The Great Rug Debate | Purple Frills vs. Teal Diamonds vs. Hot Pink Fretwork

I've been needing a small area rug for my cozy living room for a long time now because 1) the hardwood floors need to be protected from potentially scratchy coffee tables and other furniture, and 2) I've been wanting to soften up the sitting area a bit. However, area rugs tend to run at the high end of my budget. Plus, so many of them are scratchy on the bottom and require a liner or pad – neither of which I want to add on on top of the rug cost. Luckily, I'm a bargain scavenger and Target aisles are my hunting grounds of choice.

I was faced with three options – all colorful, all prettily patterned, and all on sale.

Purple Chandelier: Loved the color and that it'd match my new plum-hued tv cabinet and purple throw, but wasn't sure I could live with the frilly print forever.

Teal Diamond: As always, I'm a sucker for turquoise. And the simple diamond pattern was along the lines of what I was looking for, but I have a LOT of turquoise in that room already.

Pink Fretwork: I spotted this one at the last minute after playing "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" three or four times in my head between the purple and teal rugs.

I knew at once that I'd be taking the hot pink one home. It'd pick up on the pink splashes throughout my living room, plus the fretwork pattern was exactly the right combination of frilly and modern. I really don't have a color scheme in my living room. If I like something and think it goes, I bring it in. Clash isn't really part of my design vocabulary. (Don't mind the weird curtain over top of another curtain. It's a temporary winter privacy / drafty window solution right now and soon-to-be changed.)