How to Choose a Rug Color
Choosing Good Color Combinations for Rugs, Walls & Furniture
Whether you want to revitalize your layout with a pop of color or provide cozy softness underfoot in each room, rugs can be a simple yet stunning addition to your design. However, there are a few factors to consider when choosing the right rugs for your home. Along with complementing your furniture and decor, your rug should also suit your stylish color scheme.
Overview
To make your hunt for the perfect colorful rug a little easier, this post will provide helpful tips on:
- How to choose rugs
- Rug colors
- Coordinating walls and rugs
- Coordinating floors and rugs
- Living room rug ideas
- Bedroom rug ideas
- Dining room rug ideas
How to Choose a Rug Color
If you’re wondering how to choose an area rug color, the first step is deciding what rug size would be a good fit for your space. Rugs that are too small may seem out of place among your other furniture and decor. On the flip side, an oversized rug can overwhelm the room and make it feel cramped. Typically, the right size rug should leave at least 18 inches of exposed flooring around the edges.
Many people tend to choose rugs that match the motifs, textures and hues in their existing layouts. If you’re decorating your home from scratch, however, it’s a good idea to pick a rug before adding any other furniture or accessories to the room. From there, you can incorporate complementary decor to play off of the colors and patterns in the rug you’ve chosen.
What Color Rug Should I Get?
Both your palette and interior design style play a huge part in helping you decide what rug color is right for you. Considering your wall, furniture and decor colors makes it easier to select a rug that works well with your existing setup. After evaluating these elements, you can choose a rug that blends in with your current look or create contrast using a distinct rug in your favorite shade.
Rugs that complement the dominant tones in your room let you create a cohesive look throughout your simple modern or minimalist space. However, finding a precise color match can be difficult for eclectic, bohemian or rustic designs that feature multiple shades. Keep design principles like balance and space in mind to ensure that your rug is a fitting addition to your overall look.
Rugs & Wall Colors
When it comes to finding a rug color that works with your walls, browsing within the same broad color family is a good rule of thumb. Pairing similar shades together brings a harmonious vibe to your layout. On the other hand, rugs and walls with contrasting tones can bring a unique, eye-catching appeal to the space.
What Color Carpet Goes with Gray Walls?
If you’re decorating a room with cool slate gray walls, a muted charcoal or dove gray rug could be the perfect coordinating accent. Alternatively, adding a dull sage or hunter-green rug to the design is a chic and excellent way to create a cohesive look with an extra hint of distinct style.
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What Color Carpet Goes with Beige Walls?
If you need complementary rugs for a room with neutral eggshell or tan walls, consider something patterned bold to add more visual interest to your layout. Nature-inspired designs featuring vines or floral prints work especially well with furnishings such as green couches or rustic bedroom sets.
Rugs & Floors
Carpet materials and floor finishes are also important considerations when choosing a rug color for your layout. Selecting a rug in the same color family as the floor can enhance your design flow while rolling out a more vivid, dynamic option. This is a great way to draw attention to your chic and decorative floor covering.
Since most homes have neutral gray or off-white carpets, adding a vibrant area rug can create stunning contrast in each room. Try rug colors that match beige carpets, like red, blue, orange and pink for an upbeat, cheerful look.
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What Color Rug is Best for Light or Dark Hardwood Floors?
When it comes to picking rugs for hardwood floors, you can get a little more creative with the complementary colors you choose. Light wood floors can make a beautiful backdrop for dark green, brown or navy rugs.
Meanwhile, striking white and yellow rugs are perfect for brightening up dark wood floors. Many people also choose blue rugs for dark floors since this soothing tone works so well with rustic wood grain finishes.
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Living Room Rug Ideas
Gorgeous area rugs are perfect for decorating living rooms. Along with making rooms feel bigger, these pieces can define specific activity zones in large layouts and enhance the stylish flow of the space. Whether you’re looking to carve out designated areas or make a bold statement with a decorative floor covering, the following rug color options can help you create a stunning and cohesive look.
What Color Rug Goes with a Gray Couch?
A solid red rug provides bold contrast in a neutral-toned room, making it a great rug for gray couches. For a more subtle look, choose a rug that matches the undertones of your sofa, like a blue rug for cooler light gray upholstery. You can also roll out a stunning green rug to bring a relaxing yet lively vibe to your space.
What Color Rug Works with a Beige Couch?
To add some contrast to your layout, pair deep navy rugs with beige sofas for a relaxing and cozy color combination. For a warmer palette, consider using an orange rug as a bright and cheerful accent to lighten up your space.
What Color Rug Goes with a Brown Couch?
Deep emerald green hues evoke the tranquil feel of the great outdoors, especially when you select these rugs for brown couches or rooms with natural wood accents. You can also create a rich earth-tone palette by using beige area rugs for dark brown leather couches that need lightening up.
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What Color Rug Coordinates Best with a Blue Couch?
Blue rugs in lighter shades bring an open, refreshing feel to your design, so try breezy periwinkle and white striped rugs for blue couches in a coastal or nautical-themed room. Darker seats like blue leather sofas look best alongside white carpets, which help to establish your seating as a focal point in the room.
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What Color Rug Goes with a Black Couch?
Need to find colorful rugs for black couches? Roll out a muted rust-colored rug to highlight your sofa’s sophisticated shade. The dark hue of these sofas also makes rugs with intricate Persian style or geometric patterns stand out by helping the colors in the carpet seem more vibrant in contrast.
Bedroom Rug Ideas
Many of the rules for adding rugs to your living room also apply when it comes to decorating your bedroom. Your rug color should complement the existing furniture and decor while also helping your desired color palette shine through. However, you may also want to consider rug textures like fluffy wool, shag and faux fur to enhance your bedroom’s soft and cozy aesthetic.
Use bright yellow, pink or orange rugs beneath your bed for an extra boost of energy in the morning. Create a more soothing atmosphere by rolling out a midnight blue, deep purple or jet black rug. Browse small, 4×6 rugs for tiny dorms and kids rooms or try a large 9×12 rug to cover the floor in your spacious primary bedroom suite.
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Dining Room Rug Ideas
Including an area rug in your dining room design can enhance the charming, welcoming atmosphere of the space. Placing a rug beneath your dining set brings an extra touch of softness to the area and creates the perfect relaxing, cozy vibe for casual dinner conversations. In an eat-in kitchen, rugs can also designate specific spots for meal prep and dining.
As you browse dining room rugs, opt for colors and textures that can mask food and drink messes. Neutral beige, dark gray and deep green rugs generally hide crumbs and spills pretty well. Also, rugs with bold prints and designs can make it harder for new dinner guests to see stains from past meals.
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While rugs may be the perfect finishing touch to your chic setup, finding the right rug color for your unique layout can be challenging. Figuring out what shade will best suit your decor style, furniture and carpet and wall color combinations can be overwhelming at first. However, once you know how to choose a rug color, you can mix and match different rugs to create a chic and stunning look.
