Choosing the perfect area rug for your space may seem straight forward but it is not a simple task. Like most design choices, a vision or idea is needed but you also can’t forget about measuring. The style of the rug can change the feel of your room/space A LOT, so yes, deciding on an area rug can be a lengthy process!
We have an awkward sized living room (about 20′ x 11′ 8″) and I found that it is a great example to use for how to decide on the area rug perfect for you and your space!
Let’s be honest, the TV is the main focus for us in our living room. It is centered in our living room space, while also being able to see it from the kitchen area and dining room, but there is still a large portion of flooring to the left of the TV. When you aren’t in the room you may not notice it, but when you are sitting on the couch, we still want that portion to feel included in the same space, so proper measurements were needed to ensure that! It is a longer room but somewhat narrow for the length that it is.
We were very fortunate that our really good family friends (aka chosen family) gave us a brand new area rug that they didn’t like for their space. We measured our living room the second we moved in to make sure it would fit and it wound up actually being the perfect size. It is a wool rug with texture, heavy, high pile, soft back, and neutral beige tones with a slight pattern. I absolutely love it for our living room. The size of the area rug is 10x14.
We recently switched up our area rug to a completely different style and size. We got a puppy in December and leading up to the day of getting him, we knew we wanted our very nice area rug to not get ruined so we purchased an inexpensive one and have swapped them for the time being. I searched a few sites but ultimately went with Boutique Rugs. I purchased a runner prior to the area rug and was happy with their prices and shipping so I went back to get an area rug. They almost always have 60% off prices so make sure you buy during sales!
I decided to go for more of a pattern with a little color that was still somewhat neutral and paired well with our coastal farmhouse style. The largest size they offer in the rug I chose is 8’10″x12″ which is what I purchased. The neutral tones in the rug are cream, grey, and light blue.
Our paint color Magnolia ‘Gatherings’ which is a greige (yes, that is an actual word for a grey/beige color) but at times it pulls a very subtle, light green. I find that the pattern and colors of the new rug are too much for our space but other people have told me they absolutely love how it looks in the room. It’s also so much smaller and doesn’t allow the whole space to feel like one room as much as the larger area rug did. I personally can’t wait for our neutral rug to be back in the room!!
Two pretty different rugs in the same space and you can see how a rug can completely change the feel and the look! I didn’t plan for it to be an experiment but it kind of became one so I am now happy to offer some insight to what I’ve learned. If you are looking for a new rug, here are some tips to help during your decision making!
Choose Your Size
Measurements are key. Let’s focus on the living room area since that’s what I focused on for our house. There are a couple ways to style an area rug.
1. You want to make sure that there is enough area rug on either side of your couch. So if you have a room that is all a perfect size and the furniture is centered, you want a few to several inches of rug hanging out on the sides of your couch.
2. If your room is not large enough to have furniture and a full sized area rug (or you just don’t want it set up like that), then keep the rug centered to just under the coffee table and leave a couple inches of bare floor between the rug and the foot of the couch.
For us, we wanted a large area rug that covered the space well to again, make it all feel like one room.
Pottery Barn actually has a really helpful mockup of different size rugs in a living room setting.
Choose Your Style
Style can include, color, pattern (or no pattern), material, and texture.
If you are starting your space from scratch, I would suggest choosing your flooring and then painting your room before choosing an area rug. These two elements can drastically change what rug would ‘fit’ in the space. If you are just choosing a new area rug, begin to think about your space, what type of style or atmosphere you are aiming for, and what style or styles of rug you could envision. For instance, maybe you like that older vintage look with a medallion in the middle of the pattern but maybe you also like texture with no pattern at all.
Keep saving options you like and continue to look back at ones you like while also adding new ones to the mix of possibilities. The more you look, the more you may realize you don’t actually want one of the styles for your space which helps to start narrow down your options.
When looking at the options you are gravitating to the most, remember to picture them in YOUR space. I love a ton of rugs, but I know they would not look good with our floors, paint colors, or architecture. I find that white, clean, and bright spaces/rooms with high ceilings or even a vaulted ceiling look great paired with a patterned rug. The pattern doesn’t become overwhelming to the space and can bring warmth and coziness to a room that could otherwise feel cold because of the white and high ceilings. Reverse of that, kind of like our house, a patterned rug in a room with flat ceilings that are not overly tall could overwhelm the space. Not always, but it could and it could feel overwhelming to how you like your space to feel.
Helpful Tricks
Compare: If you really can’t decide, I don’t see any issue in comparing two options. Rugs can be very expensive, and the one I happen to truly love more in the much more expensive option. I know it’s not in everyone’s budget to buy two or more rugs at one time to decide, but if it is an option for you, it can be very helpful. If you decide to choose an inexpensive rug and returns are easy, I would highly suggest that if you really can’t make up your mind!
Rug Pad: Our inexpensive rug has absolutely no comfort to it. Our other very nice rug was soo thick, heavy, and comfortable. If you want a thick rug and don’t want to pay for a very expensive rug, purchase the inexpensive one and budget a little extra to get a rug pad to put under it. PS- thickness can also be described as pile height.
Draw It Out: If you are still stuck on what size rug would be best, draw out a sketch! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you can sketch scaled down measurements on a piece of paper and draw where your furniture will be with different rug size options. The rough visual can help you see it a bit better than just in your head.
Do you have any other tips for shopping for the perfect area rug? I’d love to hear ’em!
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