These are the neutral options I'm considering:

Seagrass is the most practical w price and clean-ability etc., but seems a little blah

I love the texture of this Jute one (I think this is the one atkillery had?), but stains scare me. Neutral but textually interesting

And this will bring color in, but be neutral w my wall color being similar. Wear issues here as well

Bold options I'm considering:

I like that this one is wool, which I prefer over synthetic

This one is wool as well

I love the whimsy here, but Polypropylene

More Bold options:

I'm really drawn to this one, subtle and colorful, but Polypropylene again

These I both like because it is a traditional design, but nontraditional colors, but Polypropylene again

Thanks in advance for everyone's patience, and putting up w all the pics!

I think your selections are really attractive and I do like color as well. I like both the jute ones (especially the chevron one) but also like you I am not sure about the staining and wearing of it . I don;t know how it feels etc. I think I like the jute one with the blue/green in it but hard to say how the color will work but that is very nice as well.

I too like pattern and color l and the only ones I think I would vote against are the first batch bold options-- color ones with the dots and swirls; . To me, although they are quite attractive, somehow they seem to say "2014-2016" ; meaning they are on trend but maybe will look a tad dated sooner than you would like.

I like the "subtle but propelyene " one and also do like traditional with non traditional colors but I don/t know that those specific rugs will work with your colors.

I love the sofa, but I'm not sure its traditional style goes with your chair selections. They seem contemporary and maybe something more transitional would marry better?

I really like the chevron jute rug and think the texture and neutral color is perfect for that room. I think the eye will flow across the living area to the dining area seamlessly, as opposed to having a "HEY, LOOK AT ME!" rug, if that makes sense.

I think you can go bold with artwork and accessories, and let the neutral rug anchor everything.

I love the second rug. I love the thickness and texture of it.

that wold be my choice.

I love all of your choices for furniture! I like the second rug. It will add some textural interest to your space.

aktillery is the chevron one that we all think is awesome similar to what you had? I am intrigued with it too. how do you clean it? do you vacuum like any rug and how does it feel on the feet? And, where's it from? :)

Sheila, the one I had was from Home decorators. It is not easy to clean. Hence, could not get cat urine out of it. The one here has a chevron pattern. Mine did not. It was chunky knots basically.

To the OP, I wanted to say I think your sofa can work in any style. Here are some examples..

I also like the natural rugs. I layered mine with a oriental on top. I've since changed out the accent pillows.

Here is the company I used. They were awesome. You can order a custom size (which is what I did) They'll send you samples too:

https://www.sisalrugs.com

Great customer service.

I spilled a blackberry smoothie on it once - called them up and they told me what to do to clean it. Totally the opposite of what I would have done.

You can't tell it happened.

jpmom, what did they tell you to do to clean it?

You should also search your local Craigslist for chairs. I've been looking for a MCM accent chair. Here are some listings from our CL, just to give you an idea of what you can find:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/5575973964.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/fuo/5530341572.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/fud/5532398647.html

Either keep as is or reupholster!

DO NOT put water on it. Suck it up with a wet vac - and just blot, blot, blot with a very damp (almost dry) rag. It was like magic

I really like the warm red color in your original rug and would like to see that in your new one. It adds warmth to the whole scheme, assuming that's what you also want. The chevron is nice but that material is not friendly to knees. I prefer something softer underfoot.

Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate the thoughtful responses. What really resonated is not wanting to have the rug shout look at me! I hopefully will have a room that is visually interesting but not have one single thing that dominates.

So the Jute rug has been ordered! At less than $300 I figured I could deal w potential wear issues.

I also appreciate the input on the chairs. I want the room to have pieces that tie it to the period of the house (1920's), but I don't want to be limited to that style only. Thanks for the pics atkillery, those are good inspiration pics of what I'd like to achieve, layered, bold, but still tasteful. Ideally, I'd like to get a couple of used, antique chairs, and reupholster them in colorful fabric. But finding the right used pieces takes time and patience, neither of which I have a lot of! But maybe I'll find something on CL, which is more efficient than going to antique stores. It just seems to me that SoCal CL is lacking compared to other areas of the country.

a) I'd go with color-simply for a reason that you sound like somebody who'll always crave it and won't really love something solid. It will work great-but you won't love it with all your heart. I might be wrong..just my impression from your post.

b) You can go with seagrass rug (for example) as a large base-but then find something smallish yet quality, and colorful too-like wool-and put it on top. Then you'll have your size, your color, and two interesting textures together.

c) If you think it's too much, and you'd really love to choose a rug from those you picked already-I vote for the little red fishes one:) Just the right amount of whimsy and reservation. The colors are there but easy to work with. I also love how it has both shapes and stripes, without being too overwhelming. And there is something Craftsman-Bungalo-ish about it, that I find hard to explain:)

Oh. I see I'm late..:) Jute will work great, and you can always layer on it too if so you wish later.

(SoCal CL does seem lacking sometimes. One needs to be there and check a lot in order to score. For example in a past couple of days I saw more interesting things there than during a past couple of months. No idea why it happened.

I did buy some of my favorite furnishings on CL-but I hunted it for weeks sometimes months. )

Thanks April. I'm trying to balance my love of color with the fact that this house feels "grown up" and sophisticated, compared to my last mid century modest little box of a home. The Jute was inexpensive, so I won't be sad to ditch it if I'm unhappy with it.

And thanks to those who encouraged me to get on to CL. Look what I found! Getting delivered on Tuesday!

That's a cool chair. Much nicer than the ones you posted earlier IMO.

Great find on the chair. The jute rug is very nice, too! Just want to add, do not discount polypropylene rugs-they are soft, easy to clean, wear very, very well. I really liked the last two traditional patterns, but bright colors ones you posted-I think they are fun.