Yesterday I was vacuuming our living room rug, which I am growing quite tired of, and I flipped it over to vacuum underneath it.
It’s a pretty rug, by Surya: it’s black with gray (cool gray…slightly green) large-scale spots on it, and it fits our colors nicely. It works well as a soft place where my son can build things, like ergonomic stands for the iPad (I am a proud mama). It’s getting older and has been well loved. It looks like this:
It’s a fine rug. But I’m a designer, and I get tired of things. Plus right now I’m in a neutral phase (or at least I think it’s a phase, but that remains to be seen).
Anyway, when I flipped it over I saw this: 
It’s perfect. Neutral, slightly masculine, simple, and lovely.
So I flipped the whole rug over. My son helped. We talked about how “flat weave” means “no shoes.” He gets it. Completely gets it.
I layered a little throw rug on top of it, and there it is. I love it. Thinking this will last for a while…
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
Paint It What I Tell You 
I googled “rug flipping” and your post popped up. today i took a trip to HomeGoods and fell in love with a rug, only to discover out it was the backside of the piece. glad to see other people have made that discovery! how funny!
it looks great!
That’s great, Katy! I have done it with fabric before, too.