Are you trying to find the right area rug for your living room (or another room of your home)? Do you find yourself wondering how to go about making this decision, especially when you’re shopping online and can’t see the rugs you’re considering in person? Although the right area rug decision is different for everyone, you can make the call by following a few simple buying guidelines. Check out our tips in the article below to help you choose the right size and shape of area rug for your living space, whether you’re decorating a spacious parlor or sitting room, or you just want to bring your apartment’s living room to life instead.
Picking the right size
- Choose based on the size of your room. It goes without saying that an oversized area rug isn’t going to fit in a small living space, but just because your room is large, that doesn’t necessarily mean it requires a big rug to make it look right. However, a good first step when it comes to deciding on the right rug for your purposes is to measure your room and then to measure the floor space where you want your rug to go. Even if you just get a general idea of the size you’re working with, this can help you get started with your shopping. This is also a good time to consider whether you want to decorate with a single large rug or go with a couple of smaller ones to pull the whole look together.
- Choose based on the style you’re looking to create. Whether you’re looking for a contemporary area rug, a traditional one, or a transitional piece that can work for either type of room, you should have a solid style in mind before you go shopping. Rugs are usually organized into these three categories, so you can further narrow down your size selections by deciding on the style you want to go with. Traditional rugs are going to be much larger than most contemporary rugs, and transitional rugs may be either large or small depending on the patterns and colors present in any given piece.
- Choose based on the use of the rug. You don’t need a 10×10 rug if you’re looking for something to wipe your feet on when you come in the front door, and you don’t need a runner rug if you want something to take up your whole living room’s floor space. Consider the way you’re planning to use your rug to help you narrow down your size options even further. Is it going to be a centerpiece or just an accent piece? Is it going to be used with a secondary rug or will it be the only one in the room? Making these decisions before you go shopping is crucial to ensuring you choose a size that will work perfectly for the use you have in mind for your rugs.
Picking the right shape
- Choose based on the style you want to stick to. Once again, you’ll need to think about the style of the room you’re creating. If you’re trying to stick to very traditional furnishings and décor, then remember that the most traditional shape of any area rug is a rectangle. You may be able to get away with a square rug for a traditional room too, however, especially if you’re careful to choose other elements that fit firmly into a traditional design. On the other hand, if you want to put together a very modern and contemporary room, you might want to opt for more unique shapes in your rugs. Round rugs of all sizes are very good choices for contemporary rooms, but you might also want to go with runners or even unique rug shapes like stars, paw prints, or flowers, depending on the room and the rug itself. If your room is transitional, you can choose any shape you like as long as you keep in mind the other features of the style you’re working with.
- Choose based on the shape of the space you’re working with. Most rooms are squares or rectangles, but some may be L-shaped or have other unique shapes. Even if your room is a simple rectangle, this can help you make a solid decision about the shape of the rug you choose regardless. Consider the space you want to decorate with your area rug instead of the entire room, too. For example, if you have an open-concept living and dining room, think about the shape of the living room without the dining room as you try to narrow down your rug choices.
- Choose based on the other furnishings in the room. Is your room decorated with opulent sofas and lounge chairs? Or are you sticking to a beach theme for your furniture instead? Is the room going to have a large, old-fashioned fireplace? Will there be other rugs or a coffee table in the room? Is this a country style room that needs a large oval braided rug to pull it all together? All of these questions and more can help you choose the right rug shape to work with. You may want to choose a shape that can sit under your existing furniture, or you might want to go with a shape that can be used around the furnishings instead.
As you can see, it may take a little time to narrow down your area rug choices and pick the one that will work best for your home. However, if you follow the tips and suggestions listed above, you should be able to have a much easier time of deciding which size and shape of rug to work with. And remember that, depending on the type of style you’re trying to create in your home, you may want to pick more than one rug for a room or chose a variety of different rugs to decorate with throughout your home. In the end, the choice is entirely up to you, so take your time and bring home the perfect rug to use in your home!