Area Rugs : Tips on How to Buy

Buying an area rug is a purchase that reflects your personality and style, so naturally you want to make sure that it’s perfect. Here are some tips to keep in mind before you take the leap and purchase a new rug.

Do some research to find the right size for your needs. There are a few common sizes of rugs: 2’x 3’, 4’x6’, 5’x8’, 8’x10’ all of which work well in different scenarios. Let’s use this example: you want to buy a rug to fit under your coffee table in the living room. You want to make sure that the rug fits under the whole seating area, not just under the table itself. The rug should be under the front legs of the piece of furniture and typically extend about a foot around the table. You may find it helpful to mark these locations with masking tape or even lay down a newspaper to give you a visual of the area you think you’ll want to cover; it makes measuring a little easier. If you are thinking of putting a rug under your dining room table, make sure that you can pull out the chairs and still have them on the rug. Use the same principles for measuring to get the size you need. One of the most common reasons rugs are returned is that they are too small for the area they are intended for. If you’re on the fence, you may consider going to the next size up.

Colors are important for any aspect of home decoration, not just when it comes to picking an area rug. Area rugs can blend in to your existing decor or become a new focal point of a room. Colors can invoke emotions: reds give energy but can also create angry feelings, blue calls to mind feelings of calmness and security, green also has a calming effect and symbolizes nature, yellow is cheery, warm and grabs attention. Keep in mind if shopping online for a rug that screen resolution settings may vary causing the colors to not exactly what you see on the site. However, don’t avoid shopping online, many sites have lower prices than you could find in a store and the color descriptions given are pretty spot on.

The style of the rug is another factor to consider and there are many to choose from: contemporary, shag, traditional, braided, southwestern, the list goes on and on. This is perhaps where your personality is allowed to shine through the most. Every style has different patterns or characteristics that make them unique. If you have a modern loft a colorful, contemporary rug may be the best fit for you. Shag, or flokati rugs, also have a very modern feel. Traditional rugs may work best in a more formal area of the house. The important part of choosing the style of rug is to find a design that you like and blends in with your existing decor.

One final thing to keep in mind when considering an area rug for your home is the material of which the rug is made. Different materials stand up to wear and tear, sunlight and foot traffic differently. Find out what the rug is made of and do some research as to whether that material has qualities that will work in the space you are planning to put it in.