Barocks Home Improvement Design

Picking area rugs to accent your home or office can be overwhelming. With so many styles, sizes, patterns, and fabric choices out there, how do you pick the perfect one for your room? Budget, size, and durability all play an important role in the selection process, as do the color scheme and pattern. Lets take a more in-depth look at each of these topics.

Budget – When buying an area rug, you really do get what you pay for. An inexpensive rug may save you some money up front, but may actually cost more in the long run. Area rugs that are well made and created with durable materials tend to be more expensive up front, but odds are you will not have to replace a well made rug nearly as soon. Instead of skimping on quality, look for a retailer with competitive pricing and sales. When trying to decide exactly how much to spend on an area rug, let the other furniture in the room be a guide. For example, if you are picking out a rug for the living room, you would want that rug to cost about the same as your sofa. If your bedroom is in need of some floor covering, you probably would want to spend slightly more than you did on your bed. Once you decide on a budget, add about 10 percent to it to allow yourself some flexibility within your desired price range.

Size – Choosing the appropriate size area rug for your needs involves looking at several factors. As a general rule, your area rug should be at least two feet shorter than the shortest wall in the room. That means if your room is 10 x 14, you should look for rugs no larger than 8 feet wide. If the rug is going to be placed near a door, make sure that you leave enough space for the door to open and close without the rug getting in the way. If your rug is going to adorn a hallway, make sure that there is at least six inches of floor showing on each side. You will also want to make sure that none of the corners stick out into high traffic areas because that could cause someone to trip and fall. If you are looking for a rug to accent your dining room, be sure that it extends at least 18 inches past the edge of the table so that your chairs don’t catch on the edges.

Durability – This may be the single most important factor when choosing an area rug. It doesn’t matter how nice a rug looks if it’s just going to fall apart after a few years, that’s why it’s so important to get a rug that will last as long as your decor does. High quality natural fibers such as silk and wool will withstand the wear and tear of a well-lived-in home much better than their cost crunching cousins jute, sisal, or grass. Oftentimes, wool rugs can even look better with wear because “wool has the capacity to develop its own patina through exposure to light and air and feet walking on it.” Says John Kurtz, host of the show Art Underfoot, “It’s like having a wonderful piece of wood furniture and rubbing your hand over it everyday”

Color scheme and Pattern – Lastly, you want to make sure that the overall tone of the rug matches the rest of the room. For instance, if your room has a minimalist style with lots of clean lines and smooth surfaces, you will want a rug with a design that reflects that with smooth, sharp lines and geometric designs. Color scheme is also important and you will want to pick a rug that has a similar palette to the rest of the room. However, depending on placement and personal taste you could choose to go with bright, saturated hues, or more subtle washed tones. If you would like your rug to be a focal point in the room, choose bright, deeply saturated hues. If you are looking for an area rug to highlight a stunning piece of furniture that is already in your home, choose a pattern that is similar to the style of the piece, and use a muted palette that compliments and highlights the colors of your furniture.