By Glenda Wise
I absolutely love the look rugs can give a room. They can easily define a space, add coziness, color and pull an entire look together. Do I have any? The answer is, unfortunately, no! You guys know that I have animals and they tend to gravitate to an area rug anytime they get sick. Over time, I’ve had to get rid of all of them. I really don’t like not having rugs, but at this point, I don’t have much choice, because my animals are here to stay. Here are a few ways I would use rugs in my home IF I could:
- Rugs are great at defining and separating spaces. They are especially great when you have an open floorplan.
- Create harmony by choosing rugs that complement the room and one another.
- There is nothing worse than buying the perfect rug and bringing it home with hopeful anticipation only to find that it is too small for the space. I’ve made this mistake before; the rug ends up looking like a postage stamp. Keep these general rules of thumb in mind when purchasing a rug:
- When buying a room size rug, subtract three feet from the length and width of the room. By leaving the floor bare at the edges, the room will look larger.
- For rugs under dining tables, leave at least 24 inches of the rug from the edge of the table out on all sides.
- Runners should be 4 inches narrower than your hallway and 18-24 inches shorter. It should be wide enough to accommodate both feet on the rug when walking.
- If using multiple large area rugs seen from a single spot in you should, they only have to complement one another; they don’t have to match exactly. The designs should be similar with the same motifs in different ways and shades. Stick with one kind of style; don’t mix a contemporty rug and a traditional rug.
- Don’t limit rugs to the floor, hang it on the wall to create a focal point in a room.
The next time you want to spruce up a room, try adding an area rug for a quick alternative to replacing flooring.