Finding the perfect rug is one of the hardest styling tasks you will need to tackle in your home decor.
With the return of wooden flooring or polished concrete floors, rugs have certainly come back into vogue in the last few years.
Here are some of the key things to consider when purchasing the right rug for your home:
To narrow down your choice, the first thing you need to decide on is the size.
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The huge variety of sizes can be overwhelming, so start with measuring your space. But it’s not as simple as the size of the room, as how you need your rug to define a space.
Take a living room for example.
In a smaller area a bit of negative space makes a room seem larger, so you could have the rug frame your coffee table with a 500mm walkway border around it. Or you may want the rug to be large enough to go under the fronts of the sofas too. This works well if you have a medium-sized lounge as it creates a smooth visual look and defined zone.
A designer rug can add all the drama and style you need so keep the rest of the decor neutral. Photo / Supplied
If you have a large space, particularly one divided into smaller zones, then you would want to maximise the footprint of each zone by including all the furniture on the rug. The most common rug size for most homes would be 2000mm x 2900mm.
Rugs don’t always have to be squares or rectangles: do not forget a round rug. Round shapes are perfect for lounges that are thoroughfares. They also bring in a bit of curved balance if you have a lot of straight lines in the rest of your interior.
Be careful though, as really small round rugs can make your space seem smaller so make sure you get the right ratio.
Whatever the shape, an easy way for you to work out the best size is by marking the floor with masking tape and seeing how it works with your furniture layout.
With a round rug, be careful to keep it large enough to make an impact, smaller round rugs make a space seem smaller. Photo / Supplied
Now that you have the size sorted, think of the type of lifestyle you have in order to choose the right fibre and construction.
If you have toddlers or pets, then a long pile rug will catch all the food, hair, dust and bacteria which is not ideal, particularly if there is anyone in the house with asthma. Even vacuuming does not really give long-pile rugs a deep clean. And don’t buy a rug that is cut silk as they are delicate and can soil easily.
Instead, look for short- piled rugs made in polyester or some wool types. Wool has a self-bacterial cleaning capability, but it is just not as hardy as polyester.
For less demanding households, you can select anything from jute, wool, viscose and silk blend or polyester.
Now is the time to think about colour. Silk and polyester both absorb colour well. Colour today does not mean the early 2000’s red spaghetti rug, there are now beautiful rich tones to tie back with the current trends like olive green, terracotta and duck egg blues.
Amazing patterned Persian or Moroccan-style rugs are right on trend. Photo / Getty Images
Also think about exposure to sun and the likelihood of sun fade. Some materials are slightly more resistant than others.
Once size and finish are decided, you can look at the style. This really depends on your home and what style you currently have in the rest of your decor.
Use a feature rug as an opportunity to liven up plain décor as there are some incredibly stunning rugs that really can make a statement. Look for designs featuring botanicals through to abstract patterns, often designed in collaboration with artists. Or go for something safer and bring in the wow factor in artwork and layering.
Some of our clients have two rugs - one for summer and one for winter, an easy way to really change the feeling of a room dramatically.
For a more rustic style, look at wools and jutes. A contemporary home suits a wool with a subtle geometric woven pattern or a viscose silk blend that has a textured fleck in the pile to bring some life and a subtle shine in the textile. For an eclectic or boho style, look at Persian- or Moroccan- inspired textiles, or jute, or wool. The natural tones will complement the rest of your interior without it all seeming a bit too much.
No matter what you choose, make sure your rug is properly bound on the sides as they can quickly get a bit shabby after a year of foot traffic.
Armed with a precise shopping list, it is time to hit the shops. This is something you have to do in person. I have never bought a rug sight unseen as quality and the colour richness is hard to interpret online, so make sure you go and explore. Do it as a shopping trip on one day as it makes it easy to compare.
If you cannot choose between a couple of rugs, ask the retailer if you can pay for them and return the one you do not want the next day. This way you know that you will be 100 percent happy with your purchase.
Believe me - you will know instantly which one is the winner once you have it alongside the rest of your interior decor.
- Laura Heynike is director of Pocketspace Interiors
