Interiors

How To Select The Right Rug For Your Home

Selecting the right rug for your home is vital when creating a cohesive and inviting space. Rugs have the power to ground an area and tie in all your other furniture and homeware items together beautifully. They balance a room, provide an injection of colour and style and also add a few practical solutions, such as being soft and cozy underfoot and creating zones in homes that have more of an open-plan living floor plan. When it comes to the decision of selecting what rug is best, there are a few important things to consider. Choosing the right size, fabric, pattern and colour of your rug can really make or break your space.

Below, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to selecting the perfect rug for your home. We had the pleasure of speaking with a few of our favourite rug experts, Alexandra from Miss Amara, Andrea from Rug Culture, and Kylie from The Rug Collection, who each share their helpful tips and what they’d recommend when selecting a rug for your home.

Image credit: Miss Amara

ALEXANDRA, MISS AMARA

If there's one person who knows a thing or two about rugs, it's Alexandra Tanya Weller, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Miss Amara. Alexandra shares the answers to some of her most asked rug questions.

What is your number one piece of advice to someone choosing a rug for their home?

Every home is different but I think the best thing to think about is to think about your rugs as a means to create "zones" in your home. So if you want the family to gather and commune in the tv/ lounge room, choose a large luxe rug you can lie and sprawl over - I've had many customers tell me this has changed the way they use the spaces in their home. Secondly, have a big think about how you want the space to feel? Recently I redecorated my bedroom and decided that I wanted my bedroom to instantly feel like a retreat. So I opted for the largest rug the room could take, a high pile luxe wool berber and everytime I wake up and sink my feet into the pile I get all those luxury retreat feels.

How do you know what size rug to choose?

It’s all about placement and I wish everyone knew that! Consider all the elements, like your couch, coffee table and the room itself. Before you get the measuring tape out, understand how you will place the rug in your space. As a rule of thumb, you want all of your furniture to sit comfortably on top of your rug - which often means, you will need to size up. Leave a little extra rug to frame the space nicely. I promise it will be worth it. A rug creates a visual boundary for your eyes so a bigger rug will make your space feel more luxe and spacious. If a larger size is out of budget, consider an alternative, more affordable fibre to allow for you to go large.

What things should someone consider when choosing their rug fabric?

Get to know the properties of the fibres and always scroll over the close-ups to understand how the rug might vary up close and from afar, and in different lighting. In the rug world, there are lots of types of fibres you can choose and none are better or worse but rather some will be more suited to you and the space that you are looking for. A wool rug will be the ultimate decadence underfoot and age beautifully but as wool is a natural fibre, it will be prone to some shedding. Some synthetic fibres will be non-shed and stain-resistant but won't give you the beautiful tonal variations in the fibres that wool will.

Image credit: Miss Amara

ANDREA, RUG CULTURE

Andrea, the Marketing Manager at Rug Culture, is also someone who has had years of experience working within the rug industry. We asked Andrea to share some of her tips and tricks when it comes to selecting the perfect rug for your home.

When it comes to choosing the right rug material, where should someone begin?

It all comes down to where you intend to use your rug. For example, a rug being used under a dining table should be robust and easy to clean whereas a finer, more delicate rug would suit a formal living area that sees minimal traffic.

What type of rug is best for a kid-friendly home?

Anything power-loomed (machine-made) with heat-set polypropylene would be ideal for kids. Heat set polypropylene is a hardwearing fibre that is easy to clean! It’s also non-shed which is perfect for allergy sufferers or asthmatics.

What is the best rug material for a pet-friendly home?

Again, power loomed, heat-set polypropylene rug would be ideal as they are robust and easy to clean, a must for households with four-legged friends!

How to choose the right size rug for your space?

A great way to determine the best size for your space is to use sheets of newspaper. Start with a tape measure to mark out the desired layout for your space then lay down the sheets of paper to give you an idea of how it will look. Rugs generally come in set sizes, so work with these when measuring.

Go big! Give your space a more spacious and open feel by opting for a rug that sits under your bed or lounge. People often make the mistake of going for a rug that’s not big enough which can make the room feel small.

What's your advice when it comes to choosing a rug that won’t date quickly?

Plain and neutral is the way to go if you’re after a rug that won’t date. Something like our Skandi 300 grey has a subtle texture and a neutral grey palette that works in just about any setting. The beauty of something like this is that you can switch up your décor and soft furnishings without having to change your rug.

At the end of the day, in our opinion, go with what you love! The beauty of a rug is that it’s not permanent and can be swapped as needed.

Round rugs or rectangle rugs – what are the benefits of each?

Rectangle rugs offer more coverage so they are perfect in spaces where you would like more comfort underfoot (or bottom)! They are also great at giving a space a bigger and more open feel.

Round rugs are a lovely way to encapsulate a round dining table or to offer a decorative element in a bedroom. They are also useful in playrooms where you may want to add a pop of colour, texture and/or comfort for your littlest family members without covering the whole floor.

In your words, how do you believe rugs can transform a home?

We’ve seen so many examples of homes going from drab to fab, simply by adding a rug to the space. For example, a room with dark, heavy floorboards can be completely transformed with a large, light-coloured rug to brighten and open up the space.

Another example is achieving a certain style by incorporating the right rug to the space. For example, a transitional rug in multi colours will elevate a Bohemian theme whereas something more understated and neutral will complement a Scandinavian setting.

Image credit: Rug Culture via @sarah.pickersgill.brown

Image credit: Rug Culture

Image credit: Rug Culture via @the.standish.tales

KYLIE, THE RUG COLLECTION

We also asked Kylie, the Marketing Manager at The Rug Collection, what her number one piece of advice was when it comes to selecting the perfect rug for your home. Kylie explains, "The size of a rug is vital for connecting a room and tying everything together to create a balanced space. In an open-plan room, a rug can define an area and enhance a rooms overall aesthetic. Go for the largest possible size that fits, as it will unify a room and create sense of retreat. A rug that is too small, will make the room appear smaller and make the furniture feel disconnected.”

Image credit: The Rug Collection

So now that you know the in's and out's of everything you need to know when it comes to selecting the perfect rug for your home, we thought we'd show you how some of our design community have used rugs in their homes. And if you're looking for the perfect rug for your home, why not have a look through some of the incredible rugs we have on Style Sourcebook here.

Mood board created on Style Sourcebook. View here