Area Rugs- the foundation of a room

There are a lot of foundational clothing items on the market these days- Spanx, seamless panties, and a zillion choices for bras.  The pieces you choose directly affect how the rest of your clothes will look on you.  You must choose wisely in order to look your best.  You can apply the same principle to area rug selection.  Choose wisely or risk ruining the whole vibe of your space.

Area rugs can be tricky.  People often make the mistake of purchasing rugs that are far too small for their space.  A couple of factors go into this mistake-

1. lack of understanding for a rug’s purpose

2. the cost of buying a rug. 

Let’s start with talking about an area rug’s purpose. A rug is the foundation of a room.  It’s the first thing you should select when creating a space. Why?, you ask. A rug’s pattern and color scheme is the basis for every other decision you make in a space. The colors in the rug are used as a basis for choosing color for your walls and fabrics, and your pattern will dictate the design style of the whole space.

A rug acts as an anchor for your seat grouping.  In large spaces, there are often multiple seat groupings.  Area rugs help define those seat groupings. 

 Remember earlier when I mentioned that people buy rugs that are too small?  This is where that becomes a problem.  If you are trying to tie together a conversation group of furniture that includes two sofas facing each other with a pair of chairs flanking one sofa, but your rug floats out in the middle under the coffee table, it is going to feel lost and will not be serving its purpose. 

Area rugs also serve as an element of warmth and provide sound absorption.  If you’ve ever walked around barefoot in a room with hardwood floors you know it can be chilly.  Rugs provide softness underfoot and feel warmer than the hard surface flooring.  You’ll notice a big difference in noise when a room with hard flooring has a rug in it.  Without a rug, every little noise carries and can create an echo.  Adding a rug allows the sound to be absorbed therefore making multiple conversations and activities tolerable within the same space.

Onto the second factor for making a rug misstep… price. Price of area rugs can be subjective.  I can’t tell you how much money you should spend on a rug, only you know where you are comfortable budget-wise.  Research the construction of the rug you are interested in buying.  That will tell you all you need to know about why it is priced the way it is.

The purpose and the size of the rug go hand in hand.  You know that a rug anchors a seat grouping and you now know that floating a rug in the center of your furniture is not the way to go.  So how should a rug interact with the furniture? In an ideal world, all four legs of your upholstered furniture pieces sit atop your area rug.  In instances that this is not possible- whether it be an oddly shaped room, budget constraints, etc- you can cheat by just having the front two feet on the area rug.

In dining rooms, you should allow 2 feet from the edge of the table to the edge of the area rug so the dining chair can be pulled out from the table without getting caught on the rug's edge. You don't want your guests to be fighting the rug while trying to enjoy a meal at your table!

What a difference this little change makes!  Take a look at the rugs in your space plan- how do they measure up?  Could you tweak the placement to create a more refined look?  Do they anchor your seat grouping and follow the rule of thumb for leg placement? If not, go back in and adjust.  That’s the beauty of decorating, it’s fluid.