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Granite Grannies That rug is gorgeous! When you are working with oriental rugs (and I have a whole house full of them so I've gotten some experience under my belt decorating with them), don't decorate Around them. You'll never be able to find only prints and colors that perfectly coordinate. Some other oriental style rungs would be a great look, even if they don't "match." If you don't like them, then I would recommend finding something with pattern. Intentionally putting together patterns that aren't "matching" can be a really great look if you do it right. A southwestern style run might look nice in an adjoining room as well. Of course you could always go for a solid color or a simple geometric pattern to draw on the angles in the oriental rug.

If you're trying to accomplish a bit more modern look, try finding furniture with narrow legs. Those leather pieces are very heavy and fight with the more delicate pattern of the rug. I think if you change out the furniture, you'll find that the rug might become much more appealing.

couch styles that might go well (not the colors)
1958 Mid Century Modern Living Room Remodel

Paddington Dark Grey 3-Seat Couch

1958 Mid Century Modern Remodel- Sunroom Conversion

Carmel Mid-Century LEED

This ideabook featuring a beautifully decorated Frank Lloyd Wright house had some great furniture and rug/ oriental and southwestern pattern combinations....maybe the great American's Architect's work will inspire you:

Houzz Tour: An Architectural Relic Thrives in the Heartland of Ohio 1

Houzz Tour: An Architectural Relic Thrives in the Heartland of Ohio 2


Hope this all helps!

Amy Thanks Granite Grannie! :-) Yes, it is a beautiful rug....it wouldn't have been my choice but I do appreciate it. I will take a look at the links you sent me. I definitely don't want modern......just a bit more contemporary/an updated take on traditional. I'm 38....so I don't want my home to feel like my grandma/great-grandma's home. :-)

ASVInteriors Sometime one has to make lemonade out of lemons (but you have a lovely lemon!) . I inherited a carpet that I didn't want and in an attempt to get it out the way, threw it over a sofa and shoved some cushions on it. It now is a favorite spot for my kids who love it!!!


This may help to deal with your dilemma in an original manner ... Even if only for the interim

Granite Grannies The mismatched furniture and the couch is what says grandma most to me. You might also want to take a look at what the color of that banister is doing for the whole room. It might look more updated in a white or a darker color.

kitasei Gee, I'd say your husband has rather good taste. It's good looking and functional. Why not live with it for a year before staging a coup?

Amy Lol.... Funny you should say that about the banister granite Grannies! We actually just redid our floors, which is why they don't match. Our banister is going to be done in a couple of weeks. :-) The floor used to be the same maple color.
My husband will appreciate your comment Kitasei! :-)

Amy Any way to move this to the top of the discussion board again (lol)? :-/

Jessica Boulder Love the leather couches!

mmilos Your husband has great taste. Love the rug and leather.
I would swap out the coffee table for an iron and glass one to lighten up the look.
Reupholster the wing chair.

Amy Thanks Jessica and mmilos! I think the couches are okay but I just think the color of them is wrong with the rug. :-/
What color would you suggest for the wing chair? :-)

mmilos I'm thinking navy for the chair. Add some navy throw pillows.

decoenthusiaste Rug is lovely. I think I might pick up on the sage tone for pillows and the wing, just to keep it from being too heavy. Then add it to the dining chair seats. Leave the other floors exposed without rugs for a while. You can put a simple sisal bordered with navy at the door for now. Start your own ideabooks here at Houzz in the meantime, and spend a year spoiling your husband. Share your ideabooks with him and take him shopping occasionally just to point out what you like, not to actually buy. When a birthday or other occasion comes up he'll already know what would make you happy!

Amy Love your idea! :-) However, I can't change the seats in the dining room as they were just done recently. :-( Maybe someday… :-)

Judy M Love the carpet. how about velvet on the chair?

Amy Thanks Judy. Velvet might be nice. :-)

Amy decoenthusiaste....I actually don 't have host and hostess chairs so perhaps I can make them the same color as the wing chair when I redo it. ;-)

feeny I agree with others, the carpet is simply lovely (and not one of the mass produced ones you see so often), and I like all the furniture in the living room except the mismatched wing chair. You may not like reds, but these are rather beautiful tones--kind of plummy reds, rather than bright Christmas colors. Really beautiful. Don't tinker too much--hubby has some lovely stuff.

Amy Thanks Feeny. Are you suggesting I do the wing chair in this tone of red?? Thanks for the feedback. Let me know if you have any suggestions on other rugs that would compliment this rug! Unless I go with the suggestion of not using rugs for now in the foyer and dining room. :-)

feeny No, I'd probably do the wing chair in another color taken from the rug. But definitely in a solid, with some texture, and something that will also look good with the sofa color. You'll need to bring some fabric swatches home to try them in the room. I was just trying to suggest that your general dislike of red (which I share, when we are talking about Christmas or American flag reds in a carpet), shouldn't extend to this lovely subtle plummy shade you have in the carpet.

Amy Thanks Feeny. Great advice. :-)

feeny About the other rugs, if it were my house I'd bring home some orientals to try out from a good rug store--perhaps with designs that are a bit more geometric or tribal, maybe soumaks or kilims--that pick up on some of the colors in your living room rug. But I'm a bigger fan of antique and tribal oriental rugs than it sounds like you are, so others may have suggestions that don't force you in that (admittedly expensive) direction.

Amy This is the fabric I have on my dining chairs, which are new....so I can't change them at this point. :-/ One of many mistakes I have probably made. Ugh. Do you all think need to use the same colors on this seat for the wing chair or can I go with a sage or some other color from the rug?
Thanks for all the help!!

Amy Ooops...forgot to post the seat material! The computer screen throws off the color a bit. :-/

applecider1111 I really like your rugs , will give your my opinion later

libradesigneye Hi there - to get the transitional look you want, all you need to do is add modern art, and modern fabrics. I've got some DIY prescriptions, and some bigger long term plans that will help you LOVE this room and appreciate mr. big red.

All the new rugs, should be navy based - go for navy and wedgewood blue orientals - and yes, if you can cover the wing chair pretty soon, you will have that living room (GORGEOUS) looking like you want. You love transitional and transitional will work great with what you've got.

First stop - a fabric palette for the room that helps tie it all together. Layering prints and fabrics is what will help you see what it can become. I've pulled three print fabrics at different scales that would all work together - one to pull the colors together on the leather, one to recover the wing chair and one that would be amazing as drapery panels - if not here, then in the adjacent dining room to repeat your color palette and add softness and color. Thankfully the red tones are cinnamon red not bright red and that works with the leather well.

To eventually recover the chair - http://beautifulfabric.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&page=1&categoryID=18&productID=7187&pStart=200&recNum=298
a small classic print in navy and bone
Pillows for the leather couches - you can do these yourself - a lumbar pillow for the chair and recover your ivory ones now. What is important about these is the range of tones in the overscale paisley is that it ties the leather tones, the navy tones and the rusty red together for the eye. http://www.calicocorners.com/product/designer+fabrics+for+the+home/shop+fabrics+by+color/blue/zena+-+iman+home+fabrics+gem.do
And finally, the fresh drapery for the dining french door wall on a fat rod - one panel width each at both corners and between window and door - just for softness and color and sound in the dining space. You can make drapery panels yourself - one width for each panel should be perfect.
http://www.calicocorners.com/product/designer+fabrics+for+the+home/shop+fabrics+by+color/red/santa+marie+gem.do Since it has an ivory background, buy enough now to make a lumbar pillow to put on the ivory chair you've got. Add a navy throw to the ivory chair.

Just adding these two fabrics to this room as pillows will tell the eye what your color story is for not too much, and make you instantly happier. These formal areas can be the last place you see any red - from here on, go navy,tan/ivory neutrals, and introduce some citrus greens - I have a fabric for this too - imagine your kitchen and family space with this as your inspiration fabric - http://beautifulfabric.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&page=1&categoryID=18&productID=8641&pStart=200&recNum=231
navy tweed sofa, kiwi print chairs, pops of bright gold . . . you see how it can transition to what you adore everywhere else, but still be cohesive. The rusty red actually may grow on you, as it does lend some formality - but it needs to be an accent and not dominate like you feel it does now.

Maybe buy art together every year for your anniversary - shop together for something modern to add to this room. One thing I learned the hard way, because I have blue too - stick here with true blues when you add them, not aqua / blue-green blues. When you layer blues throughout your home, make sure you select the chambray, cobalt, sky family and not the spa/teal/turquoise shades.

Finally, if the sideboard is not a precious antique (and I looked around carefully to find something I thought wasn't), then this is the other place to make a blue stand. Wedgewood blue paint, distressed back at the molding details and waxed in with new hardware - something you can do yourself - will help repeat the blue you want more of and add some transitional elements. Select a more transitional hardware in oil rubbed bronze tones to match your light fixtures and new curtain rod!

Amy WOW! Thank you for all the wonderful help libradesigneye!! I will look at every link you provided at use your tips. Unfortunately, the dining chairs AND buffet table are new so we won't be changing those anytime soon. They are black with rubbed distressing. The chendelier is black and antique pewter. We also have a pewter light in the foyer. Right now we have a large gold mirror over our fireplace, which I think I need to get rid of now that we have pewter lights. :-/ I'm SURE I've made mistakes and really should have gotten on this site before we made some of the purchases we did but I'm trying to do what I can with the things I need to keep.
Thanks again!!! The time you took to help me is so kind and very appreciated!

Amy libradesigneye....REALLY love the fabric idea(s) for the chair and pillows! :-)

shortped Style

Amy Thanks shortped. A bit TOO much stuff for my taste in the living room but some good ideas! :-)

libradesigneye Amy, the gold mirror is classic - do not take it down. Accents don't have to match exactly, and if it bugs you, go buy some craft paint in platinum and layer it thinly over the gold so you will have both elements of gold and silver in it. You have so many beautiful things - and FYI, if you purchase from a store like Ethan Allen or Pottery Barn, they have complimentary design services.

Amy Thanks libra! We actually bought our dining chairs, buffet table, and our couch in the family room from Ethan Allen. I think the designer we used should have been a bit more thoughtful with some things....such as the fabric on the chairs...but Ce La Vie. You have been SO helpful! I wish you were close by to come help me (lol). :-)

Amy Libra....here are images of the mirror (not much lighting right now) and the pewter light in the foyer. You think the two are okay together?? I like your idea of craft paint. The mirror reflects NOTHING beautiful (lol).

libradesigneye I see what you mean - I'd love to see you have a beautiful piece of art there but for now, the scale of this is great for your high ceilings. You would like the way the craft paint works - it is the platinum that has gold and silver elements to it - that way you aren't trying to convert it to pewter, you are just letting it have both elements.

shortped Picture for above fireplace?

Amy Nice pic but hubby REALLY wants a mirror there. Not a battle I want to have. :-)

shortped How about a compromise? Mirrored sconces and a pic?

libradesigneye Amy - one more thing. I moved into my husbands home when we married, and that was traumatic for both of us. Once I did one room that he loved - by adding layers instead of subtracting and criticising, he relaxed and let me go because he started to trust my taste. I've recovered many things since then . . .Congratulations on your wedding - and every once in awhile you can remind him that you had to make the big adjustment while he is surrounded by his familiar surroundings.

Amy Thanks Libradesigneye and Shortped! I will definitely use some of your thoughts and ideas! You've been a great help and I appreciate it very much. :-)

Vicki Saul I have a similar Persian rug that was my grandparent's. I paired it with a zebra hide in my foyer. It all flows into a more neutral living room with a neutral Aubusson on the wall.

Vicki Saul Here's the Aubusson

Vicki Saul I suggest a knowle style sofa with that wingback. I prefer a single cushion knowle but if you a single cushion then a triple will be fine. A camelback like the one in this picture would work with the wingback also but you will have to be careful with the fabric you choose for it.

pitbulls i'M NOT A FAN OF THE WING CHAIR IN THE ROOM.i LIKE THE LEATHER FURNITURE AND RUG.

Amy Thanks for your opinion pitnulls. Do you generally not like wing chairs or just not in this room? I can't get rid of it but I could move it to another room. I like the leather couch and chair but I really don't like the color of them with the rug. :-/

pitbulls I'm not a huge fan of wing chairs but I'd move it into a bedroom or another space.A reading nook??It seems too formal for the more transitional vibe going on in your room.I'm not a red person either but your red looks more like a rust color? I have a oriental carpet with a rust red . Have fun.

mariakeating I'm not a fan of the wing chair in this setting, I think it looks too traditional. Could you move it to another room in your home, and maybe purchase a new chair for the LR? Have you ever considered changing the furniture placement of your livingroom? Try turning the sofa to face the fireplace and place the chairs on either side of the fireplace facing the sofa.