Anonymous wrote:This is all great advice, please keep the suggestions coming. Also, can I mix a patterned rug with patterned curtains?

You can mix patterns, but unless you have an impeccable eye, they should be complementary, not competing (e.g., a floral with a stripe, not two florals). In terms of colors, I would avoid the combinations of orange and dark blue, and orange and dark brown. These are really reminiscent of the 1970s, which is not a time most people want to revisit. Having said that, it is your house and you should do what makes you happy.

If your husband can't deal with a floral rug, maybe something like this might be more acceptable to him:

http://bidonrugs.com/index.php/contemporary-deep-orange-sunflower-trellis-bc55-area-rug-carpet-tufted-polyester.html

You could pull the gray from the rug and pair it with a modern gray sofa. By the way, I noticed that a lot of the reviews on the anthropologie floral rug said that it is really thin. That might not be the best with a child.

Personally, I love this simple bold orange geometric rug, but it would be too vibrant for some people:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Outdoor-Indoor-Orange-Trellis-Rug-86-x-13/8035914/product.html?refccid=254XQWJLMAILIHSIEYZ76SOKUQ&searchidx=382

This sort of rug would be good with a toddler.

Just some thoughts.

This is all great advice, please keep the suggestions coming. Also, can I mix a patterned rug with patterned curtains?

Okay so what you do is get a charcoal gray sofa, then do throw pillows in the orange, creamsicle, peach shade you want plus throw pillows in two different blues. Make sure you have an ODD number of throw pillows.

You can blend all these together really nicely. Dark gray with a light or medium blue and creamy orange will work well. I know, because my sister's living room is those colors. She also has a throw rug that further ties all the colors together.

Any of those are fine, but please don't do a blue/navy sofa with the orange. I understand the color wheel thing but that's too much. Accents are fine (I have a navy rug and my pillows and artwork have orange them) but an orange rug and navy sofa would clash. Charcoal would be fine.

I also wouldn't spend that much on a rug if you have a toddler -- you can find equivalent rugs for much less at World Market, Pier One, or online at RugsUSA, Overstock, etc…

I got an 8x10 for $250 online, it's 100% wool and hand knotted so it didn't shed. Perfect for toddlers.

How do I begin to create a new living room? It will be the "formal" living room, but it will be casual and comfortable. I think we want to have a medium/dark gray or dark blue sofa. I really love the idea of either a rug with orange in it or curtains with orange in them. I'll link to some examples of what I'm thinking about. However, I have no idea how to coordinate all of this. Are there any design "rules" that could help me figure all this out? If we have a bold rug then should the curtains be subdued, or vice versa?

Some things I like:

Curtains-
the reddish orange version: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-curtains/34857508.jsp#/

again, the orange: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-curtains/35076769.jsp#/

or something blue? http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-curtains/31532930.jsp#/

or something plain: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90284202/

Rugs-
love this in both colors but not sure DH will go for something this close to floral: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/pdp/detail.jsp?&id=76003&color=ora#/

http://www.westelm.com/products/tile-wool-kilim-mandarin-t980/?pkey=crugs-flooring%7C%7C&cm_src=rugs-flooring||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_-

We also have a toddler - so maybe we need a rug with less white? I don't want the whole room to be dark though. We are buying new sofas to begin with because the first ones were ruined by said toddler, and we are going dark on the sofas for this reason.