How to Choose the Perfect Rug for Your Home

If you’re considering a thorough overhaul in your home, there are many things to bear in mind: from the adequate tone of wall paint and stylish flooring designs, across vintage, minimalist and urbane touches, all the way to carefully matched window styles, tastefully selected furniture and other small home accessories, we often forget the basics – or the base, at least. Rugs are often the final thought in your interior designing efforts but that doesn’t make them any less important than the rest of the lot. So, before you finally settle down in that comfy armchair with a cup of tea and a tray of biscuits, make sure you put in an adequate rug to round off your home décor with unique taste and functionality – and we have some tips for you right here on how to pick the right floor cover to supplement your freshly done-up home.

Circles and/or squares – Rug shapes and sizes do matter

Rug shapes and sizes vary and people mostly choose them depending on the area that they need to cover. Before setting off on a wild rug chase, make sure you measure the space you want to adorn in a floor cover and write the dimensions down for future reference. This will help you pick a sufficiently large rug when shopping and avoid shabby-looking floor areas accidentally left bare. In case you are not a big fan of squares, you can always go for a round rug that’s large enough to cover just enough of the flooring without looking completely misplaced or too carelessly chosen. Remember: in case you have a sofa, desk or a side table placed next to the wall, your rug should be large enough to reach under the front legs. Likewise, a perfect rug fit for a dinning room or a living room with the furniture placed in the centre is a floor cover that’s big enough on all sides to go under all four legs of each piece of furniture.

Don’t be frayed – Pick the rug by room traffic

When shopping for rugs, picking the right material is essential regardless of your favorite colors and design preferences. It’s important to choose a sufficiently soft and yet durable enough material for each room since you’ll probably be using your rug more than any other item in the house - you might or might not decide to sit in that expensive armchair every day, but you’ll certainly have to walk across your rug to get at least to and from the door. As foot traffic is most often at its highest in hallways and living rooms, you should definitely pick strong-fiber rugs for these premises because durable materials won’t end up looking and feeling all worn out after just a few months of regular use. Bedrooms and dining rooms are less demanding when it comes to traffic and rug material selection so you can adorn these premises with soft or shaggy carpets that are comfortable and warm enough for barefoot walking.

Keep walking – Most frequently used materials in rug production

Dhurries and kilims tend to be made from either flat-woven wool or cotton and are usually easy to clean so they are a good choice for premises with moderate foot traffic. On the other hand, tufted rugs are produced by the process of tufting (i.e. inserting yams or wool threads through a woven base) for extra softness and walking comfort, which makes them better suited for use in rooms with lower traffic. The same goes for premium pads – crafted from recycled post-industrial fiber, plush rugs are warm and thick to touch and can be used on all surfaces, including heated flooring. For high traffic areas, it’s recommendable to go with rugs made from natural materials like plant fiber (most commonly used fibers are those extracted from jute, sisal, hemp or seagrass) as these are extremely durable, affordable and usually neutral in terms of color. Rugs that are overdyed and distressed are produced by the process of dying, washing and distressing to render them softer and more vintage-looking, so they are a good rug choice for areas with low to moderate traffic.

Finding the perfect match – How to pick the right pattern and color

When shopping for floor covers in your local stores or purchasing rugs online, another important matter that you’ll need to bear in mind is the décor of the room. Unless you want your home to come across as too tacky or too hastily decorated, it’s best to pick a rug in the same or similar tone as your furniture and/or walls. Neutrals and pastels are also acceptable as these are likely to blend in with most light tones of wall paint, and white areas help create a more spacious feel in the room although they are more demanding when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. Most patterned rugs have one or a series of geometrical shapes interlinking at the corners or across the center so these will go well with both white and pastel walls, as well as solid or neutral-colored furniture. On the other hand, a monochromatic rug in a solid tone will work just fine with most patterned furnishing for as long as you remember to pay attention to the potentially contrasting colors in the most prominent piece of furniture in the room.

If you’ve recently refurbished your home or are considering a meticulous springtime overhaul, make sure you don’t leave your floors unattended. However much attention you and your guests may pay to the wall paint, furniture, accessories and other fine details, the base matters too, so adorn your home flooring in rugs that are sufficiently strong and yet supple enough to touch – because, after all, floors are the part of the house you’ll probably be using a lot.

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