Choosing the right rug for your home
As with décor taste and design, there are many subjective opinions about rugs. The one thing that rings true, though, is to look for good quality rug that will serve you for years to come.
What is the purpose of your rug?
Many designers would advise on adding a rug to a space, to bring the collective feel together. There may also be reasons, such as adding warmth and/or colour to the interior. Making a short list of the reasons for getting a rug would greatly assist you in choosing the correct size, pattern and material.
What will the space be used for?
Living spaces tend to evolve and serve different purposes over time - a living room may very well serve as a space for children to play with toys or watch television during certain times of the day. Therefore, consider the uses and traffic that will be in the area during the day. If there will be a lot of traffic and movement within the space, then consider a rug that will not show dirt, can be cleaned easily, is made from durable material.
What do your original floors look like?
When opting for a rug, also consider whether you wish to show parts of the original floor or if you wish to obscure most of it. Aesthetic flooring, such as parque or laminated wood, even beautiful tiles, would contrast
well when the rug is only partially covering the area. Where you do not wish to accentuate the original floor, choose a larger rug to cover wider areas.
The colour, style and texture of the original floor will also influence your decision. Do you wish to make the rug blend or stand out? For accent colours, choose dashes of contrasting colour to your floor - for example, darker colours on a lighter floor, where you wish to create a focal point. If you wish it to blend more, then opt for a hue that is in the same range as the floor; this may be useful where you wish to add warmth to the room, or simply create a consistent flow of colour.
What role does colour play?
One of the major decisions, when getting a rug, is the choice of colour or colour combinations in the design. Consider the overall colour palette of the space and whether you wish to accentuate or harmonise with it. Be careful not to choose colours that are too distracting, taking into consideration that you would want your rug to be pleasing to the eye for a very long time.
If you wish to create an accent, choose a colour that is not common in the rest of your palette but which still exists somewhere within it - for example: a room that is predominantly grey and cream, but with some spots of green; will serve well for a carpet that contains more of the same, or similar, green. Where you wish to harmonise, then choose a rug that has more of the same colour in its pattern as are predominant in the room. The choice of colour is also important when considering the maintenance and cleaning of the space. Although white may, at times, be trendy; it is not ideal to have a purely white rug where there is a lot of traffic and activity in the room. Darker colours tend to be easier to maintain but too dark may also show blemishes easily.
Is the devil really in the detail?
With rugs, it most definitely is. When choosing a rug - look at the patterns, textures, fabric, pile and finishing used in the manufacturing. The living space will have tremendous elegance and status added thereto, where the rug boasts fine hand-crafted detail. Any space will benefit from neat and tidy finishing.
Further to the detail, is the finer textures that lie within the fabric or material of manufacture. Choose lush materials with delicate textures for opulent spaces and tone the rhythm down for areas that need a lot of simplicity. Whichever decision you make, you will always be better off choosing a rug that has been rounded off well and that will not tear or warp easily.
What more is there to know about the fabric?
The important factor in the choice of fabric is not restricted to durability. The senses that a fabric evokes are also important. When working towards a warm and opulent effect for the space, opt for plush and luxurious fabrics. Should you wish to have a rug mostly for practical reasons, then a fabric that does not easily fray becomes important.
How important is size?
When working with rugs, it is more a question of scale than size as such. The general safe rule is that the larger rug is usually better. However, placing a rug that drowns the space in a room, creates overwhelm and looks out of proportion.
Measure the physical size of the floor and choose a rug that would lie well within that space – considering the other furniture pieces that occupy the room. Consider whether you wish the rug to spread under the legs of chairs and sofas or whether you wish for it to end in front of these. A carpet that spreads underneath, looks more sophisticated and pulls the space together. Where there are elaborate finishes such as tussles, it makes sense to have these displayed and not hidden underneath other pieces.
How bold may you go?
Choosing a pattern or colour may be a bold decision, and it is wise to choose with consideration of the bigger scheme of the space. As an addition, you may even opt to layer more than one rug or scatter rugs across the space to demarcate different areas visually.
Whichever choices you make in your selection of rug, never forget to have a sense of fun and spontaneity to bring life to any space.