Coordinating Oriental Carpet Colors

One way to maximize the impact of Oriental carpet colors is to keep them consistent from room to room.

That’s easy to say but creating a successful carpet colors scheme is not so easily done.  First, it’s necessary to be knowledgable about Oriental rugs which come from a variety of countries and regions, each with special characteristics. Those vary with age, quality, condition and price. Then it’s necessary to determine the sizes of carpets needed for various rooms. That can be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle which takes a long time to solve. So when I see rooms with carpet colors and sizes that are perfectly assembled, it’s worth taking a closer look.

Such a house crossed my desk on the pages of a magazine and it took on special interest for me because the carpets — mainly red and blue, 19th century, and purchased at auction — were so beautifully assembled and coordinated. Also, it’s a historically important home not far from where I live and decorated by one of the owners, who is an actor. What’s very useful is that we’re given two rooms of each room. One has three carpets and the other has a single, room-size carpet. But it’s clear that the same color scheme and type create a clear style for the house and help link the two rooms.

In the study [top] there are three different rugs placed closely together. One, which looks like an old Heriz with a red ground and blue border. I’m estimating it’s close to the standard 9 x 12’ (old Persians are rarely exact on dimensions). It appears to cover about two-thirds off the room nearest the fireplace where the upholstered furniture is grouped. Two slightly darker rugs, with predominately blue fields, are placed very close together behind the red one. The carpet one on the left appears to be an old Caucasian with center medallions and the other perhaps a Tabriz. Both key off the blue in the border of the larger rug, but have blue fields. Next to each other,  define that area almost as if they were one.

Another view of the study — the photographer simply turned around — shows more of the Caucasian rug’s medallions and the console table behind the sofa. This  type of wide hall rug lines up perfectly with the window. The repeated medallions are a bonus that help visually create a walkway behind the main furniture grouping while covering most of the floor.

In the library, a single rug was used. This one has a huge center medallion that lines up with the fireplace. The bright tomato-red field makes me think it’s a Heriz, too. But whatever the origin, it’s also a perfect pick as this isn’t, suddenly, a carpet from a different world or one with a vastly different style.

In another view of the library, the corner of the rug can be seen. Note is how well the red and blue colors in the rug go with the medium-dark green woodwork often used in historic homes. The color of the woodwork didn’t change the general rug color choice. They work together because red and green are opposite each other on the color wheel and are always complementary.  Blue and green tend to blend while the visual concept for the rugs stays true.

(Source: Elle Decor)

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