Area Rugs

     Most people have little difficulty determining their purpose for wanting an area rug, but it is nevertheless an important step to consider.

     Now comes the task of determining what is the appropriate style, size, shape and color that best suits their decorating needs.

     The style of area rug you choose is either determined by a style theme that already exists in the room or a new style direction that you are planning to decorate that room in.  If you have no intention of changing the basic style theme of the room, but simply wish to accent or highlight an existing theme, then selecting a rug that fits well with the existing furniture, window treatments and wall colors is all that most people want.  So, in this case, a beautiful bedroom that is already decorated with "traditional" style furniture will usually only require a "traditional" style rug, (in the appropriate size and colors) to look good.  Of course, in this case one can also add to existing style elements in the room to further accent that theme.  One's other option is to decorate a room in a completely new style direction, to a greater or lesser degree.  In this case, it can range from slight changes with different furniture or wall color to an entirely new look.   Although changing to an entirely new style theme for a room (i.e.- from a "traditional" theme to a "southwestern" theme), may require new furniture and/or more work, the entire experience can be quite liberating, because one is not having to be concerned about existing colors and decorative elements anymore.  As a matter of fact, in this case, you can just as easily start with the new area rug and then add new decorative items (i.e.- new furniture or wall color) that build upon the existing beauty of the rug.

     The size of rug which you choose is simply decided by the measurements of the open area of floor you wish to cover.  This sounds simple enough, however there are some things that should be considered.  For example, in a bedroom, where one wishes to place rugs over the hardwood floor around a bed, one must decide if one wants to place the bed over a large area rug or simply place a number of smaller rugs around the bed, without going under it.  In a dining room, where one wants to place a beautiful dining room table in the center of an area rug, is the rug larger enough to allow dinner guests to pull out their chairs to be seated, without the chair's rear legs going over the edge of the area rug.  These are just two examples of where a rug's size should be carefully considered.  Certainly in decorating any room with an area rugs, it helps to remember that one doing a bit of a "creative composition" of all the decorative elements, (i.e.- furniture, lighting, wall colors, etc.), and the area rug's size is part of that composition.

     Usually, when one mentions "rug  shape" to people, they automatically think in terms of a rectangle.  While it is true that most area rugs do come in a shape of a rectangle, it is also true that there are a variety of other shapes available, including "round", "oval" and "octagon" shapes.  The long, narrow "runner" shape for hallways and staircases is a commonly used specialized shaped rug.  One of the most unusual shapes is called a "hearth" shape, which is usually used with door mats and is best described as a rectangle with two corners along one long edge cut off at a 45 degree angle.  By using different rug shapes, one can create uniquely different decorating effects in a room and add the new decorative element of curves and "other angles" to the creative composition of your floor.

     In selecting the proper colors for your area rug, it may seem that this is the most difficult part of the entire task, however this does not necessarily need to be the case.  Of course, the colors that are being showcased on your floor should work well with the other colors in the room, but this does not mean that the "dark blue" in the your rug must match the dark blue in your couch.  As a matter of fact, obtaining exact color matches between area rugs and other decorative elements in the room, (such as furniture, wall color and accessories) may be a near impossible task unless one is paying to custom make everything.  When one is obtaining "in stock" items of furniture, accessories and lighting from stores, it is unlikely one will obtain "exact color matches" between the "gold clock" and the "gold pillow" simply because the clock manufacturer's concept of "gold" is most likely different than the pillow manufacturer's concept of "gold".  And with area rugs, the problem of exact color matches becomes even more interesting when one considers that some area and handmade rugs can contain as many as 12 or 15 different colors.  Now this is no way intended to discourage anyone from liking the color they like, or even liking the "exact color they like".  After all, one can sometimes get lucky in one's decorating adventure.  However, perhaps a more workable path to follow would be to "avoid exact color matches" altogether and work toward an "overall theme of coordinated colors".  In this case, the overall color theme of a room can be primarily a range of "blues" that work well with one another and the other colors that highlight and accent the room.  One might have found "the perfect" couch with the exact right shape of "red" and then find an exquisite area rug that does not match exactly, but "looks charming with my new couch", and does not distract from the beauty of the couch but "simply adds to it."   So one may want to look at the "overall color theme of the room" and how well the various colors fit together toward creating the desired effect.

     This covers some the major factors to consider when selecting area rugs as part of the decorating process.  Whether one is decorating a room as a "do it yourself" project or having an interior decorator come in to advise you, keep in mind that in the end, how the room is decorated is a expression of your taste in style and decor.  Fine area rugs, whether handmade or machine-loomed can easily add to that expression of your decorating style.

    If you have any questions about area rugs and how they can be used to decorate any interior, please feel free to call us, Toll Free at 1-888-360-RUGS, (which is 1-888-360-7847), between 10:00am and 10:00pm (Central Standard Time), any day of the week.   Our Customer Service Care representative will do his or her very best to answer your questions in a friendly and understandable way.  At DesignerFloor Area Rugs, we are dedicated to providing you with the best possible customer service care when purchasing area rugs on the internet.