15 Lush Ways to Rethink Neutral Living Rooms

Neutral. Often we think of it as an absence: a lack of personality, opinion, color, or mood. Everyone has spent time in a neutral living room where there was too much brown, the furniture was stuffy, and nothing felt like it was supposed to be touched.

But the truth is, to borrow from Walt Whitman, neutrals contain multitudes. The aesthetic variance is myriad, and the key is texture. Texture separates a stark, dull neutral space from a vibrant and inviting one.

To the point, I’ve collected a handful of spaces with vastly disparate personalities comprised mainly in blacks, whites, grays and earth tones:

The flat weave rug has a lovely softening effect here.

A more traditional take, but nonetheless an inviting space.

The hardness of the wall paneling is nicely balanced by the sofa and chandelier.

Keeping the furniture line low here really makes the space seem open and commodious.

Just a pop of color from the art and a monochromatic area rug lend zing.

Area rugs and ample pillows bring comfy contrast to the stone, wood and slate wall in this organic-modern living room.

The unfinished look feels inviting when dressed in soft textiles.

Strong architectural elements and earth tones are brought to life with a high-pile eggplant area rug.

Minimalism works when there’s a bit of art and the dynamism of a sharp area rug to anchor the space.

All grays work when there’s textural variance.

A lovely, nubby area rug completes this simple Scandinavian-styled room.

Another minimal space that optimizes textural variance with rug, wall paneling and that fabulous bowl.

Minimal done in a refurbished East Coast interior for a fabulous blend of old and new.

Lots of softness and whites to offset the fireplace and ceiling beams here.

And a super-dreamy nap heaven to top it off – a room that begs you to touch everything.

Our contemporary rug gallery is full of differentiated neutrals. Each piece has a unique personality. The hand-knotted silk design on our Crocodile Rug has a chic cracked-stone effect, or the Banana silk had a softer ombre design, while this Tibetan linen-and-wool area rug has a parquet pattern that speaks refined simplicity.

Creating John Legend and Chrissy Teigen’s NYC home: Q&A with Desiderata Design’s Don Stewart

We’re thrilled to have our rugs featured in Architectural Digest’s February cover story on John Legend and Chrissy Teigen’s beautifully renovated home by Don Stewart of Desiderata Design along with Archi-Tectonics’ Winka Dubbeldam.

This week we had a chance to catch up with Don and ask him more about the work that went into this wonderfully eclectic yet subtly continuous home.

What was the first piece to go in the bedroom? 

The decorative French leather panel behind the bed. It’s from the 1860s. John and I saw it when we were having a custom sofa made. We both saw this thing and thought it would be really cool in there.

And then what?

After that we got the bed, which is this dark chocolaty almost eggplant. The drapery is eggplant as well.

So the rug was almost the last thing to come in?

Yes. We needed the rug to lighten the room up. It has an almost musical pattern, it reminds me of sound-wave patterns, but in purple and green and ivory. And it resonates with the wall panel.

How about in the living room? 

The rug in there was the final thing that brought it all together for us. I think the first thing was the chandelier. We were shopping for dining chairs. We were in Eccola, and Chrissy was just drawn to this chandelier.

What came second?

The ottoman. That was a strong element we liked. We got that right away just because they both responded to it immediately.

Sounds like you put it together piece by piece and yet as a whole there’s a flow to the space – how do you manage that? 

That’s where I don’t know how to articulate what I do. The main thing was they both had to love everything. Any hesitations, and it’s off the board. I didn’t come up with “I’m going to do a blue room” or anything like that.

Is that how you approach all of your projects? 

The meaning of the word desiderata is “anything desired as essential or necessary.” That was the whole premise of opening my business. Make it about them. I don’t want to come in there and give it the ‘Don Stewart’ look. It’s not about me really, I’m just the filter. I take in what I see them responding to and touching. That’s where I pay the most attention.

You can learn more about Don here.

See more of our contemporary rugs here.