Multicoloured and Colourful Rugs

A multicoloured rug is the one piece of furnishing that does not have to match anything, because it already contains most of what is in the room.

What it does need is a dominant colour. A rug with five colours in equal measure has nothing to build on, and it is the reason some colourful rugs settle into a room immediately and others never quite do.

Choosing by the dominant colour

This is the decision, and it is what almost everyone is actually searching for: not a rug with lots of colours, but a colourful rug that leans one way.

Look at the rug from across a room rather than close up. At that distance the small colours disappear and one comes forward — that is the colour the rug will read as, and the one that has to work with the room. The others are detail, and they are what let the rug pick up a cushion or a painting later.

Pink, blue and black grounds are the most asked for, and each behaves differently. A pink-leaning multicoloured rug reads as warm and soft even with strong colours in it. A blue-leaning one stays cool and formal. A black or dark ground makes every other colour in the rug look brighter than it is, which is the version to choose if you want the colours to carry.

Where a multicoloured rug works

The room has to be plain. Not neutral necessarily, but plain — one colour on the walls, seating without pattern, and the rug as the only busy thing in the space.

Given that, a multicoloured rug does something no single-colour rug can. It gives you a palette to work from rather than a colour to match. Everything you add to the room afterwards can pick up one of the colours already in it, so cushions, throws and art all have something to agree with.

It is also the most forgiving floor covering there is for marks and traffic. A surface already broken into a dozen colours has nowhere for a stain to stand out.

The rooms it does not suit are the ones already carrying pattern, and rooms where you want the furniture noticed rather than the floor.

Large multicoloured rugs

Scale changes what a colourful rug does, more than it does for any plain colour.

Small, it is an accent — a spot of colour in a corner or beside a bed, and the room stays whatever it already was. Large, it sets the room, and everything above it is arranged around the colours in it rather than the other way round.

Both work, but they are different decisions. If you are not sure whether you want the room to be about the rug, start small.

Multicoloured rug FAQs

How do you choose a multicoloured rug?

By its dominant colour rather than by all of them. Look at it from across a room — the colour that comes forward at that distance is the one the rug will read as, and the one that has to suit the room.

What colours go with a multicoloured rug?

Any colour already in the rug. That is the advantage of one: it gives you a palette to work from, so cushions, throws and art can each pick up something the rug already contains.

Does a multicoloured rug make a room look busy?

Only if something else in the room is competing. Against plain walls and plain seating it reads as the one deliberate thing rather than as clutter.

Do multicoloured rugs hide dirt?

Better than anything else. A surface broken into a dozen colours gives a mark nowhere to stand out, which makes them a practical choice for a hallway or a room with children.

Are colourful rugs good for a childs room?

Yes, and it is one of the few rooms where the brightest versions belong. Choose something hard-wearing or washable rather than deep pile, since the floor gets used rather than looked at.

Should I choose a large or small multicoloured rug?

A small one is an accent and leaves the room as it was. A large one sets the room and everything else arranges around it. If you are unsure how far you want to go, start small.