes will layer area rugs to help tie in the texture (as shown in this black/white scheme I designed) which you could add to the living area - once you've found something that compliments for your dining room.

I'm not 100% sold on the dining room rug due to the size as well, I think yours needs to be a bit bigger.
I'd pull a solid tone out of your living room rug - simplify the palette somewhat, and make your beautiful artwork be the star and not the area rugs...

I think the rugs are too much alike. Keep looking.

100% agree with Marie Hebson.

No, no and no! Based on the colors in the living room rug you need to do a complete reversal of colors. White-off white background, red secondary and green tertiary for your dining room rug. What you have now will always read drab and dirty.

The colors seem off to me in relation to one another. The one in the living room seems more red and the one in the dining room seems more brown. I would consider going with a rug with a less ornate pattern for the dining room, since you said you wanted it less formal, perhaps something like an ikat or kilim, less detailed, pulling from one of the exact colors or shades of the living room rug. Think you could even pull from the grayish color from the living room rug and it would still coordinate.

Here is a close up of rug colors. Not much brown. Colors are very close to living room rug but,more muted

I thought they looked o.k. together, and the colors seem similar from the pics..I don't like it when things are too matchy and it can get tricky to mix these kinds of patterns...What do you think Kcshenk? Do you think it looks right in your room/lighting and is it the look you want?

Yes, I see what you mean close up - it seems as much a matter of shade as color. Do you like them together? By itself, the rug in the dining room looks beautiful, but as mentioned by Karen Paul Interiors, next to the living room rug, it looks a bit drab in relationship to it. Perhaps think about changing the color palette as she suggested in regard to how much of the different colors you have in thinking of a different rug choice. Perhaps you could pick up more of the vibrant shade from the living room rug in something like the art or other accents in the dining room as another consideration?

Hi, the rugs are not the biggest issue you have here. Because the sofas are brown leather they will probably work better for you on the DR carpet. If I had the option then the next thing I'd do is replace the red rug with something simpler in the DR. Stick with an oriental rug but select something that captures the same tones as the brown rug. Next pull a color like Green or blue from the rugs and use it to add some life to both rooms. You need something which will add contrast and either of these two new colors will make a huge improvement. Accent wall, artwork, objects and pillows in the cool colors will bring the spaces a lot more personality. A large mirror in an earthtone frame on the wall in your DR will reflect the chandalier and add a "window", opening the room and making it interesting.
Art over the two book cases (flanking the fire place) needs to be in a new color. The gold tones are fading into the walls. Paint the inside of the bookcases in green. Coffee table with a sandstone top, not more wood, will add some lift.

I think the rugs are fine and work well together. They are not the same, which they don't have to be, yet, they manage to link your family room and dining area together really well. However, I would add some bright and attention grabbing accessories to your space. Such as colorful wall art, side lamps, floor lamps, throws, accent pillows and etc. Consider painting the walls some color that will make your furniture pop a bit.

PS Your chandalier looks too high and I can't make out the style in your photo.

Do you eat in the dining room? Have kids, grandkids? Ever tip over a glass of wine? I have never understood carpet under food areas. I would stick felt pads on the table and chair legs and spend the rug money on artwork and accessories that bring life and personality to your space. Love the clean lines of your table and chairs!

I think they are fine together…but i agree with turning the rug under the sofa the other direction. Its crowding the fireplace. I think you are on the right track.

Like turning the living room rug 1/4 turn. Looks much nicer to me. But have you tried repositioning the couches so that they are opposite each other rather than in an "L"? Personally think this might look better and also be enough of a visual break that you'd be much freer to choose the other rug based on "like it" rather than "does it match".

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments. If I turn the rug 1/4 turn do I turn the furniture as well? If so, that would make tv viewing tough. It would be tough to have the sofas face each other because then you would have to walk around it to get into the room. I do have a chair and ottoman coming that will help define the room. I will try turning the rug either 1/4 or 1/2 turn. I know what you mean about it crowding the fireplace. Rug is probably too big for the room but, it must be worked with. Thanks again and any additional suggestions (affordable) will be appreciated

Turn just the rug, not the furniture. A chair and ottoman should help as well.

Here is a picture with the rug turned. chair and ottoman are ordered. Artwork yet to be hung. So do you prefer the rug in this direction? Seems to work. Does this influence how you feel about the dining room rug?

It's hard to tell by the pic, wondering if sofa facing t.v. could be moved a tad more away from end table?

beautiful rugs. My help for you would be to select a soldi rich merlot/eggplant colored carpet for the living room and keep the traditional one in the dining room. keep the look separate for the areas that they are.

Sofa is centered on TV and fireplace. I did pull rug a bit closer to the windowed wall but can't go farther because of a heat vent. Small end table or magazine rack might help fill space. Living room rug is too big to fit in dining room

I like the direction of the rug with the quarter turn. Looks much better. I love the rug under your dining table. I wish you had it in the living room. Like an earlier post I think in actuality the sofas would look better with the one under the table but I understand you have to make this work. I'm sure the living room rug is much to large to switch out with the dining. I would keep the one under the table and maybe later get one similar for the living room.

I think as you said an end table at the end of the sofa will help balance the room and the chair and ottoman will sort of cozy it up. You obviously like the rug under the table as do I. If I were you I'd get past this rug thing and put your art on the walls and start to get some eye catching things in place and I don't think the rug will be that big of a deal. Could you could put the couch that is currently on the window on the other side of the room to separate the two rooms. I hate to block windows with a sofa but sometimes it has to be done. I love to look into a window and see a lamp lit on a table. Love to see a chair next to the table at the window. You know "put a candle in the window". Looks so inviting. Might not be feasible in your space though. Let us see your progress. I'm excited for you.

I switched the sofas so the longer one is away from the window and takes up more rug space. Seems to look good. Leaves more room for informal eating area. No furniture there yet . Thanks for the comments.

Looks much better. I like the proportion now. I think when you turned the rug the quarter turn it threw the proportion off. Now it looks better. It's coming along.

Thanks. still can't decide on the rug. I like both rugs, just not sure I like them together. I have, however, done a lot of looking and have not found anything I like better.

Have you made a close-up picture of the living room rug? I know there are a couple of the dining room rug.

While these orientals are beautiful, they seem from another planet in your space. Why not hang your art, place your accessories and then let us suggest rugs that pick up on your style? I don't think it calls for orientals, and something else would make your space a WOW!

I agree with decoenthusiaste.

What color would you like to use as an accent in your space - pillows, accessories, throws??? Is that color in either of the rugs? If not, you're looking at the wrong rugs! If you want to stay neutral, then that's ok too. If family eat in the dining room and there are spills, you'd be surprised at how good looking an indoor/outdoor rug can be, and very large ones can be had at an amazing low price.

I think the rug in the living room is more formal than one under table but I think the one under table would be fine in either living room or dining room with your furniture. I do think if you don't accent appropriately they could look out of place. That was what I was saying last night. You need to go ahead with art and small things so that you can tell how it all looks together. What looks good on the rack doesn't always look as beautiful once on in the dressing room. I fell in love with a tapestry pillow and did not stop until I had my sofa covered in the same fabric and built my whole living and dining motif based upon those colors. It's very traditional so it never really goes out of style. I still have the sofa as it is a family heirloom and I still love to sit in my living room and look at it. A thousand people will give you a thousand different opinions. I think you are doing a great job. Have confidence in yourself and your choices. Like what you like whether it seems wrong to others or not. Nice things are costly so I understand your not wanting to make a mistake but if you like it it's not wrong. I am old so I've gone through country, contemporary, traditional, Victorian and now the old Tuscan look.

Thanks for the support, Debra. discussion has gotten me rather depressed.. I moved from large older home to smaller home with open floor plan. living room rug has been tough to work with because it is so formal, but it was quite expensive and is very good quality. I have a large cocktail ottoman in gray-green ordered and a chair and small ottoman in a tweedy color ordered. I will attach picture with close up of rug pattern with chair fabric and ottoman. If I am making a mistake, it is a whopper.

I think both rugs work fine. I like the fact that they are not identical and have a little variation and still tie together. You really do have a lovely home and please don't feel down, just choose which suggestions you feel will work for you and your situation...as Debra-Debbie stated so well..You are doing a great job! Keep us posted!

After looking at you pictures , very helpful, I suggest a non-oriental rug for the dining room, but one that pulls the ottoman earthy color. It will tie the spaces together without being exactly the same. Two oriental rugs do up the formality and your pictures and furniture look more transitional than formal. If you can, leave the floor blank until you find that rug you intuitively know is right. Good luck!

To kcshenk, This is what I meant by reversing the colors. The problem you are experiencing is your rug is Persian and is most likely a wool-silk combination. So the colors are very pure and bright with the vegetable dyes that are utilized. In order to have something in an oriental rug work it really needs to be made in the same manner with the vegetable dyes and it needs to be from Persia. Jayme made an excellent point that you might consider going to an entirely different genre, while picking up the brights. Long as you are looking at machine-made copies, you will continue to see the washed out, more muddy look. I see you had an earlier rug you were considering and it looked nice. Your rug is a very fine quality. The one on the left (blue) is a Sarouk. Yours might be an Isfahan...but not certain. I posted the blue for sake of argument, but you will want to pick up some of the grayer, blue-greens in your "reversed" rug, as that is what you have in your Persian.

The living room carpet is really busy but I love the one in the dinning room it matches the tables wood

Kcshenk, that rug in your living room rug is so beautiful. It is more beautiful close up. The detail was lost in the camera from far away. I think you are like I am. I get stuck on a detail and can't get past it until its resolved. I have learned a little in 55 years but not much. I still tend to be the same way even now. I think now knowing how costly this rug must have been that you really want to make it work. I don't blame you. I love the chair and ottoman swatches and I think they'll be beautiful with the rug and sofas. Maybe you are in love with both rugs. If you feel they won't work well together then do what was suggested and do a reversal of the colors as was shown in the example. I love both dining and living rugs. They would be ok together but if you truly want to get it closer to the living room rug there will always be that difference in color intensity and pattern. Years ago I would have loved the living room rug first and dining second. Today I feel the opposite. What I'm trying to say is that your taste changes. Oriental and Persian rugs are not cheap. If you are not completely satisfied with the dining as it relates to the living then keep looking. It seems that your art is very different than the formality your living rug cries for. I love the art with the sofas but I'm not sure I like it with the rug in the living room. Nevertheless if you need to work with what you have then that's what you have to do. It seems that your living room rug needs a richness that I don't see in your framed art, but then it's only one piece. Oh my goodness I hope I'm not confusing you more because that's the last thing I want to do. I analyze everything and think about it to the point of being a nervous wreck when I'm making decorating decisions. I'll see something you don't see, you'll see something I don't see and Jayme will see something else. God made us all unique so like Jayme said, take some of the insight given by all of us but just take what makes sense to you. So far you have made beautiful choices in your sofas and chair and ottoman, and dining table. I love your living room rug and that darned rug under the table, well, you haven't "bit the bullet" yet. You will find what you want. I think I know what you need and I've begun looking for you too. I am going to pray for God to give you direction and peace about your decisions. Sorry this is so long but I felt as if you needed some sisterly or motherly encouragement.

Thanks everyone. You are right about tastes changing. I loved the rug when I bought it 20 years ago. It looked lovely in my 1920s home. It's just not working so well in my new house. I was hoping there would be a magic way to make it work. I will see how it looks with chair and ottoman and go from there. Thanks again

Yes, I have one I bought in the 70's - beautiful but not suited to my present space. I'm going to try and sell it, but it is a Qum and I don't know if people are spending that kind of $$ on rugs right now.

The sofas and the rug are very rich...right now the walls/windows are lacking drapery, etc..If u really want to keep the rug, I would concentrate on accessorizing the rest of the area to tie into the richness...with wall art and some draperies, etc. I have seen tons of newer homes with lovely rugs such as yours. You have nice floors, higher ceilings like an older home does...your home does not appear ultra-modern to me.

Rug to look at.

Fine handmade rugs always go together. Different story with machine made rugs. This matchy-matchy thing with rugs is uniquely American, nowhere else in the world it is like that. In the countries where the handmade rugs are made, all kinds are put together. Each is a piece of art. If you are not sure what to do, have a rug made for the dining room. Use broad loom. Have the center in a plain color you pull out of the rug you have already, then make several borders also from colors you pulled out of your existing rug.

I love the look of some variation! And I have seen it done beautifully with rugs like these.

First of all, I think the ottoman and coffee table look like they will work beautifully. I am still not sure - are you leaning towards the rug that you have on the LR floor? I have to say, I think I prefer the 2nd one, only because the larger scale of the pattern seems to be just a bit less formal. I would bring it home and try it, if I were you.

I know that you are still in the process of decorating the house, but I think one of the things that might be "off" is that you need more richness in the wall color to counterbalance the dark tones of the furniture and rugs. For instance, I would paint the back wall of your DR (and maybe the soffit and fascia of the ceiling, if there is a place to stop the color) in a much darker version of your wall color. I would also do this on the fireplace wall. Also, as someone else said, the chandelier is too high - it should hang approximately 30" above the table (60" above the floor). Again, to balance the colors, I would add some nice drapery panels in a saturated color, too. I know that this is kind of off the topic you asked about, but adding these richer tones throughout will make the rugs work better together and in the space.

Yes I used to sell rugs I think they are beautiful together. Rugs are like art work no two should match. Colors should blend with one another .

I, too, bought a very expensive wool rug 20+ years ago. We put it in storage for 10 years while we lived and traveled on our boat. When we returned to reality, we built a small house...two problems: the rug was too big for the living room in the new house and, moths had eaten the nap in several spots. As it was (and still is) a beautiful rug, and I knew that I couldn't sell it in its current condition, I decided to put it in the guest bedroom. Is there another room where you can put your rug?

You can put rugs in every room. I even have a beautiful rug in the kitchen. Also, rugs can be repaired, maybe it's worth doing that? You might take it to a reputable rug dealer and ask.

To kcshenk, That you have ordered some things and hope they go with your living room oriental rug is a good thing. These rugs are so forgiving on every level. That you feel it is formal is a shame, as the formaiity of the rugs comes with whatever formal furniture you place with them. You have very simple leather pieces that will work, no matter the rug. Whatever you throw at these rugs, they will be very accepting of the newer additions. Whatever you chose may not have been the match made in heaven, but "rug forgiveness) is huge. It happens because of the design and the number of colors the average Oriental holds. These are all good things. Many people get crazy about these rugs and stress over how busy they are (they are not), what goes with them, ad nauseum. They are so very easy to work with. I am so sorry your tastes have changed over the years. I just die a little when I see someone favor a machined rug over a real Persian, but that's they way the mop flops Henry. Whatever you decide will hopefully, be in favor of your tastes and what you love.

Looks good to me.