I really like that. Only problem is that I need something around 8 x 10. You're right though; the colors work. Thanks for the suggestion. It helps me get some direction.

Haven't done much, just moved some pictures and got rid of the various things I had on the bookcases. Now, it's just books. No luck with rugs yet, but I keep looking. :-) Started a small bathroom fix up until then. :-)

I ab so lute ly love what you've done. The curtains are perfect, the bookcases all on one wall and filled with books... terrific, the art collection above the sofa... wonderful! I love everything about your room and I'm kind of proud to have been part of this process. I hope that you are as happy with the result so far. Thanks for keeping us updated.

I am very happy, and I couldn't have done it without you! Many thanks for everyone's patience, support, and suggestions!

I finally had some time to check back to see how your project went (or is going). I think it turned out really nice! Perhaps if your stumped on an area rug, you may want to check a local carpet store. If you find a pattern of carpet that works for your room, many times you can have the edges sewn/finished off - in the size that is best for your room. I worked with one carpet store that added a backing to the carpet, so it didn't damage the floor. The price was determined by the sq. ft. price of the carpet plus a reasonable charge to finish the edges. It turned out really nice! Had a little pattern within the carpet, that added just the right amount of interest without being busy. I would suggest to take some dimensions with you (1.over all room and the 2.size needed to go under your sofas, and maybe 3.not to go under sofas- but up to sofa legs, and 4. any options you're debating). The carpet professionals can help you out. Hope this helps you out. (You may be way done with this already- but if not- have fun!)

Things are looking great and you will find the right rug, it usually happens when you quit looking so hard. Enjoy your room as it is you will want to change it out again in the future, we all do. I have enjoyed this blog and the input. You have had many great suggestions and it has been fun being a part of your project.

Just came back for a look. Looked at the photos again. How about one accent wall (the one with the bookcases) painted in a deep rust color? The other walls could be a beige maybe.

Haven't been back here for a while. Took a much needed break. I've been looking for rugs here and there and couldn't really come up with anything. Today, I was wasting time at HomeGoods (bad idea, I know), when I came upon this rug. It's pretty big at 9.5X12.2, which would mean that table, sofa and love seat would all fit on the rug with room to spare at all sides. Best part: $399!!! I know the size and quality of rug make this price a steal, I just needed some advice on color/pattern. There is a dark blue color surrounding some flowers that does not show up well on the picture.

Wow - Nice Find! It looks like the style you had pulled out in some of your 'likes'. Does the color work with your sofa and things? Hard to tell by picture without it being in your room. Can you buy and take back if it doesn't work? (I know it's a lot of work to do that.) Nice find again!

With the many shades of brown and beige in the rug, it looks perfect with the furniture. I have but two concerns: that the dark brown in the rug with the dark bookcases will make the room look blah and that the pattern is "busy". HomeGoods has a pretty decent return policy, so that shouldn't be an issue, but it's soooooo big that getting it there and back would be crazy. Might be the best option though.

I was reading through the comments again and Carolins, I think, suggested a darker rug to anchor the bookcases. I can see her point, but I don't want the room to become too monotone.

I've attached a pic of the room. It was taken at night so the tint isn't very true. Sofas are identical in color to the lightest brown in the rug, while the dark brown in the rug is darker than the picture taken during the day.

Hi again :-)
If the colours look good to you (you can see how off they look on screen), I'd go for it. The darker colours in the rug will 'tie in' with the bookcases. Cool find!

If you decide to bring it home be sure to take some pix and post them. I would love to see how it looks in your room. Since you were going for the library look I think it will look great with your space. Maybe get some dark blue pillows for your sofa and love seat and mix em' up.

I sure will. I'm glad you mentioned dark blue pillows. I was really wanting to bring that color into the room, but didn't know whether it would work. Keep your fingers crossed that the rug fits into my Subaru! Lol. :-)

Pick a day when you can leave the window down and let the rug hang out a little ways. That way you can admire it all the way home. Better yet call on a friend with a pick up truck. Wish I lived close by. I'm still thinking teal for a good match but wait for the rug to talk to you. If the rug stays then you will know what you want to do about your wall color also.

The gods are against me. I'm getting ready to go and
pick up the rug when wind picks up, rain pours down and before I know it, I'm in the middle of a tornado warning!!! What an insane day. I'm lucky that everything is fine here, but further south of me tornados touched down and destroyed homes. Times like this I feel how ridiculous/absurd life is... Here I am worried about rug color while people are losing their homes. What a day.

Yes, I saw on the news here that there have been tornadoes in the mid-west of the US. So sorry for everyone involved :-(

Update: Thankfully all is well here. I took my husband to see the rug in store. His response: "Boring!" I saw his point, the various browns would leave little color to play with. Not very "mad professor library".

So I've been stalking craigslist. Found this today. It's a 9X13 Persian, which would almost cover the whole room. In great condition except for one corner that looks like a puppy got to it. They're asking $250, because of the damage. What do you guys think?

Two more pics

Rugsusa.com is having 70% off everything!!!! They have tons and tons of rugs. I threw an $800 rug in my cart to see if it was really 70% and it went down to just over $200! I say check out there before you buy a rug that has damage. You can get a beautiful one for your budget. :)

I think you would be happier with something with more muted tones; can't picture this rug in your room. Keep checking craigslist the right one will come along.

I had identical rug ,very practical and long lasting,but worn out in couple spots and I had to sell it very cheap. So if you should try to reduce asking price, they are not going to sell it so easy.

My problem is that i really prefer the traditional Persian rugs, so it's hard to find something less busy and modern that I like. Thoughts on these?

Not sure about the scripted one but I love the other one. Is there a border on the scripted rug? You had been thinking of painting the wall/walls green has that changed? If so you may want to use that color in your rug. Just food for thought.

If you like that red rug buy it and hide chewed part,but make sure you dont pay more than 200$.

I was holding off on wall color until I found a rug I liked. Figured it would be easier to match paint to rug than the other way around.

What about this one?

I like second one better. What other options do you have?
This is your first one

Similar to second one

I think the rug with the script would be great with the theme you are trying to accomplish in the room.

Hi Odinsdottiir3- I went back over the various discussions about your room. I know the rug is a major deciding factor for the total outcome of the room. I have a couple of questions: 1. Do you like the pictures of rooms with deeper paint colors or lighter colors (like the existing color)? 2. Do you prefer primary colors to work with, or various tones, shades of color? 3. The Craig's list rug has primary colors - does this look good with your kitchen colors, and more importantly, with your artwork colors? 4. Do you like to periodically change pillow colors and floral colors, according to seasons (or just for the fun of it)? You may be able to tell, I would lean more to an area rug that may have touches of the colors you already love and have. Then, from there, you can pull out a wall color (or accent pillow colors, floral colors, etc). If the rug colors go with your other rooms and your artwork, it would be a nice foundation for the room. You want your eyes to see the emphasis on a 'library' look - the books and artwork and the rug. Not just the rug. I do like the paisley rug on the left in your Sunday's posting. Has touches of all color, (except maybe blue) that were previously talking about. If one of deeper colors were pulled out for one wall, or all walls, it would make the rug 'pop' along with your artwork, furniture and drapes. Then your room will have that "Wow" factor! Hope this helps. Have Fun!

Not crazy about the bright red but it's your house if you like it work with it.

This discussion is Houzz at its top notch best. The room in question has come so far it's unbelievable! I hope to see the end result, the rug, new wall color, etc. Congratulations to everyone involved.

For the mad literature professor look I think I would "mess up" your books a bit on the bookcases - have some stacked on their sides to add a bit of interest.

This is a very old post.

leelee - this is an older post but wouldn't you love to see what the room looks like now? Just curious what rug she settled on and any other changes she has made in the room since.

Since she was rearranging 2-3 times a year - it would be fun to see.

I came home from work one afternoon to a surprise from my well-intentioned hubby- the red Bhakara rug no one seems to like! I've been avoiding putting up any pictures as I'm stuck with it for the unforeseeable future. We haven't painted...seems I'm, once again, limited. Nonetheless, enjoying the change the room has been through. I am, however, considering adding two more bookcases to complete the wall-o-books. :-)

We all want to see it!! There is always hope--

Just out of curiosity - is that the red one from Craig's list? That was really nice of your husband! Lucky to have such a nice surprise!

I had previously suggested to paint the wall in one of the red tones that you have in a glaze faux finish and also to bring the drapes higher. Looking at the space again you can also move the book shelves behind the sofa to the wall where you have the paint (still paint it in a red) and move the small console with the painting behind the sofa. The console is too small for the wall and the paint will look nice behind the sofa. The small corner unit you have in the wall where the windows are move it to the other side and move the floating shelves where the corner unit is now. Also try to find an area rug with the color scheme you have that will unify the space.

Hi odinsdottir3, Marie here.
You've come a long way - but the room is still falling flat. I don't like the paint colour because you haven't complimented it with anything in the room that is substantial to make sense of that choice. And, you certainly have got a lot of free advice here - some from fellow professionals, some not.
I'd mix up your bookshelves, adding a vase here, box there, changing up the books to stack ontop of each other.
I also remove the pictures on top of the bookshelves - artwork needs to be at eye level height.
I'd relocate the floral painting in the corner on window wall, you can't appreciate it there.
Paint - I'm not big on the yellow paint colour, you have too much yellow in the room - and the wall colour is washing out the hardwood. I'd rethink that all together, and colour blocking isn't the answer either, because I think your hardwood is throughout - so I'd rethink that and seriously consider going an alternate base paint colour throughout.
Love the wall of art, now some rug suggestions for you...
First rug is a Rag Rug in autumn colours that bring together the red,coral yellow tones in your room. The sofa's, drapery and bookshelves are now neutral, and you need to punch up the wow factor with colour.
Second rug is a graphic pattern in coral - which relates back to your coral green scheme,
or you can continue to play it safe with neutral (last rug). In any event, you've done a really great job of editing down what advice you've been given, and you now have some amazing options for an area rug to complete the look. Make sure that the area rug is large enough to go under each sofa. Good Luck!

Some inspiration photos to add colour to your bookshelves - good luck!

I'm so surprised that people are still interested and commenting. Thank you! Well, here are some pictures as the room looks now, with my husband's "surprise" Bokhara rug (which absolutely, positively has to stay or he'd kill me). I know that the very light floors make it look like it's floating, but we just can't afford to replace the floors now... hoping that next summer, they will be outta here!

I'm still open to wall color changes, but I've been waiting for the school year to be over so that I'd have more time on my hands to paint.

Lastly, I realize that books on bookcases make them look busy; however, I have so many books that I need to fill the bookcases (every, and I do mean every, room in my house has at least one bookcase full of books), and quite frankly, with regard to the books, I'm a purist and really do like the library look. I'm not the crazy cat lady down the street, but the crazy book lady!

Looks Lovely Odin - regarding your books, my Dad and I are also collectors, and you can edit and choose only the very best books to be displayed in your more formal room, and "cram" books in those shelves that are in rooms that are more private. Your shelves are neat and tidy - that's not the issue, I just find if you mix it up a bit it becomes more interesting. Good Luck.

Like!

I feel like all the comments have confused you to a point where you have lost your first vision for your room. Take a deep breath, step back and look at your space and keep chasing "your" goal. You can't please all the people all the time so just please yourself.

You could do a paisley drape with some red in it to coordinate with the rug. Hey, that rug is not bad and it fits the space! Gotta love that guy since he is interested. I still think if you could do wall to wall bookcases it would look great - that little table is taking up precious book space. Then maybe a floor lamp in front of the book case to give good light for reading. If you want to paint you could do a darker blue from the rug. If you don't want to paint the room looks good just the way it is.

I would love to paint the room. It's been this color since we moved in ten years ago. My kitchen is green and looks out into the living room. I wouldn't want the space to get too dark...

Use the tool you used earlier and try a few different colors on the bookshelf wall. How about a soft teal?

Summer (should be) right around the corner - so school will be out soon - Wow- hard to believe! I was just reading thru things, and looking at your new photos. There was just a couple of things that I wasn't sure if you had tried. Did you ever put one of the sofas in front of your kitchen opening/pass-thru? The other sofa can stay in front of the windows, but they don't necessarily need to be centered with the window. More like a conversation corner. Perhaps a small table could be put on the (foyer) end so when entering into your house, the guest see the end table/accent area. The higher plants could be in the corner / right side of the windows, for height. Again, so it looks good from the foyer. Also, perhaps turn the rug in the other directions, running parallel with the windows. The last idea, is to get a nice comfy reading chair, a floor lamp, and a smaller table for stacking your latest collection of reading materials on and perhaps a spot for a cup of coffee. This could be along the wall of pictures. The fabric of the reading chair could be a fun, whimsical one, or perhaps a more traditional style. What ever you choose, this will add to your ideas for what to paint the wall(s) in the room in the future. Have fun!