Although rugs aren’t permanent, deciding on a rug can be a difficult task. The right one can bring the room together, whereas the wrong one can make the room feel unfinished and sometimes ruin it, so pay attention!
Like flooring, there are lots to consider with the right rug, the decision shouldn’t really be treated differently. Material, size, colour and pattern…each component needs to match up with each other perfectly! Although generally, rugs are less expensive than installing a whole new floor, they aren’t by any means cheap. Let’s look and see which rug will suit your home best…
Material
Usually, most people purchase a rug to increase the comfort of their home, and the material can play a huge part in this. First consider what you want to prioritise, possibly a rug that’s going to feel luxurious, one that’s sustainable and natural, or perhaps one that’s a good insulator. Once you’ve decided on your priorities, you can start to look at some of the options.
Wool is a good place to start. We all love the thick, luxurious warm feel of wool and it’s a natural product, not to mention it suits pretty much any style interior and complements anything! It can also be made into a range of textures and dyed almost any colour, you can choose exactly what it is you want. Wool is also very resilient to wear and tear, standing up to high foot traffic and retaining its appearance for a long time, as well as naturally repelling water.
Cotton is another fabric that takes well to colour. Although cotton is not as durable as wool, it is less expensive and boasts a more casual look, while still getting that desirable natural appearance.
If you want something at a cheaper price however, synthetic rugs are widely available and can be very hard wearing. There’s also a huge range of natural materials such as: jute, sisal, seagrass and coir for those of you who like it all natural!
Sizing
Rugs come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The first thing to decide is do you want to completely fill a room or fill little corners? If you’re going to go down the route of lots of smaller rugs, pay special attention to each one and make sure they all complement each other. If you’re going for one large, statement rug then there are a few rules to follow so you get the look you’re after. It’s very easy to choose a rug that ends up being too small for your space, so here’s a few tips to help you avoid making any errors.
Where the living room is concerned, a rug should fit the size of your seating area completely, so there are no empty gaps. Don’t worry if the furniture sits on top of the rug though, this is beneficial as it can stop it sliding around. As a general rule to follow, if in doubt opt for the larger option, you can always tuck it under the furniture.
Design
This largely depends upon what flooring you already have. If you have the affluent and desirable parquet wood flooring then you might want to opt for a rug that isn’t too busy! Equally, if you have a wood flooring that has minimal knots and exhibits a clean-cut look, then a patterned rug would be perfect to enhance the character of your room. Don’t be too shy though, a room with an array of textures and patterns creates real character and a welcoming statement.
A wicker rug is a great route to go down, as they aren’t too plain but go well with pretty much every pattern. Make sure you choose a colour scheme that complements your existing room’s décor however, not that conflicts with it. A good rule to follow is perhaps match your new rug with subtle colours your room already has, this can really bring it to life.
