No, it’s not the lighting (even though I seriously wish it was), the color of the rug is HIGHLY desaturated. And not the same visible red advertised in the photos. It looks ashy!! It’s one of those rugs that if you rub against the grain, a darker color shows. The only thing saving it for me is the pattern. I was looking for a cheaper rug that matched the pattern of a more expensive Persian rug that I fell in love with, because this one is almost spot on. After searching high and low I finally found this one. My excitement drained once I unrolled it and saw how ashy and burgundy the color was. I tried to give it a couple of days to see if it would grow on me but nah. There’s nothing wrong but burgundy but it’s not the color I want and neither is this rug!