I have to be quite honest and tell you that personally I didn't think we needed the rug in the first place, but my wife took a different view, saying that it would 'lift' the room. (We have a plain grey carpet and dark charcoal three piece suite) And to be honest, I now tend to agree. With a vase of a similar mix of coloured flowers in the hearth and various paintings etc on the walls it really does work. (He freely admits through gritted teeth, lol)