Braided rugs are a warm and inexpensive way to cover your floors. For a country kitchen or rustic dining area, there’s nothing like the look of a multicolored braided rug under your kitchen or dining room table. Braided oval rugs bring a sense of warmth to any room and are traditionally less expensive than oriental rugs. Owning a braided rug also gives you a sense of freedom to protect your floors anywhere in your home. Braided rug runners look great in hallways and corridors and can even help protect high-traffic areas like stairways. You can use a braided oval area rug to protect your floors going up the stairs or small braided oval area rugs on each step. While most braided rugs come in cotton, you can also find braided chenille rugs and braided jute rugs depending on your taste and preference.
Braided area rugs are beautiful and unique versions of hand made rugs that have a specific style when they’re finished. Braided is the best way to describe these rugs, as they are made of several long, thin strips of fabric or other types of fiber or material braided together by hand and then twisted into the shape of an area rug. Although round and oval rugs are traditionally the most common braided rugs available on the market, they have begun to surface in other shapes as well, and they can be found in just about any size to help you match any theme, style, or décor choices you might have.
What are Braided Area Rugs and How to Choose One?
Have you ever seen a country kitchen or a photo of a traditional old-fashioned parlor from a farmhouse somewhere long ago? If so, you’ve probably seen a braided area rug, at least in pictures. These rugs are often considered very “country,” although pinpointing just what this means can be a little difficult. Country braided rugs are more or less very casual pieces of interior décor, but they can be very beautiful in their own right. They usually help make a room look comfortable and lived-in, and since the braided style was in fashion during the days of homesteading long ago, they have been often connected with creating rooms that are reminiscent of this style.
Gray braided rag rugs are some of the most common colors and types of braided rugs you might come across, but you can find them in all sorts of colors. They aren’t always made from “rags” or strips of material left over after other projects, but this is also a pretty common practice. These rugs are almost always made of polypropylene today, because this is a soft and durable material that’s resistant enough to staining and damage that they can be used in a lot of different parts of the home. In the past, cotton was the most common material used, but it wasn’t impossible to find a chenille or wool braided rug then, either.
Some of the Best Sizes of Braided Rugs
Braided area rugs can be found in several different sizes, although there might not be quite as many options for this style as there are for other types of rugs. Since these rugs are almost always handmade instead of being machine made or power loomed, the sizes may be more limited. The largest sizes you’re likely to come across are 8x10 or 10x12, but you’re more likely to find small round or oval braided rugs that are 4’ across or even 8’ across in width. Square outdoor braided rug options are sometimes also available in these smaller sizes, but they’re more common in bigger sizes.
The size of braided rug you choose to work with depends a lot on the type of room you’re putting together. Are you looking to make a traditional country style sitting room or parlor? If so, a bigger rug is your better option. But are you trying to make a country kitchen or dining room instead? If this is your goal, try sticking to smaller rugs, as they’re easier to keep clean and better for that old-fashioned country style, too.
What Shapes are Available?
While there have been some other shapes of braided rugs traditionally available, the most common by far are rectangles and ovals. Braided kitchen rugs in particular are almost always oval in shape, and if you’re shopping for a smaller rug, you’re much more likely to come across ovals than rectangles. However, it’s not impossible to find rectangular braided rugs in these sizes too, so you can choose whether or not your rug to be traditionally angular or you want it to flow more smoothly into the lines and designs of your room.
The shape you choose has a lot to do with the final look you want to create, too. For example, if your living room is going to be a traditional sitting room with an old country feeling, you probably want to go with a larger oval rug or even a big rectangle to get this point across. In the dining room, however, ovals are almost always the way to go. Choose a blue or red braided rug in a mid-range size and an oval shape and spread it on the floor of your dining room. Pair it with white furniture and plenty of country accents to create a room that looks like it has sprung out of the past.
What is the Best Room for Using Braided Rugs?
Braided rugs can look great in many parts of your home, but it’s much more common to use them in the kitchen and dining room than it is to incorporate them into any other room of your home. Gray cotton braided rugs can be beautiful, neutral tone additions to your kitchen that can give you a lot of room to work with in terms of decorating. In the dining room, a black and white braided rug can be a fun way to combine the traditional country style with a more contemporary and modern color scheme.
If you do choose to use these rugs in the living room, try to stick to a pink, red, or blue braided rug with variegated fiber colors for the most old-fashioned look you can achieve. Smaller versions of the same type of rug can be fun accent pieces to use in the entryway or hallway in your home and help tie these spaces into the other rooms you have decorated. Outdoors or in your sun room, try large jute braided rugs for a unique outdoor eco friendly twist.
While it’s true that braided rugs aren’t for everyone, they are very popular choices, especially for anybody who wants to create a more casual and laid-back space. Although the rooms and styles you can create around a braided rug aren’t necessarily modern or contemporary—but can be!—they remain more casual simply because of the country theme that these rugs tend to call to mind. You might not want to use a braided rug for a very elegant and formal room, but anything transitional to casual can look amazing and feel great when you incorporate one of these rugs into your design plans.
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