Making The Right Choice

Area rugs help give life to living spaces while providing balance, warmth, a splash of color and texture. It makes no difference if you are dealing with an open floor plan, small living room, or cozy master bedroom -- there is always an ideal rug for each space in your home to help convey the atmosphere of any room.

Area Rugs are Perfect for a Mixture of Floor Coverings

Modern materials and manufacturing techniques have given rugs an incredible opportunity to become the preferred choice of floor covering among homeowners. The modern technology used in creating luxury vinyl flooring has made faux hardwood floors an affordable alternative for homeowners. Additionally, a variety of natural stone floor coverings continue to influence the market as well. These hard surfaces provide an opportunity to enhance any living space by using area rugs

Room Size and Layout: Prescription to the Ideal Rug

Choosing the right area rug for your space has everything to do with the size of the room and the layout of the furniture. The purchase of an area rug has two aspects that prohibit impulsive shopping: 1) They cost a tad bit more than your average decorative improvement, and 2) You tend to keep them around a bit longer than the drapes or the couch cushions you bought a few months back.

Here are a few notable dimensions from which to select an area rug:

• Standard Size Rugs: of 4’ X 6’ or 5’ X 7’ Area Rugs
• Large Size Rugs: 6’ X 9’ Area Rugs
• Extra Large Rug Sizes of 8’ X 10’ and 9’ X 12 ’Area Rugs
• Runners are usually 2’ X 8’ Area Rugs

Custom area rugs are always an alternative option if your layout does not work with these common rug sizes. Before making your decision, it helps to know the true purpose of the area rug and the space you will be laying it out on.

How Will Your Rug Impact Its Living Space?

Consider the following:

• Do you want to make a statement or simply find an area rug that seamlessly blends into the space?
• Are you designating an area or unifying the room?

Whether the dining area is characterized by a rectangular, square or round table, the area rug used under the table and chairs should be sufficient enough to keep the chairs from falling off the edge when pulled out. A great standard measure is to allow 20-inches from the back legs when the chairs are pushed back under the table.

Align the rug to the room as you want to use it to extend the space rather than make it appear smaller or broken into small areas. Consistency develops balance and helps you decide if all the furniture legs will be on or off the rug. A larger couch for example, may be offset to work with the rug size to define the rooms area.

On the other hand, rugs in bedrooms often depend on the size of the room, where the bed is aligned and overall dimensions of the room itself.

Furniture lining the perimeter of a room rarely needs to touch the rug and allows more flexibility in your choice of size and shape.