Oh dear. Are you allowed to paint the walls? A softer earthly colour would remove the edge of black/white. Does the room receive good light? A darker wall colour will also take attention off the carpet as your will reduce the contrast. What's your furniture like? Avoid black. Get rid off the black curtains. Do you have a coffee table? A light wood surfaced one would be good. Good luck!

Hi, thank you for the reply.

I am waiting for the letting agency to tell me if I can paint the walls. Currently, I have one large chocolate brown couch but have a cream throw over with pretty cushions.

The room receives lots of light, I think the photos were taken at the wrong angle / bad picture quality.

You could also try adding a very large light coloured rug, one which might complement your furniture and preferred style. I'm thinking ethnic geometrical in bold earthy tones to offset the graphic weight of the carpet.

If you are allowed to paint,paint only the wall which has the window in it,in deep or light purple which goes with black really nice and keep other walls as they are. remove the black curtain and put another deep or light_colour curtain in a colour which goes with that wall,such as blue or pink.till now you have made a sharp contrast. if you already have some decorative peices and small rugs close to the mentioned colours and not necessarily the exact same colours,use them close to the white walls and away from the sharp-coloured wall and curtain. That make Contrast-Unification. that's all. Don't try to overload the room with many furnitures and decorative peices as it will take away the simple modern look. keep the room decluttered and if you chose to do this please take a picture for us to see the change.

Hmmmm, if I were you I would try and work with this colours. Especially if you are renting. Try adding some bling, mirrors, grey rug, curtains with a grey pattern etc.

Copper tones

Lime green. Ferns. yellows, oranges red are vintage colours to pick up in a large rug.
Add large colourful prints in simple black ikea frames. paint your own canvas or get a few friends to do some instead of painting the walls. just a few tulips or daffodils at the moment will add zing. A white painted coffee table with magazines with colourful covers. just add frivolity & the black will act as a foil for colour. I also love Gold with white for a modern twist.
As it is a rental don't invest money in stuff you can't take with you.
Only buy what you love.
remember the interior design adage: Every room needs something black. (albeit not this much, perhaps!)
It will be fine.

Whatever was the landlord thinking of - not the tenant obviously. Agree about a large either coloured rug, or white/cream to suit your taste, and then compliment this with a throw to pick up the colours in the rug. Obviously bright cushions would also lift this, as would a large picture. You would be able to change the curtains, provided you kept the black ones and put them back when you left. I think after all this you would not notice the black carpet. Keep us informed with pictures.

I think a big rug to cover as much of the carpet as possible is the answer, seagrass is not too expensive and gives a nice rustic look and is practical and hardwearing.

As it's rented add colour with accessories. Autumn shades are rustic and would lift the black/white. Store the black curtains & replace with colour. Think textures for a rustic look. Baskets. Natural wood. [At least the black carpet won't show fluff from black socks like a beige one does!]

As you've said you like 'rustic' style, I would suggest a large seagrass rug from Ikea - £85 for 2m x 3m. You will then have totally overpowered the black. Furnish the rest of the room to your taste, and just to make the black look intentional, if you add maybe pictures with black frames or one or two other accessories maybe trimmed with black, it should do the trick.

Jazz it up with fresh large plants, pictures in bold purples/lime greens and get co-ordintaing cushions. Try to move the furniture about so it isn't all stuck about the walls. That will give a cosier atmosphere and give it more umph. Black carpets are beautiful but a mare ... I know I had one!

Add a large rug or 2 small ones with your choice of colours and design add colours with ornaments too

Add a large bright rug, pale grey sofa and pale curtains - or even better a plain blind. You could pick a really natural fibre rug like Jute or Sisal with an edged border to blend in with the carpet or another colour that you can pick out with the furnishings like this. The great thing about investing in a rug and furnishings is that you get to take them with you!

If this were my house... i'd start by investing in some colourful items such as cushions or nice striking artwork for the walls ... even some nice big indoor plants... things that wont cost too much but make the room pop with colour against the black.

Personally i think the round rug on the carpet looks ok but i'd replace it with a coloured one... perhaps like this.. but depends on your taste.

i'd not recommend a big rug as that might just look odd.

Hope this helps :-)

Yes the black carpet is grim. Rip it up and see what's underneath ? Carpet is cheap these days.