Decorating question: what color shag should I go with (details, and free prize inside)

Sage or a pull together color for the orange and teal. NOT SHAG

Maybe a Berber sage

That’s a nice colour, but it seems a little grey. What about something similar with a little more green in it?

Yeah, I agree with @Seelix; even with the coffee table, the room has so much dark brown/neutrals that something else needs to pop. I say get rid of the teal throw pillow (or put it on the sofa) and get something with a little more yellow/green to it. On this page, I’m partial to the green-yellow, though moss green could also work.

Shag carpet? FYI: you will be pulling cat hair out of it FOREVER.

I concur with @Seelix.

And I’d go with the teal, but that’s just me :p

I also want your phonograph.

@Tropical_Willie I talk to my SO, and she said:

I think a berber rug would be nice, but I think that color is too drab with your stuff. You could also get something with a pattern or even a cool oriental rug instead of a solid color.

I think that may be the way to go.

Admit it. You just wanted us to admire your art work.
;)

If your floors look as lovely as I think they are I’d go with an area rug. Oriental may not look “modern” enough for your decor although not bad at all. You could get a thick, modern area rug with several colors.

Check out these rugs. Sears has a few that I think would fit with your style. (I especially like the first one.)

I would go with a cafe au lat colored rug (maybe with an orange border), and add orange pillows, vase and maybe a lamp with an orange base.

I love your old phonograph! No thoughts on carpet, though I do love Turkish type rugs for myself.

Personally, I really wouldn’t go for shag, but if you do maybe somewhere in this color range?

I happen to think oriental rugs fantastic. They’re so rich in color and texture, and some can be a bit much, but there are some great ones out there. Like a good Oushak carpet, or a Nain rug. I love this antique Oushak carpet very much, but some may not. So it’s just a matter of personal taste.

P.S. You’re flat looks great, so trust your instincts.

I’m thinking something that retains the yummy chocolatey brown that is in the leather couch and featured in the Madonna painting, but that has a little bit of spicy orange (like cumin) color to jazz it up just slightly, but still retaining the “cool, jazzy, New York vibe.” At least that’s what I thought of when I saw your place. Like a really neat loft in New York. Check this out or maybe this or this

Why not get a few spot orientals? They have lots of colors and always look luxurious. And you have beautiful floors. Why hide them?

I don’t notice much color in your room now. White walls dark brown/black sofa. Even a lot of b/w art. Only the Munch has significant color.

IMHO a strong color like teal would draw too much attention to an uninteresting shag carpet on your floor. [Shags are stinky to clean BTW] Your floor is not the star of your room. The Munch is.

If you want to retain a quiet comfortable but dull room [typically a manly man’s choice] go with a muted light warm orange/tan to support and highlight the Munch, and don’t cover up too much of your beautiful floors. Don’t use a color on the floor that will overpower your art. Especially a shag rug.

Changing the wall color to sage would be more effective.

BTW does your Victrola work? That’s another star of your room.

@anartist I like the way that you think. =)

@anartist Any online suggestions for oriental rugs?

Ah, but, @queenie, I love my room! Admire all ya want!

Nope, but I will look.
BTW I am a designer, exhibits.
Mine were mostly in the family.
But at Eastern Market on capitol hill I bought some Pakistani knockoffs of Afghani war rugs for very little. The Paki rugs are very thin and may have some automation to them. I saw a real one once but did not buy it DAMN!

symbols translated afghani war rug

@anartist I don’t have a large budget. I like these two.
What do you think?

And, this.

Third one hands down! That looks a copy of a traditional Persian pattern. Not at all keen on the one that looks vaguely chinese with the cherry blossoms. First one ok but I don’t like the colors and they are rare in real rugs [these are copies, right?] That olive doesn’t compliment anything in the room.

second hand and a little worn has a nice “old money” look to it. Should be no bigger tghan 5×7.
Sometimes you can even score a real one in a thrift shop. I always check there for stuff.

@anartist I agree! Thanks!

you could probably use a couple. 4×5 is a good size too. Your room looks about 16×20 plus a vestibule area by the victrola. If I find any great-looking ones I’ll let you know. Look at the finest genuine rugs online to train your eye and get a sense of the possibilities. That will help you be prepared to jump on an old one or a reasonable reproduction. I have a friend who picked up a reproduction off the street had it cleaned and still uses it.

Another friend, a male friend, bought one and didn’t like it. He was going to throw it away. It will be thrown my way. My mother bought tons of them for cheap in the 50s because so many people wanted to replace them with wall-to-wall. Someone on craigslist might be giving away or selling for cheap.

try google images for a start

Another

Scratch the last one. I don’t like the pattern.

This is nice, though

Ah, if only I had a bit of extra coin.

Thanks for your help. I’ll have fun looking around. :)

@anartist, I’ve wanted an Afghani war rug for a long time… I may have to get one soon.

fiddle, I hope you want one of the abstract ones [one interesting one was just full of grenades]—They make also—and it is popular— like a 2×3 or 2×4 size—that is just one big AK-47. This one to me lacks subtlety and beauty, but since you are a gun collector you might see it differently.

If they are still being sold in Eastern Market for cheap I will let you know and take pix [my friend bought an AK-47 one for about $45. Remember these are Pakistani knockoffs.]

The only Afghani one I saw had much longer pile, a more really made by hand look and a lower knot count [higher knots per square inch = greater detail, usually highest knot count in silks from Persia/Iran or China. It was about $00 for a 4×5 and worth it—I just didn’t have it.

@anartist, I prefer the ones with explicit martial imagery… guns, bombs, tanks, and such, as opposed to the ones with maps and flags and patterns. I’d be okay with a knockoff actually. Let me know if you find out anything!

Look at the one in my link about 11 up—you like? another

@anartist I definitely like it, but I’m more partial to the ones that look like this.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard happy shopping.

@everephebe Your link doesn’t work.

Ah shoot. It’s probably because you’re Canadian? Well, google war rugs, and the click on the shopping. Pretty much the same link. I wonder… I just tried it on another computer, and it worked. So, I dunno, anyone else not get the link?

Link was as follows: http://www.google.com/search?q=war+rugs&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=war+rugs&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=YNj&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=WIWvTfqcI-nx0gG_5LSnCw&ved=0CEEQrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=1&biw=1282&bih=682&cad=b it says US:official in there a couple of times. Or it could be a browser issue. Google results are harder to link to properly. It’s been hit or miss for me with those sorts of links.

I kind of like this war rug, it’s like an old school video game.

@everephebe, thanks! I never thought of using google shopping to find them…

The color you displayed is nice but the colors that keep coming to me is “Dandelion-
Yellow” , “Tangerine” and “Amethyst”. You could always dye it another shade when grew tired of it…

I decided to go with this.