Rug Styles

Getting the right blend of decor for your living room is something that we all struggle with from time to time. With a bewildering array of information and advice out there about what kind of furnishings to use, what colours are available and so on it’s easy to throw your hands in the air and say “I give up!!”.

But don’t despair – you don’t have to change everything about a room in order to change its look. If stripping wallpaper and repainting is too onerous, or if buying a whole new furniture set is beyond your purse you can still create a dramatic change through details in your room. I’d always recommend looking at rugs as a way to affect such a change.

Far cheaper and easier to install than other types of flooring (just open the bag and throw it on the floor!), rugs are a great way to give an instant colour boost to a room.

Choosing a rug that matches the tones of your walls will help to tie a room together. Often, bare expanses of wall and flooring can make a room look chilly and sparse so a patterned rug that draws on the colours elsewhere in the decor can provide a visual focal point.

By contrast, if your room is decorated using patterns and prints or you have many ornaments and pictures around, a rug can help make the room seem less busy and more spacious. Choosing a plain rug in complimentary colours creates a visual ‘space’ on the floor which can help relieve the feel of over cluttering.

If you are are more inclined towards arty self-expression, then rugs are also available in quirky styles which can help express this side of you. Bold patterns in contrasting colours that you might not expect to see together – such as red and blue – can really bring a sense of fun to a room.

Many modern homes – particularly rented apartments or flats – are decorated in a carefully neutral style, with beiges and white dominating. Whilst this minimal look is easy on the eye, the effect can be a little bland, and with so many homes decorated in this style it is hard to establish a bit of identity (especially if you are renting and are not permitted to redecorate by the terms of your tenancy). A rug – easily installed and available in a myriad of colours – offers you the perfect chance to put a little stamp on such a property and declare: “this is my home.”

If colours themselves are restricted by your decor and you’re not keen on the ‘wildly clashing’ look, it is important to consider the impact of pattern and texture. Rugs are available in deep, furry materials – sheepskin being the most obvious example – as well as the flatter style of woven oriental rugs. In terms of pattern, style vary from the modernist, geometric style that has been favoured since the 1960s, to the traditional patterns (often dating back centuries) of the hand-woven rugs.

So – choosing the right rug can be an effective way to bring colour, flair and personality to your living space. With an almost infinite amount of colour, style, texture and pattern to choose from you will be able to find something that truly does turn your house into a home. Happy hunting!