A tiger lazing away in your living room, Micky and Minnie having ball of a time in the kids room and some refreshing and colourful flowers blooming in your master bedroom… Well, this ain’t a dream sequence from your last night’s sleep or any animation film unfolding on TV screen. Indeed, these are the different patterns and hues of area rugs to grace your home. Rugs can dramatically transform the interiors of any home with their spatial appeal. On the one hand, they define spaces and zones in a large room; while on the other hand, they are affordable ways to add colours and elements of interest to a small room. Available in a range of patterns, shapes, sizes, colours and materials, rugs can easily entice you with their sheer look and feel. In fact, very often you end up catching an instant fancy for one, only to realise later that it doesn’t quite fit into your interiors the way you thought it would! Certainly there’s more to choosing an area rug than an eye-catching pattern. Let’s find out what else!
One that Suits Your Lifestyle & Purpose
Does a rug suit your interiors and lifestyle in the first place? You may do well in asking this to yourself before going ahead with anything else. If yours is a home with pets and kids, you will have to exercise some good discretion in planning rugs for your home. Litters and stains are inevitable with kids/pets around. Maintaining rugs is a big hassle in such situations so make a very thoughtful choice. But if you have wooden flooring, you may as well protect it from scratches with rugs. After all, it makes more sense to safeguard your expensive flooring with not-so-expensive rugs!
Your lifestyle is yet another prime deciding factor. Do you prefer only sofas and couches while watching TV? If yes, a coffee table rug should suffice. But if you like to sit down on floor to watch TV, the rug you choose should be bigger in size and more cushioning in thickness than the one you use for anchoring the coffee table.
Right Size & Shape
There’s nothing such as one-size-fits-all! It depends on the space, furniture layout and the look and feel you desire to achieve.
For the living/drawing room: Some like to go the oversize way by placing all the furniture on the rug. On the other hand, others like to stick to the traditional style – place the coffee table on top of the rug and the sofa set around the area rug.
If you want to showcase the artistic value of your rug in a more full-fledged manner, place it off centre in the room with just one leg of the sofa on the rug and the entire rug fully displayed, unobstructed. This style works best with circular-shaped and other irregular or fanciful-shaped rugs. With the more common rectangular ones, the size should be large enough to anchor the furniture. It makes a good décor sense to have the front two legs of the sofas/chairs placed on the area rug with the other two on bare floor. Unlike wall-to-wall carpets, area rugs should enable enough free flooring around for the circulation flow. Trying layering a smaller rug over a bigger one – play with colour combinations and shapes for best effect.
Dining area: Rugs for dining area? Yeah, it is a tricky deal. Like any décor feature, it’s a matter of choice and preferences! For some, the idea of area rug for dining table may not really appeal owing to maintenance issues. Dining area is constantly prone to spills and stains and many would want to stay clear of rugs. Many others get all too excited about doing up the dining area with an elegant rug to style up their home. Buy a size that allows the chair legs to still be on the rug even in the pulled out position to avoid tripping and falling off.
Bedroom: It’syour call to creativity again! You can either place your ottoman or footstool over the rug or simply have one to design the bed area. The other practical use is to define a dressing area, conversation space or cosy corners.
If you want to show off the flooring of your room, the rule is, play it small.
Material to Choose
The material you pick depends on a host of factors such as lifestyle, utility, space and climate. Always remember, no rug is 100% maintenance free or spill proof. The most popular of all, wool rugs are durable, relatively stain-resistant, elegant looking and provide better heat insulation in winters or cold regions. It’s an ideal pick for living rooms, dining rooms and hallways. A big ‘No’ for kitchens because it soaks water! Rating high on sheen-n-style, the exquisite silk rugs are best for bedrooms as they are not as durable as woollens. The inexpensive cotton rugs come in smaller sizes and are ideal for kitchens as these are easy to wash. Synthetic rugs are also quite cost effective and easy to maintain. Natural fibres such as jute, sisal, seagrass and bamboo are best for homes with allergy sufferers.
Of Colours & Patterns
Interestingly, you can either match the rug to your surrounding or go the other way round. Accentuate your room décor by coordinating your rug with the existing, dominant colour theme and patterns around. Now, here’s a twist! Why not think out-of-the-box and buy the rug first instead at the end?! Let the rug be an inspiration for your curtains, cushion covers and the drapery around. Take it from us; you will always pat your back for making this choice.
So the next time you go rug shopping, you have a takeaway guide at your disposal.
