Whether you want to give your floor a bit of flair, cover up distracting spills or bring some warmth to a hard floor surface, an area rug offers an affordable, practical solution. Choosing the right rug to fit your space, décor and lifestyle is simple once you know the basics.
In this series:
With so many styles and colors to choose from, the following factors can help you narrow down your choices.
- Determine what you want the room’s focal point to be. If you want the rug to be the focal point, consider one with a central medallion design. If there is another obvious focal point in the room, such as a fireplace, you may want to choose a rug with a pattern carried throughout instead.
- Take into account the patterns on your upholstery and walls so the rug doesn’t compete. If your upholstery or wallpaper has an ornate pattern, choose a subtler area rug. If the walls & upholstery are more subdued, you can try a busier pattern for the rug.
- Notice how much foot traffic the area receives. In high-traffic areas, a rug with a detailed pattern may be more practical. In general, more pattern equals lower maintenance.
- Make sure the rug colors coordinate with the rest of the room. While not all the colors in the rug have to match the room, at least one color should. Take swatches of wallpaper, paint and/or upholstery fabric with you when you shop.
- Remember that lighter-colored rugs will make the room seem more spacious and darker colors will create a more cozy atmosphere.
- Remember that texture is an important element of design as well. Different fibers or depths in a rug add interest. Rugs made of jute or sisal make a great textured contrast to smooth hardwood or tile floors.
- Don’t feel limited to rectangles. Octagonal and circular rugs can bring a unique feel to a room.
Following these easy design conventions can help you determine the right size rug for your space.
Under a coffee table:
- Typically 4’x6’ or 6’x9’ rugs work well under coffee tables. The size you choose should be based on the size of your coffee table and surrounding furniture.
- The rug should be large enough to accommodate all 4 legs of the table.
The rug should be approximately the same length and width of the furnishings in the space.
- For the best look, leave some exposed flooring between the rug and the furniture.
Under a dining table:
- Most dining room tables will need an 8’ wide area rug.
- The dining chair legs should not fall off the rug when people are seated or pulling the chairs away from the table to seat themselves.
- To choose the right dimensions for your rug, measure the length and width of the table and add at least 4 feet to each measurement.
For an entire room:
- Try to leave an equal amount of flooring exposed on all sides of the room. If that’s not possible, ensure the exposed floor on parallel sides of the rug are equal.
- For many rooms, an 8’x11’ rug works well.
- It’s fine if the front legs of the furniture are on the rug and the back legs are off, as long as the furniture is stable and balanced. Place furniture coasters under the back legs to raise them to the rug height if needed.
Many people think a rug pad’s only job is to keep the rug in position – which they do. Rug pads are also important because they:
- Reduce wear and tear on the rug
- Help absorb sound
- Make vacuuming easier
- Protect smooth-surface flooring like hardwood from being scratched by the back of the rug.
- Prevent dark colors in an area rug from bleeding through to a lighter carpet or flooring surface.
In the past, rugs were made from either cotton or wool. Today, there are several natural and synthetic fibers used to make area rugs. To choose the type that’s best for you, consider how much traffic the area receives, maintenance requirements and cost.
The primary synthetic fibers and their characteristics are:
- Acrylic. Highly resistant to sunlight, stains and mildew. Bath rugs are often made of acrylic.
- Polypropylene/Olefin. The most stain-resistant synthetic fiber on the market. Water-repellent and often less expensive than other fibers.
- Nylon. Versatile, durable and easy to clean. Withstands heavy foot traffic.
Most common natural fibers and their characteristics are:
- Wool. Durability, softness, dyability and cleanability make wool a superior fiber.
- Cotton. Softer than wool but less durable.
- Jute. The softest of all natural fibers. May fade or darken in direct sunlight. Jute fibers will disintegrate with prolonged exposure to moisture.
- Sisal. The strongest and most durable natural fiber. Static-free and colorfast.
- Blends. Frequently two or more natural fibers are combined, giving you the best benefits of each.
The more knowledge you have, the more you can be certain you’ll make a choice that fits your lifestyle. Here’s a simple guide on the most common rug construction techniques.
- Hand-hooked. The weaver pushes a hooking tool through the foundation cloth to the front of the rug, then pulls the yarn to the back, leaving a loop on the surface.
- Hand-knotted. Each knot is individually tied by hand. The knots are single strands of yarn that have been looped around two adjacent threads.
- Hand-tufted. A dyed foundation cloth is stretched over a loom, and a hand-operated tufting gun pushes yarn through the back of the cloth. Once off the loom, a scrim, layer of latex and back-cloth are attached.
- Jacquard. A mechanized loom with a belt of punched cards which are arranged to produce the weave of the rug.
- Wilton Loom. Resemble hand-knotted rugs, but are machine made.
Terms every rug shopper should know.
- Border. The decorative designs/color repeated in one direction around the outside of a rug.
- Field. The background of the rug inside the border. May be solid or patterned.
- Hand-carved. Using hand shears, the weaver cuts a design into the rug. The carving and sculpturing give the rug a unique look.
- Heat set. Heat setting gives polypropylene fiber a wool-like appearance by putting a twist in the yarn.
- Line count. One indicator of quality is the number of knots or stitches per square inch. Beneficial for comparison within a given line; keep in mind that different manufacturers may calculate the number differently, so comparing across brands may be comparing apples to oranges.
- Medallion. A round or oval design in the center of a rug.
- Pile. The surface yarn that makes up the face of the rug.
- Stitches/Needle count. The number of loops of yarn. The higher the count, the denser the rug. High density rugs generally last longer and wear better than looser weaves.
- Warp and Wefts. The warp yarn is the stationary thread on the loom, and the strongest part of the rug. The warp is intersected with wefts – the filling yarn that is woven through.