Choosing the Right Natural Fiber Rug for Your Home
Expert Article By: Mike Dennis
When it comes to home design, there are no hard and fast rules to go by. The most difficult part of the process is deciding when or where to start. Whether you?ve chosen to carry this entire task on your shoulders or have opted to hire the services of a designer, using an area rug should always rank somewhere on the top of your list.
Though not too many homeowners realize it, no piece of furniture or item brings a more dramatic transformation to your room than an area rug, which is literally its centerpiece. Choosing the right rug is crucial in your home decorating success. However, picking the appropriate floor covering material can also be a daunting task. Below are some tips which we?ve put together to make your area rug shopping experience both fun and challenging.
1. Choose a Shade or Color
Whether you?re working on an empty room or already have furniture, it is essential that you pick the right shade that would be consistent with your room?s motif. Taking a photo of your room is advisable to help you visualize how your rug would blend with other elements in your room.
For areas exposed to busy traffic such as stairs and hallways, you might want dark patterns. Rooms with busy interiors require subdued colors. Ornate wall papers and intricate furniture designs go well with light colored rugs which do not compete with design. The general rule is that light color rugs make rooms appear larger and less constricted. Darker shades bring warmth and helps enhance a room?s color scheme.
2. Determine the Right Fiber, Material and Weave
Your choice largely depends on your rug?s purpose. For instance, cotton backed wool rugs go well with hallway entrances because of their durability and inherent resistance to stains. http://www.NaturalAreaRugs.com provides useful tips and advice on the various natural fiber rugs and their suitability for particular applications.
3. Request a Sample
Some customers get disappointed when they end up buying rugs that fall below their expectations. The best way to address this is to request a sample which reveals the most intricate details about your rug. A swatch allows you to match your rug with your room?s furniture and inspect how the lighting bounces of your rug?s weave patterns. The last thing you?d want to do is to rewrap a huge area rug for return or exchange (there are no returns for made to order rugs).
4. Check the Appropriate Rug Size
Large area rugs go well with living rooms, bedrooms and dinging rooms. Smaller rugs work best in foyers, hallways, and bathrooms.
For living rooms with hardwood floors, you?d want approximately eighteen to twenty four inches of wood to be exposed around the rug?s perimeter. In dining rooms, you?d want room to pull the chairs out from the table with the back legs of the chairs remaining on the area rug. For accurate measurements, use a tape to outline the area to be covered by your rug.
Generally speaking, you?d either want all your furniture on top of your rug, or everything outside of your area rug. Having pieces of furniture partially on your rug gives that appearance of furniture falling off.
5. Using Multiple Area Rugs
While it is a general rule to use only one area rug per room for better coordination, exceptionally large rooms might require more than just one. In such cases you have to be sure that both rugs complement each other and that one should be dominant in size.
6. Rug Shape
While it would be safe to use a standard sized rectangular rug, you might want to explore your imagination and consider other shapes. Your room should have no restrictions when it comes to flooring design. A custom-shaped rug tailored after your room?s specific requirements can help enhance its beauty. Rectangular rugs work well for bedrooms and living rooms while round and oblong rugs are suitable for dining rooms.
7. Furniture
In order for your area rug to work, any additional furniture should be consistent with the design you initially intended for your rug. Try not to over-decorate if you have a bold colored rug which might clash with too much clutter.
8. Changing Through the Seasons
For added life to your room, try using different sets of area rugs for winter and summer. This is the most economical way of transforming your room without investing so much on expensive furniture.
10. Do Your Research
Try to keep a record of all flooring and room designs that catch your attention. This assists you in visualizing and implementing a methodical decorating plan for your room. This allows you to safely experiment on priorly tested designs.
We hope these tips can aid your assessment in choosing the right area rug for your home. Remember, shopping for rugs should be a fun and enjoyable experience, so don?t restrict your imagination. Go ahead and test your creativity. But if you still have apprehensions about making these decisions on your won, you can always consult a local designer.
