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avila2012 Hey! I had a similar predicament in my London home. I went with an oriental rug with lovely beiges,rusts and subtle greens. The colours of the rug then inspired the curtains and other decor. Let your GF experience the oriental rug for a while, maybe she'll like it! Please note I'm no decorator just a simple bystander!

Aggie Purvinska Go with something in between! An oriental rug with beige or light blues or grays or greens, and definitely a large.

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parsleycarrots Your sofa and floors are nearly the same tone. The room seems a little dreary, like it needs a blast of color. I really like the combo of brown, cream and a lighter teal blue or aqua blue. It's an unexpected but very appealing and modern color combo. It's gender neutral, too, so should appeal to both you and your lady. Some throw pillows in a natural monk's cloth, or other rough-looking, natural fiber cover would look great against the leather sofa. Don't go too frou-frou girly, though--ruffles and pink don't fit. Some images of the possibilities include the pillows from Linens-n-things, the rug from FloorsUSA, and an interesting painting from an artist on deviantArt.

I think you have a blank slate with some great potential!

decoenthusiaste if the rug goes under the sofa it may hit that wall beside it and look crowded. Have you tried turning the sofa the other way? It looks to be blocking off the room. I'd turn it and get a rug that its front feet can sit on and that fills the area of the sofa plus 6 inches or so extra on each outside arm of the sofa.

carole i think because of all the factors that cannot be changed right now,wall color (WHY PINK????) the settee, i would say go for the oriental rug!!it will look best with what there is.

Carolina Photo To Go LLC I would choose artwork first so you can find something you truly love. Do you want abstract or something with a theme such as a favorite place or city, coastal. Go to Etsy.com and input what might appeal to you in the search engine. I have a photography shop, nancyhehmann on there. Might even be horses. If you want something for a larger budget Park West Galleries have a website and you can get originals or limited editions (they might even go up in value over time)

Once you get your artwork then choose an area rug. If you decided on coastal, blue or teal might be the colors you choose. If it is agricultural setting, it might be green if there was grass or wheat. JCPenney.com has some reasonable rugs or go to a local rug dealer.

And it all depends on what style you are thinking of too. You can perhaps get a flat top trunk for a coffee table. That would be a very masculine look - you could coat it with polyurethane or have a nonbreakable piece of glass made for it. Check antique stores or Ebay for trunks.

Click on link below to see another style rug that could go with your sofa and perhaps art selection if it has blue in it.
http://www.houzz.com/photos/products/blue-with-brown-area-rug/p/180

Terri Bennett, Allied ASID My general philosophy is to put pattern and color on the floor and keep walls and larger furnishings (like sectionals) neutral. Accessories and art to relate to your rug color choice. In choosing your rug find a color that coordinates with adjacent rooms to create a continuous, pulled together look.