I did it.
I bought an area rug for the living room.
I went with a black and white striped rug to match the monochromatic theme running through the room.
If you recall, I was torn about which style and color to go with. (See “How do you pick an area rug?” May 28.)
I wanted a rug with a pattern and some color, but not so busy that it would draw the eye downward. I had always liked the black and white stripes, but had reservations about going with that pattern, thinking it would be too bland with all of the other black, white and grey in the space. But I decided to go with it after all.
The more I shopped for rugs online, the more overwhelmed I got. And the more rugs I saw, the more I started to change the vision I had for the room. When I noticed myself doing this, I would go back to the black and white striped rug I liked from the start.
Then I would close the laptop and think it over.
Do I want to go contemporary? Or do I want to stay with the Hollywood Regency style that’s underway?
Should I chase a new look or stick with the glitz and glam I started with?
What is my design plan for the space in the years to come? And what about the adjoining rooms? What do I envision for the dining room, kitchen, bar room and entryway?
Every time I answered these questions, I came back to the black and white striped SoHo rug from Rugs.com.
The other factor was that the rug came in 10-feet x 13-feet, the size I needed in order to extend far enough on both sides of the sofa to cover the traffic areas.
The rug also came in round options, which I absolutely loved. So for the entryway, I bought a matching round 5-foot x 5-foot rug to tie the two spaces together.
You rarely see round rugs. And even though the entryway is square-shaped, the round rug is unexpected and cuts the straight lines within the pattern.
The final deciding factor was some online advice that I received about choosing a rug. I was told to look at photos of rooms I want to re-create in my own home and then choose a rug that was used in those spaces.
Of course. That makes perfect sense.
And each time I researched Hollywood Regency spaces, I saw a lot of black and white in patterns that make a statement. And that’s exactly what I have in my new rugs.
The stripes did jump around after we rolled out the living room rug, almost playing tricks on our eyes. But after we moved the furniture back into place, the stripes became neutralized.
And because the living room is its own defined space, the rug does not impact the adjoining bar room, dining room and kitchen, allowing me to go in a different direction in those areas if I want to.
In the end, the black and white striped rug was the best choice.
Designing Goldilocks 