Decorating With Area Rugs

by Marie
(Ontario, Canada)

Circuit Area Rug - Home Decorators Collection

We are building a cottage and the interior of the great room is pine with a pine cathedral ceiling and rustic looking maple flooring.

The great room contains an L shaped kitchen that is open to the eating area and the living room area.

There will be a black cast iron wood stove against one wall of the great room.

The large windows are trimmed in white.

The only furniture we have so far is a circular pedestal pine table with pine arrowback chairs, a black Vermont rocking chair with decorative design on the top of the chair and a gold trim around the legs. We also have a wicker rocking chair, a persimmon colored painted cedar chest and a couple of end tables that need painting or refinishing.

The questions I have are:

1. What color do I paint the end tables, the wicker rocker and the cedar chest?

2. We have to purchase a sofa... what should I be looking for both in color and material?

3. We also have to decide on the color of the kitchen cabinets and the counter top color. Do I stick to pine cabinets... or another wood type?

Thank you for your help. I enjoy reading all your suggestions for the various people who ask for your help.

Andrea's Response:

Hello Marie and thank you for your questions and kind words.

I think that if you are going for a rustic cottage feel, and bearing in mind the pieces you already have, I would suggest that you look at autumn/fall colors as a good starting point.

It is always a good idea to have something in a room - a rug or fabric for example - that pulls all the colors together and a rug such as the one pictured above, brings together warm shades of gold, orange and brown.

The style of the rug is fairly contemporary yet the coloring fits in beautifully with a rustic cottage so you have covered both styles which will help you achieve a 'planned' rather than 'haphazard' look.

I think that often, where you have wooden or wicker pieces, they are best left alone rather than painted but if you want to paint them then cream would be a good choice and if you are into paint techniques then maybe 'distressing' the tables and chest with one of the darker colors from the rug as the base color.

As far as a sofa is concerned you could do a lot worse than leather in terms of it fitting in with your style and being excellent value and long lasting. There are some lovely shades of brown available and something like a 'conker' shade would look great. I would finish off the sofa with some plain pillows or cushions in two or three of the shades from the rug.

I think for the kitchen cabinets you would probably be best advised to stick with pine.

I do hope you find this helpful Marie.

Andrea