I love area rugs.
The end.
Seriously. I love what an area rug can do for a room. Should so much power be given to one object? Too late, it’s already done.
What does an area rug bring to your home? I’m so glad you asked.
- Noise reduction. If your flooring is tile or wood, a large rug will absorb the noise and greatly decrease the echo.
- Warmth. Nothing says warm and cozy like a plush rug underfoot.
- Artistic expression. Stay with me on this one… Many times we play it safe with our large furniture pieces, sticking to basic browns and no-nonsense neutrals. Your area rug is where you can play a little bit. Maybe introduce a few colors in your color scheme that otherwise would get relegated to small accessories. Try it!
- Defined areas. With the rise in open concept layouts, it’s easy to lose clear definition of where one room begins and one room ends. Believe it or not, this is pretty important, psychologically speaking. Our brains don’t want to have to work harder to have to figure these things out, it actually causes stress when the lines are blurred, so to speak. An area rug says- this is the living room, this is the dining room and this is the bedroom. And this is a good thing.
Two common pitfalls when buying an area rug:
- You think your rug has to match or even coordinate with your couch. This is false. Your couch is likely a neutral (Black, gray, white, beige, tan or brown) and does not contribute to your color scheme. Think of your sofa as a backdrop or a blank canvas for your accessories (pillows and throws). Refer to number three, above.
- You buy a rug that is too small. As a general rule, (and rules are made to be broken, so take it or leave it) the front legs of all your living room furniture should be on the couch by a least 5-8 inches. Most folks buy a 5×7 rug when they should be buying an 8×10 rug. Is it more expensive? Yes. But this is one item you don’t want to chintz on. It’s worth it to save up for it, buy used or check out discount websites like overstock.com.
An area rug can bring so much to a home, if you don’t enjoy yours I hope you will do something about it! Life is too short to hate your rugs. :-)
Blessings,
Catrina
