I’ve long believed that one of the best ways to chose a color scheme for a room is from a great rug.  What better way to give your room a pop of color?

Particularly in a rental situation, you probably want to cover the flooring in some of your rooms.  Let’s just say that you don’t know what pets were there before you, if you know what I mean.  Or, maybe that’s just every place I’ve ever rented.

At any rate, you can go from soft and subtle to down rate crazy when it comes to rug colors in patterns.  Case in point: this crazy CB2 indoor/outdoor Caution rug.

I like to encourage boldness, but maybe not quite that bold.

Instead, pair a bold pattern or print with some neutrals.  I love how West Elm has layered their citron Iznik Dhurrie rug over a larger sisal rug.  It adds enough color to draw the eye to it, but it’s not over the top.  In fact, I think the touches of color in this otherwise neutral room are completely swoon worthy.

Last year, my friend Rhoda and I designed an entire room around a vibrant rug for Shaw Floors and HGTV.  We chose the blue and green Delilah rug because we loved the colors.  Although we decided to paint the walls in the room, this rug and furnishings would have still looked pulled together with a more neutral wall.

If you are looking to purchase a new rug, don’t overlook discount retailers such as Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx, and Tuesday Morning.  I’ve seen beautiful rugs at all three places for great prices.  If you can spend a little more, I can’t say enough good things about the HGTV Home line from Shaw.  I have one of their rugs in my living room, and it is incredibly soft underfoot.

Do you have neutral rugs in your home or do you currently use them to add color to a space?

In most modern homes, the kitchen at least partially opens up to other rooms in the house.  You can usually see at least some of the kitchen from the living room.  So, that means that we don’t get to ignore adding color into our kitchens.

Contrary to the current state of my home, the kitchen is one of the simplest rooms to usher in a good amount of color.  Even without changing the color of your walls, cabinets, counters or flooring, your kitchen can have some personality without breaking the bank (or drawing the ire of your landlord).

If you feel like your cabinets could use a colorful pick-me-up, consider removing the current knobs and pulls and replacing them with a more exiting version.  Keep the old hardware so that you can put it back onto the cabinets when your lease expires.  I love the knobs found at Anthropologie, like the Racing Stripes Knob shown below, but their hardware is insanely expensive.  I  recommend looking at Hobby Lobby or Ebay, as you can often find the exact same hardware for a fraction of the Anthro cost.

If you are feeling a little more daring with your cabinetry, try removing the doors completely and backing the cabinets with a colorful fabric of your choice.  Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl has a great tutorial to add a foam core and fabric backing – nothing is glued or nailed to the cabinets, so you can simply remove the backing and replace the doors when you are ready.  Genius idea!

It also helps to have your functional pieces boldly colored if possible.  For example, we were given a set of Crate and Barrel nesting mixing bowls as a wedding gift.  I absolutely love them.  Throughout the years, Crate and Barrel has had different versions of the bowls, and this year, they are available in a set featuring blues, greens and yellows.

You don’t have to spend much for functional kitchen accessories, either.  Target has a great collection of bowls and serving pieces in bold colors right now.  Aren’t the cow creamers and egg crates just darling?

Dish towels, aprons, dinner plates, coffee mugs…there are really unlimited possibilities for adding color in a kitchen.  What are some ways that you like to add color into your kitchen?