Useful Tips to Choose the Best Rug for a Room

Today we'll look at one of the most important and more difficult elements to choose when decorating a living room - the rug.
Useful Tips to Choose the Best Rug for a Room

Last update: 18 July, 2020

When you need a rug for the living room, the task of finding the right one can feel endless. The varied offer on the market makes it difficult to choose. Selecting the best rug is an art, and today we’re going to discover the keys of doing it right.

First of all, it’s fundamental to understand how to differentiate what your real needs are. Before taking a look at what stores have to offer, you must have some clear ideas in mind.

The first step is to define the role that the rug will play. This will make it clear if you need a mat that has a long or short pile, is patterned or plain, etc. The second step is to choose the right size. And on top of this, it must fit in with the decorative style of the room.

Choosing the best rug – function

Several rug options with intricate indian patterns to choose for the best fit with room

What function will the rug have? If you have a room with a fairly plain decoration, the rug will provide an element of texture.

This requires a rug with a long pile or curly texture, such as one of imitation animal fur, like a sheepskin rug. Any rug that feels fluffy and dense will work.

Another possibility is that the furniture and walls of your living room have plain and uniform colors.

In this case, the room is pretty much a blank canvas. The rug is the element that will allow you to incorporate a pattern into the room.

For this situation, you can use an Indian rug, with a Persian fabric print, elaborate damask patterns, or even more modern geometric patterns.

If the living room is open and spacious and there are different areas within the same area, rugs will help to define them for their different uses.

If you have an area with sofas and seats, you can use a rug to frame and differentiate it from other uses in the same room.

Choosing the best rug – size

An industrial themed living room with a natural fiber rug for contrast

Once you’ve defined the function of the rug, the next step is to calculate its size. In the case of rugs that will delimit a space within a larger room, they must be of considerable size.

If you’re going to use the rug to define the seating area, it must cover the space in its entirety. If this isn’t possible, try to make sure that at least the front legs of sofas and armchairs are within the perimeter of the rug. Otherwise, the result will be incomplete, and the rug won’t fulfill its function of delimiting the space.

In this case, the best thing you can do is drawing a plan of the room to scale and play with the drawing to measure the carpet. Sometimes a few inches won’t make a big difference, but it’s best to make sure before buying.

Choosing the best rug for your room style

A rug with a geometric pattern is the best option for a blank canvas living room

The decorative style that you have in the living room will mark a very important point when choosing a rug. Round rugs are one of our favorites, but a contemporary style of decoration doesn’t match this style.

This type of detail is what enhances or ruins the final effect. If the furniture is light, rectangular rugs with motifs are ideal. Including animal prints that add a touch of contrast to the existing softness is also a good option.

For defined interior design styles, it’s advisable to follow the specific guidelines of each one. If you have a living room with a shabby chic style, the rug should follow that same decoration scheme. In styles such as art deco or Hollywood regency, there are clear guidelines to follow when choosing the best rug for the room.

The opportunity to add what’s missing

A Persian rug next used to delimit the seating area of a living room

The immense variety of shapes, patterns, and colors that rugs can offer makes them the ideal element to add to the room and pull it together.

You can make a bold choice because as rugs go on the floor and are partially covered by furniture, they offer a subtle look. A rug can mark the accent of a room, but it can also show off your personality.

No matter what the function, size, or style is, don’t forget that decorating the floor of a room is just as important as decorating the rest of it.

Rugs are one of the pillars of interior design. There’s nothing sadder and more boring than an empty floor. The floor of a living room is the ideal place to impregnate the room with art and contrast.