"The rug was really the starting point of the whole room—we were looking at Orientals because the husband favored those, but to get the kind of color we needed we had to go for an Oushak," Holt explains. "They have the most unusual color combinations." This particular rug—vibrant with bright orange, red, green and gold—was bought for the dining room for the main house, but the client loved it so much she wanted to see it everyday. "It ended up in the guest house, which is used often. The room took a cue from its colors—it took off from there."