apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yeah, it looks like you have a partition of some kind that comes out from the door, making that area a bit hard to fit a normal size rug in that space

If I were you, I'd look into obtaining a custom size rug that would fill that area (to the wall underneath the sofa). Most carpet/rug businesses will cut/sell siesel or sea grass rugs for $4-$6 a square foot, and you could get one that fits that nook perfectly.

I definitely wouldn't use a tangerine color like you have there -- doesn't mesh well with the natural earth tones you already have. A light green / cream color sea grass covering would probably harmonize well.

My 2 cents.

why are you afraid to run part of the rug under the furniture? You could use a bigger rug in the same spot. Just put it under the sofas.

Or get one huge plain beige rug (or two) and place the patterned rug on top.

The seating area seems a little skewed -- a) two couches at opposite ends of the room and b) they're not facing each other. So it's less the rug, and more the disjointed couch arrangment that makes the room look unbalanced to my eye.

1. Do you have a photo taken from the fireplace corner that captures the whole room a little better?

2. Are you trying to create two distinct seating areas? If so, I'd go with two smaller rugs to ground those areas. if not, I'd suggest removing the sectional and adding side chairs closer to the fireplace. And then create a completely different kind of livnig space near the door -- maybe a desk/writing space?

2. I like the orange rug with the rest of your neutral palette. I think you should add that orange to your accent pillows and then add some turquoise or yellow or cerulean blue in accents for contrast. Maybe a lamp, a vase, a single pillow? and hey, where's the artwork? :-)

i agree with lady j, you should put part of it under the couch. also, with the bright rug with the rest of the neutral palette, it seems off. like kimg924 suggests, you need to add some color to the rest of your house to make it all fit.

don't be afraid to pull the furniture away from the walls. the leather couch looks lonely and odd by itself over there. :)

Oh, P.S. I see you've already got some turquoise on the sectional -- but it's all spread out. Group those pillow for big impact, and maybe get some larger ones? extend those great blues and oranges to the wall and it's going to really be amazing.

(with art, not paint!)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Flor tiles...they may not fit the aesthetic, but it's worth looking into.

I say custom size rug so that the rug goes under the couch and perhaps colors that have hints of blues in them to match your cushions.

Your living room needs more than a larger rug...

Get rid of the sectional. It doesn't work in the room.
Place new 8x10 rug in front of the fireplace, angled with the fireplace.
Move the leather sofa to the opposite side of the room - floating on an angle perpendicular to the fireplace and with front legs on edge of the rug.
Cubes live in the middle of the rug as a "coffee table"
Enter two small armchairs opposite the sofa, front legs on the rug and with a proper end table & lamp in between.
Console table behind the sofa. Lamps on top.
Place two more chairs with an end table between or a writing table and chair in the alcove by the front door with the existing rug.

My first thought was that the sectional should be pulled away from the walls. Maybe bring it in line with the landing partition.

Just put part of the rug under the couch. Why is that so scary?

I think I have that same rug! And I opted to place it on top of a larger, neutral-colored sisal that is positioned beneath the couch (which is what Lady J suggested). I love the way it looks, and second that recommendation.

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions! Given that my husband will most certainly divorce me if I tell him that we aren't going to use the sectional, I need to keep it in the room. I obviously have a lot of work to do with art/lamps/etc. Any suggestions for where to get inexpensive artwork?

I will try moving the rug under the sectional (I tried it when we first go the rug, and it looked odd to me - maybe I didn't put it far enough under?). Should I put another rug in front of the leather couch? If so - what color/material/size?

Thanks again!!!
Diane

ok you've got two options...well 3 actually
1. you can angle the rug so that some of it is under the sofa, not a 45 degree angle but maybe a 30 or 15 degree
2. you center the ottoman/occasional seat/table...it makes the rug look "off" if it's not center
3. you "tuck" the rug under sofa to "anchor" it, since it's an L shaped sofa tuck it under the longer side.

I agree that it's a furniture arranging issue, not a rug issue. Have you tried alternate furniture arrangements?

Nickel525 - I just put the rug tucked under the sofa. I think it looks... better. Any ideas on another rug for in front of the leather couch?

m! - I tried, but nothing seems to work. Since we have the tv as the main focal point over the fireplace (I know, I know - but my husband insisted), and we need as much space for seating as possible. We also have a kid - and will probably have more.. so it needs to be kid friendly. The shape of the room is just very odd.

You need to integrate and balance the two ends of your room - you have a light thing going on with the sectional and a dark thing at the other end. You also need to soften the room by adding shapes and textures - everything is hard edged, square and blocks of color.

If you found a textile that picks up the colors in the rug and hung it over the dark sofa, you'd have a visual flow in the room and something textual and colorful.

If you want something in front of the leather sofa, look at the contemporary Moroccan ottomans (poofs) - they're soft and round and fun, come in great colors and play off the design in the rug. If you go to the ikat pillow post elsewhere on today's blog, you'll see what I mean at Sherazade. I think you can find them in orange. Otherwise, brown.

There's no rule that you need a rug in front of a sofa - considering where the leather one is, it might be hard to work out - but if you want one, a short runner might be fun.

I'd move the square table (??) next to the light sofa to the other one, and get rid of that black table, which has the wrong proportions and is the only black thing in the room.

Replace the pillows with something that picks up the colors of the rug(s) - something with the colors in it rather than a solid block of the color. Here's a quick idea
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-UZBEK-COTTON-IKAT-PILLOW-CASES-ORIENT-STYLE-2080_W0QQitemZ280226806772QQihZ018QQcategoryZ63624QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah, it is an odd shaped room, and when I replied initially I was focusing mainly on what you could do w/ the rug, not so much the room itself.

I too agree with others that it's more of a furniture placement problem. I think the main issue is that you've got two sofas in the room, with one being a large sectional that doesn't appear to serve much of a purpose (for you can't see the TV cause it's on the same wall).

I'd keep one of the sofas, pull it away from the wall, and create more a sitting area around the fireplace. Assuming this is the room you watch TV in, you might want to use the sectional, and swing part of the L out into the room. And as someone else mentioned, a couple of side chairs would help bring it together.

I think one of the problems you're seeing is the TV being as high as it is. You almost *have* to sit across the room in order to have enough lateral space to look up that high (without killing your neck).

Taureg - The color is quite off in the picture.. it was night, and the camera is not great.. The tables are actually all brown, although one sofa is much darker than the other. I like your idea of a runner.. I'll have to think about that one!

The tables next to the dark sofa is actually this: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=982&f=8713

And in front of the sectional (and on one side), are these: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=950&f=14495 (we have four of them).

tdominey - you are right about the tv.. the builder put the cable line right there above the fireplace, so it's the obvious place for it. You actually can see it from most points on both sofas. As I mentioned earlier, I really need to use both sofas as my husband will kill me - they are brand new!!

I think you just need to spend some time rearranging the sofas and mainly just try to make it 1 cohesive room, instead of 2 rooms that feel "undone". I would put a nice floor lamp somewhere and put the 2 ottomans in front of the couch, not near the sectional. Create a nice, large room where you can have a bunch of people but they all feel as if they are in the same room:)

Don't stress too much...it takes time! I know everyone makes it seem so so easy...well, its not!

You've gotten a lot of comments on this one! Here's one more. Try a grey rug using tiles from FLOR. They have some environmentally friendly options and you can cut the tiles to the right size.

For sure it's too small . You need a gallery size rug. One that is narrow yet long. Not like a runner which is too narrow . check this one

http://www.rugsusa.com