the 1st one!

it's GREAT.

it seems to tie the whole room together.

I really like them both, but prefer the first one. Where are these from?

West Elm's brown wood-grain rug is on sale right now. I think you need something dark to give some weight to the rest of your very nice color choices.

Go with the neutral leaf pattern. You may want to move away from the burnt orange accents some day, and then you won't have to buy a new rug (that, and the fact that I'm not wowed by the other rug anyway).

I love rug #1 (so much better than rug #2, especially with the cream furniture). Where is that rug from?

If you're going for "zen," I'd choose the 2nd rug. The first one is great, lots of color and pattern, but it's not as restful.

Love the first :) And I think the amount of colors and the pattern make it verstatile enough to continue to use even if you want to change up the rest of the room at a later date.

I like the second choice better. The first seems a bit too much for me.

The first one, no question. Gorgeous!

I was thinking along the same lines as home body, I'd go with a dark brown instead. But, of the two, I like the leaf patterned one better.

Neutral Leaf - #2!!!

Keeping the orange confined to accent pieces will give you more options for changing things out, updating and adding than a huge colorful rug..

I'd go for the second one. That first option is too busy. Not soothing at all.

Where is that chandelier from?

They're both beautiful, but I love, love, LOVE the first one.

The first one brings color and interest to the room.

Wow, this can't be helping. It's almost totally split down the middle!

I love the 1st, but I agree that you may want to keep it more neutral in case you feel like implementing a new color scheme someday. I vote #2.

The first rug is gorgeous. I love all the warm colors it adds to the room without being to matchy matchy. Ikea said it best. Be brave not beige.

If you go with #1 you have a limited choice of accent colors if you decide to change from the orange. Though I like the first one better aesthetically, I like the 2nd rugs practicality. You can accessorize it with ANYTHING. So if You wanted to bring in some bright color, you could do so easily without spending $$ on a new rug.

#2 for certain. It provides the grounding device needed to pull the other parts (furniture and accessories) together for a unified arrangement versus a scattered look. I agree with those who have also mentioned it will work beautifully in the future when you may decide to change the colors of your accessories and accent.

I love the 1st one, the second one could look a bit drab with the neutrals. The first would tie all the colors together.

If the second rug was a deeper, more chocolatey color, I would maybe vote for that one as a more "I will not get sick of it within a year"-choice.

I prefer the second one. The first one is a bit too matchy-matchy. The second rug will give you a neutral pallette to which you can apply pops of color (e.g. orange pillows).

The first one because it is a neutral with color and you can pull many colors from at at any time not just orange you could bring in gold, yellow, go all taupe/beige, plum, silver, chocolate.

The second one is too limiting, not that interesting.

Nice job in pulling that together.

Question- I see these story/inspiration pallets on blogs all the time, how do you do this? Do you pull from photos and cut and paste onto a document t then save a TIFF file? Anyone?

i definitely thing #1 looks better within this little collage, but if you're really wanting "zen" as you say, go for #2.

I'd go with #1. It really pops the color palette. Who says zen has to be plain?

I like the first one. The second one will look dated in a few years, IMO.

LoriSF - yes, if you cut and paste using photoshop, then you can flatten the image (under Layer / Flatten Image) so all the layers become one and you'll be able to save it as a web-friendly jpg (rather than a large, multi-layered tiff or psd file.)

And, in case I forgot a crucial step, if you go to Image / Canvas Size you can change the size of the background layer so more images can be pasted on.

if you want to go zen, the 1st rug is just too busy. the second neutral rug would ground your colors & is I think a smarter choice. you also need to decide if you want your rug to be the focal point & set the pattern for your room or if you really want it be zen in the traditional calming & serene manner.

Wow, thanks so much for all the responses! Your comments are mostly along the line of my thought: nr 1 is gorgeous and unusual, nr 2 is more zen and versatile for future change of color! I'm still undecided :) I should add that I've always had neutral spaces, so I thought maybe nr 1 is a way to break the habit!

To LoriSF: the way I did this collage is copy-paste pictures into power point. Then print or convert the power point file in a jpeg or pdf or whatever format you like.

The rug origins: nr 1 is from Room and board, but I've seen it in other online stores too. The other one is from allmodern.com

Any other comments are very welcome!

I vote #1. It's a very beautiful rug, and you can pull lots of different colors from it than just the burnt orange. I think it really adds depth to the overall look.

#2 adds too much beige to an already beige palette, and I think the leaf pattern might look dated in a shorter period of time. I don't strongly dislike it... but I don't think it's particularly interesting or inviting compared to option #1.

I think you should go for the first one! There are lots of colors and a nice pattern, but I don't think it is distracting or "too much". I also think you could easily change up your other furniture, if you want a new couch or something later.

The multi colored rug is adds the most to and works best with the rest of the furnishings. Really beautiful.

Those are great, but there is this amazing company that makes thick felt rugs using traditional Iranian techniques and modern patterns. The rugs are fire proof, stain proof, have a wonderful wool smell, and are soft and cushy. They are unlike anything I have ever seen and I'm just waiting to get my first...
http://www.peaceindustry.com/

i kind of like rug #2, its a little more peaceful. as for the coffee table, if the height works with your sofa, i would suggest cb2's spool cocktail table. the rings of the base compliment the circular shapes in the capiz shell light fixture.

love your color scheme, btw, i have the same colors in my bedroom and love waking up to them every day!

There are six (maybe seven) colors in that first rug--so you will have WAY more options to change your mind later.

There is nothing wrong with the second rug, but I think with your also very neutral furniture and wall color, it would come off "sleepy" instead of "zen".

Good luck, I don't think we were much help deciding!

I like both rugs too, but based on the accessories shown, I'd choose the first rug. It does have a lot of pattern and color, but it doesn't look busy or have (too) much contrast if you do a "squint test." Agree with those who say you'll have more options later (though others say that about the leaf rug, too!)

Thank you see and home body for the explanation, now off to try it.

With your furniture choices, carpet two seems to work better. However, your choice of pillows and accessories seem to suggest a more sensual, elegant mood. More Balinese dancer than Shinto shrine.
I think if you chose the second carpet, you might consider going in that direction.

First one, definitely.

First one! Those bold botanicals are kind of starting to look tired. When they're really well done they're great, but they have such a pseudo-superzen quality to them most of the time.

Second, but then I'd go nuts with paint color. Paint's cheaper than a quality rug.

I vote the second one. It is fresher.

#2, for sure! Very zen, very modern.