Q: I am assembling my living room (the room was completely bare, new home) and am stuck trying to find a rug. We painted an accent wall a orangish/brown and the other walls are cream. The couch is a dark green with two brown accent chairs and a brown ottoman. What color should my rug be? I’ve been looking online at a whole host of vendors and have’nt found a rug that i like. Ideally i was looking for a rug with orange and green in it with mostly beige, but haven’t found one that i like. If i go with just a solid green (lighter shade than the couch) will that work or do I need to pull in the orange? Thanks in advance!
A: I strongly recommend against a solid colored rug. I fear your room could end up looking blocky: square orange wall, rectangular green sofa, square green rug. Does that make sense? To pull these elements together, we need pattern.
If you and your favorite retailers would describe your taste as “transitional,” then yes, I would look for a patterned rug that includes green, orange and other colors as well. I hate to admit it, but I was kind of impressed recently with some of Pottery Barn‘s rugs, like the Blithe at right.
And of course a stripey wool rug could look great. Here’s a beautiful one from Dash & Albert; it’s the Brindle Stripe in Spice (left).
A kilim is another option, such as this Shiraz from, you guessed it, Rugman.com. I love these geometric designs – sometimes described as “tribal” patterns (right).
Please don’t feel the oranges and green have to match exactly. It’s much more interesting if they don’t.
If you want the room to be a little more modern and edgy, I would choose a rug that is neither green nor orange.
Take a look at Madeleine Weinrib‘s cotton flatweave rugs, which are quite affordable. I LOVE them – I went to their new showroom in NY a few weeks ago (formerly 6th floor of, now across the street from ABC Carpet & Home) 
and I wanted to weep. The colors, the patterns…it was heaven. In any event, for the room you describe, take a deep breath and consider the Otto rug in Grape. No, really. With your green sofa and orange/brown wall, this could be smashing. The Rocco in Blue is another option.
(p.s.: Not for this room, but West Elm offers an attractive flatweave that looks like a Madeleine Weinrib knockoff to me…it’s the Taksim Tile rug.)
Good luck!