The Definitive Guide to Selecting the Perfect Area Rug
When it comes to a comprehensive design, I think your area rug might be the most important and influential piece in your room since it’s takes up the most visual space. The good news here is that getting a new area rug can totally transform your space. It certainly did for me! Recently we just got two new area rugs for our living room and bedroom and I was overwhelmed by how many options there are. Lucky for you, I’m here to break down the 4 main factors you should pay attention to when buying your next area rug that will make the process much more streamlined.
SIZE
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SIZE |
First and foremost, getting the right size for your space is the MOST important factor when getting a new rug. This was so apparent to me when we moved. When we first moved in we installed our old area rug that fit in our 2 bedroom apartment. It felt small in our old space, but it felt even smaller in our new home! Once we were shopping for our new rug I knew I wanted size to be the driving factor.
Below is a comprehensive guide to getting the RIGHT size area rug for your seating group, no matter what room you’re putting it in. The best rule of thumb here is that you want ALL legs of your furniture to sit on carpet….
Just to show you how impactful size is, here is a before and after in my own home after getting the correct size area rug!
SIZE AND SCALE OF PATTERN
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SIZE AND SCALE OF PATTERN |
Once you’ve got the size determined, then you want to think about what the size and scale of the pattern you want. This is a different approach to just looking at “style of patterns” (aka abstract, or traditional). This approach helps you get more specific with your search. Here are some questions to ask yourself when getting started
What else is going on in the room? Is there already a lot of pattern going on in the room, or is it more neutral and monolithic? I didn’t have a lot of pattern going on already, but I also knew I wanted to keep the space feeling minimal and calm.
How big is my space? Typically, busier or smaller scaled patterns will make something feel cozier vs larger scale patterns will give the illusion of a bigger space. For me, I wanted our living room rug to feel larger, so I chose to go with a large scale pattern.
Is there already a reoccurring motif in the room that you want to build on? Look at your artwork, throw pillows, or architecture of the space. For example, in our living room we have some curves repeated in the artwork and throw pillows so I knew I wanted our area rug to have some circular or curved motif.
How much of my rug will be uncovered, or how much of the pattern will I be able to really see? For example, larger scale patterns do best when most of the pattern is left uncovered. This could be in a living room or dining room. Busier or smaller scale patterns do better when they are more covered. This would be like in your bedroom.
Here are some great examples showing varying scale of patterns with Arvin Olano’s Latest Collection with Rugs USA (this is where we got both of our rugs!)
COLOR
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COLOR |
Once you have the scale of pattern determined then you can start filtering by color. This is where the fun comes in!! Since your area rug covers the most visual space in your room you want to start with evaluating what you already have in your space. Here are some questions to guide you:
Is your room more neutral? You can go two ways here, the first is adding in more neutral tones within your rug, but amping up the contrast within the rug to add some depth. The other option is to introduce some colors with a more muted color palette.
Is there already an existing bold color in the room? You can go two ways here too! We already have a bold burnt terracotta sofa in our living room. So instead of adding more color with the rug, I wanted the rug to be lighter and provide some visual relief. The other way you could go is to really lean into this color by having a colorful area rug with your bold color repeated as the secondary color.
Here are some examples of going BOLD with your color choice, or more neutral with contrasting secondary colors. These are all from Arvin Olano’s collection with Rugs USA!
TEXTURE
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TEXTURE |
The last variable for picking a rug is pay attention to the texture. I’m so excited to see affordable residential area rugs bringing in texture in unique ways like I’ve seen in the hospitality industry. Here are the four different types of textures you might see:
All cut pile - this means your carpet will all be at the same height. This is great for high traffic areas. If you’re looking for a more cushioned feel, look for carpets with longer pile heights.
All Shag - I honestly love that we’re seeing shag carpets return. They have such a cozy feeling, but I wouldn’t recommend them for high traffic areas.
All Loop pile: This is where the carpet yarn makes. A “loop” at the top instead of just a cut. This is what we have in our bedroom and it gives a more uniform look to the pattern and will wear the best compared to cut or shag carpet. That’s because the end of the yarn strand isn’t exposed to the top of the rug.
Woven: this is where you’ll find jute or sisal area rugs. There’s such a beauty of woven rugs that gives such a nice texture but with minimal coloration.
A blend of any of the above! Blending texture in area rugs is my personal favorite. We have a blend of woven and shag style texture in our living room rug and it’s such a nice way to add depth and texture to the space. Plus, pairing the softer look of shag with the woven sections will perform much better than an all shag rug.
Here are some examples of varying textures and how they really change the look of the carpet! These are all from Arvin Olano’s collection with Rugs USA!
Now I know this seems like a lot of factors to think about when picking a rug. However, paying attention to these 4 factors will really help you pick the right area rug for your space!!
Thanks for reading!
Rachael is a licensed Interior Designer specializing in hospitality interiors and high end residential. She also blogs about all things Interior Design + Lifestyle.
