What Color Rug Goes with a Brown Couch? (+ How to Decorate With a Brown Sofa)

Pairing a White Rug with a Brown Couch

Not only do white rugs go with everything, they do a wonderful job of bringing out the rich undertones of warmer colors such as brown. But if you do opt to pair a white rug with your brown couch, remember that color isn’t the only way to create contrast. Creating contrast through textiles, such as by pairing a plush shag rug with a buttery leather sofa, calls attention to the overall cozy feeling of your living room – while allowing color to play with texture, and vice versa.

Pairing a Brown Rug with a Brown Couch

If the point of placing a rug under a couch is to help create harmonious contrast, then pairing a brown rug with a brown couch may seem counterintuitive. But before you cross off brown rugs from your list of possible mates for your lonely brown couch, make sure you’ve considered every possible shade of brown.

If your sofa is a medium shade of brown, then your safest bet is to go with another color, as a brown rug (no matter the shade) with a medium brown couch can make a living room feel too warm. But if your couch features an extreme shade of a color (for example, an extremely dark brown or an extremely light brown), pairing with it a brown rug on the other end of the extreme (for example, pairing an extremely dark brown couch with an extremely light brown rug) will add subtle depth while maintaining warm harmony.

What Color Pillows for Brown Couch?

For a brown couch, natural-hued pillows like cream, beige, white and tan will work. Keep the pillow colors lighter than the sofa color to create contrast and lighten the feel of brown. Top off with a light throw blanket over the armrest to match the pillows!

Colors to Match Brown Leather Sofas

Brown leather is similar to brown fabric, except for its shine: leather has a natural luster, so you can choose to bring this out with metallics, or keep the vibe high-contrast by sticking to only matte, dark decorations. For example, a metallic art piece will draw light and help the eye to associate the shine of the sofa with the decor above it, while a matte art piece will add simple, subtle detail to keep all the attention on the sofa itself.