When you’re thinking of how to decorate your home, you may not be considering much about the flooring treatments you’re going to use. However, it’s very important to decide on what you’re going to put on your floors, whether you choose to go with carpets, area rugs, or a combination of both. Area rugs are an excellent option for a variety of different reasons, but you may not be aware of just what those reasons are. If you’re trying to figure out whether or not this type of floor treatment is the way to go for your home, check out this list of benefits you may enjoy from area rugs.
Soft textures.
Area rugs are soft and comfortable, and they can provide you with a gentle texture to walk on when you have a home with mostly hardwood or tile floors. This is also a good option if you have carpeting that isn’t as pleasant to walk on as an area rug might be. When you’re looking for a rug that can contribute to the textures in your home and on your floors, you should consider wool, chenille, cotton, viscose, or bamboo. These are some of the softest options out there, but keep in mind that they are a little bit less durable and long-lasting, so they are not meant for spaces with heavy foot traffic.
Warm floors.
If you live in a climate where it gets cold for part of the year, chances are good you don’t like stepping out of your bed in the morning onto a cold wood or tile floor. And if this is the case in your home, some accent or throw rugs can go a long way toward improving this situation considerably! Choose a rug that’s small enough to go alongside your bed, or pick a runner that can give you a soft, comfortable, warm place to walk from your bed to the bathroom. Synthetic or natural fibers are good here, so there isn’t a specific type of rug that’s going to be much warmer than any others. Shag rugs, however, are always nice to walk on first thing in the morning!
Beautiful accent pieces.
When you need to make your room come to life with pops of color but you don’t want to commit to one large area rug to make that happen, accent pieces can help. With an accent rug, you can bring together just about any design in your room. These types of rugs are especially nice for contemporary and transitional rooms. They may not fit very well into a truly traditional type of decor, but they are sure to look great in just about any other type of room. Accent rugs can be any material, any color, and any pattern, so let your imagination run free when you’re choosing your new favorite piece of interior decoration!
Excellent centerpieces.
If accent pieces aren’t really right for your home, area rugs can benefit your space by becoming a centerpiece to the room instead. Use a very large area rug in a traditional pattern to make your room shine with old-fashioned flair, or go with an oversized modern rug for a unique contemporary statement instead. Either way, when you have an area rug in the center of your room, you’ll want to decorate around it and choose furnishings and accents that match the rug whenever possible. Don’t forget, too, that you should choose a material you can keep clean and maintained, since a rug like this is likely to be exposed to a lot of foot traffic in many homes.
Personality showcases.
One of the best and most fun benefits of using area rugs in your home is the ability to let your personality really show in every part of the house. You can use area rugs to show off a fun and lighthearted quirky side, or you can choose rugs with unique themes—like nautical, animal print, or something else entirely. You might prefer to decorate with earth tones and keep things a little softer, and if that’s the case, you can easily find a rug to make that happen, too. The possibilities are really endless, and you don’t have to be limited at all when it comes to picking an area rug to show off your likes and traits. Don’t forget to bring home different rugs for different parts of the home to make this happen, too!
Functionality.
Last but not least, there are a lot of different functions you may enjoy when you have area rugs in your home. For example, putting an area rug down under your dining room table can make it easier to keep your hardwood floors protected from food spills and drink stains. On the other hand, you might choose to put a throw rug inside your front or back door to give your family a place to wipe their feet and further protect your floors this way. Area rugs may have one or more functions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still choose a rug that looks great at the same time. Keep in mind, however, that you may be a little limited by the materials you’re considering. For example, jute or sisal are great rugs for outdoor functionality, but they do not offer the variety of patterns and colors you may find in a wool or synthetic blend rug instead.
With so many different reasons to consider using an area rug in your home, you may be ready to run out and buy one right away! Just remember that the right rug for your space may differ depending on the space in question as well as how you need to use the rug. A rug meant for outdoor use is going to be different than one used for decoration in an out-of-the-way location, so keep this in mind when you go to choose your new piece of textile art, too.