It's hard to deny the impact rugs have on a space. They can bring in color, pattern, pull a room's decor together and they feel great underfoot. With all the different elements having to do with picking out a rug, it's no surprise that many people have their own rug rules.
We were poking through all the gorgeous rugs in a local Austin store SoCO Designs the other day (rugs in photos from SoCO Designs owned by designer Kit Odom, styled at local store Wendow--look for a store post later!) and it got us thinking about using rugs in different kinds of spaces. While we don't currently have any rugs in our space, we've had rugs in other apartments, and always try to stick to a few of our own rug rules:
1.) Keep a good proportion. Not having a rug that is too small or that drowns out the furniture is important. We always made sure that all the furniture surrounding the rug was placed at least halfway on top of the rug.
2.) Play with style. If our furniture is contemporary we like to go with a more traditional rug style and pattern. If we have traditional furniture, we like to bring in interest by pairing with a modern rug.
3.) Don't over do it. It can be a little overwhelming for large rooms to have too many rugs, so we try and choose the furniture arrangements that could really benefit by having a rug.
Do you have any rug rules that you swear by? Have you ever broken any of your rug rules with success (or failure)? Have you ever seen a rug used in a way that surprised or shocked you? Share your rug rules!
More posts about rugs:
Adding Softness: 9 Rugs We Like from Overstock
Yipes Stripes: Rug Pairs
Living Rooms without Rugs
How To: Get an Area Rug on the Cheap
Designer Rugs by Greg Natale
Rugs on Carpet?
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Someone needs to straighten out that first rug... looks like a slip and fall about to happen.
Actually, one of my peeves is seeing rugs artfully (?) crumpled like this in magazine photo shoots.
One rule I always observe is to make sure that any rug placed under a dining table is large enough so that, even when the chairs are pulled back for sitting or standing, all four chair legs are on the rug.
Also, most rugs benefit from having a good pad underneath.
I'm trying to decide between two rugs from Overstock right now. Any thoughts?
Dark Gray Rug http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/L12330049.jpg
Chocolate Brown Rug
http://cdn2.overstock.com/images/products/L12363655.jpg
Grey rug.
Opinionated Architect -- I like the dark grey one
My biggest pet peeve with respect to rugs is that they are almost always too small; the worst are rugs placed under a dining table, which are invariably too small to accommodate chairs when pushed back, and so chair legs get caught on the edges.
Next worst are living room rugs that are barely bigger than a coffee table.
Opinionated Architect -- would love to help, but context is everything, and you haven't supplied any.
Opininonated Architect, without knowing anything about your decor, i would have to say the grey.
Thanks,
I realize that I haven't given the context. I was just asking for an opinion about the two rugs themselves. As AP has done in their 10 Overstock Rugs We Love</a.
**It's 9 Rugs We Like from Overstock
My dog pees on the rug. I don't have rugs anymore.
He pees on the hardwood floors now.
that first rug would drive me nuts. it looks awful. aeeeee!
Keep this advice coming. We are looking for a living room rug now and I am at a loss. Of course what I really want is a $3500 handtufted vegetable dyed Peshawar beauty, but that is not in the budget right now.
My pet peeve is the aforementioned too-small dining room rug. Also, I hate scratchy rugs. I consider sisal and jute scratchy. We spend a lot of time on the floor with our toddler or watching TV with a big crowd. I'd rather sit on cold hardwoods than hard scratchy rugs.
I am also surprised when designers say you have to choose a rug before you choose furniture. But who really starts with a blank slate except the uber-rich? And then there are others who say that your rug shouldn't actually match anything else in the room, it should be its own statement. I never know what is "correct."
Hooked yarn rugs, either all wool or synthetic, do not withstand pet claws in my house and quickly become a shaggy mess. Replaced with a wool Karastan that is very nice and durable. Favorites are very old and worn antique rugs.
Be sure you understand the type of rug when ordering online. I was disappointed when I saw the one I sent as a gift to a grandchild. Looked great in the picture. Thin and flimsy on the floor.
Some say that area rugs should not be used when you have w2w carpeting. If I hate the color or the texture, I totally ignore this and bring in a bold colored area rug. Now that I live in a huge loft, I am having the hardest time finding a 9x12 rug in a color that I like for a reasonable price. Maybe I should consider getting a smaller rug?
Love the grey and cream rug in the first photo! More information, please?
Mr Architect
Definitely the grey one. The other looks like those illustrations of the waifish children in rain slickers looking sadly at the miniature village/tamed wild animal/rain puddles (pick one) that are so omnipresent on the likes of Tiny Showcase and Etsy.
And oh, the grey one is really nice.
Guh
While we are giving out advice maybe I can ask some. Just bought a house, living room is mossy/sage green with white trim and a black marble fireplace ( bleh). I have a dark wood pie safe, a orangyish khaki large sofa and leather manhattan chair. Any suggestions on rugs- no sisal though...? I want something that will bring some color in a bland room but will still work with my furniture. Thanks
Since we're talking about rugs, I have to toss out ecarpetgallery.com
They have about a million oriental rugs from $100-several thousand $, in all different sizes. I'm super pleased with mine, and in fact, the one I had been eyeing was on sale for $130, then at purchase time (about 2 weeks later), it went back up to $580, so I called them and the gentleman gave me the sale price. Plus they offer free delivery in US and Canada via Fedex. Someone here in the comments of AT mentioned them a while ago, and that's how I found out about them. Thanks to whomever that was, and now I'm passing along the info.
Definitely the grey rug.
NATURAL FIBER ONLY
I hate when rugs are too small--like when the right side of an end table is on the rug, but the left is off. Either all on or all off!
Totally forgot to list prices guys! Here's info on those two gorgeous rugs featured:
Gray Tibetan (50% silk) 8x10: $6,225.00
Brown/Ivory Peshawar 6x9: $3,750.00
They're both available through either Austin's SoCO designs or Wendow Fine Living. I'll probably be doing another post with more rug pictures soon and definitely a store post for Wendow in the coming weeks (it was drop dead gorgeous!)
Natural fiber rugs only here as well. Wool, jute, sisal, organic cotton etc... But we also have to get rugs where our Shiba Inu's hair isn't as noticeable.
We just ordered this one,
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hand-woven-Grey-Wool-Roanoke-Rug-5-x-8/4427951/product.html
It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm pretty excited! I saw the same rug on another site for twice the price of what we paid.
I see that many here will only buy natural fiber rugs. We're just the opposite. We only buy indoor/outdoor (usually polypropylene) rugs, or small rugs that can go in the washer and dryer.
Too many dirty paws / hairballs / dirty shoes / wine spills, etc.
My one rug rule: I can spill on it and it won't be ruined, or it if is, it was cheap, since I'm a total klutz.
I finally discovered my secret - flat-weave rugs. Love how they look, sleek and modern. Not only do I like them better than hooked rugs, but they are also WAY cheaper. It's the only way I could afford to insist on wool.
I LOVE the rug in the first photo.
"My dog pees on the rug. I don't have rugs anymore.
He pees on the hardwood floors now."
Am I the only one that finds this disgusting?
Take your dog out for walks!
"We only buy indoor/outdoor (usually polypropylene) rugs, or small rugs that can go in the washer and dryer. "
Heather77--
Did you know that wool is naturally stain resistant as well as fire retardant?
Polypropylene does have it's advantages: It's cheap and it melts really well...
Thank for the tip, bepfs.
I guess if I ever grow tired of my polypro rugs, I can just toss them in my backyard smelter and use the resulting goo to plasti-dip some random household objects.
Hand-made rugs only, unless it's for the bathroom -- though I'd break my rule for the Little Field of Flowers rug.
@bepsf - I don't have this problem, but I can sympathize. When we can tell that the cat is about to cough up a hairball, I try to make sure he does it on the hardwood because it is SO much easier to clean than my heirloom turkish rugs. We do what we can to keep that from being necessary, but sometimes it is. Some dogs piddle when they get excited. It's not always a factor of bad pet care, and it's increadibly hard to train a dog like that to stop. The hardwood is easier to clean so barbara.agatha is probably doing everything she can to have a cleaner house.
Opinionated Architect: do you mind sending the link or giving the name of the grey rug? I'm having a hard time finding it on overstock.com.
"I can just toss them in my backyard smelter and use the resulting goo to plasti-dip some random household objects."
Oooohhh!
Plasti-dipped Origami Xmas Decor!
A little more random than that, bepsf.
Like cardboard toilet paper tubes. Or lint.
"Like cardboard toilet paper tubes."
Williams Sonoma actually sell those don't they?
They're used for peeling garlic, I think...
My only rule is that they have to be made of natural fibers.
That said, I've never actually bought a rug. I'm too fickle with my interiors and I can't bring myself to commit. They are always so expensive in the sizes I need and I'm afraid I'll hate it in 6 months.
Ha! And I have one...
Rules: All of the above in terms of size; buying beautiful, but not precious rugs with pattern to hide the imperfections. Throw smaller rugs, even persian and flokatis, in the dryer with no heat for 20 minutes--makes the rug look like new (and removes an astonishing amount of dirt the vacuum misses).
btw--heather77, how about plasti-dipped toilet paper roll pet toys? Let me know when you're ready to torch your rugs and we'll set up shop. We could put treats inside the tube (like a Kong). Hmmmm.
Brilliant, LiliZ! I volunteer my doggie as a focus group of one.
@ceecee33 - Found it!
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hand-tufted-Grey-Wool-Viscose-Mojave-Rug-8-x-11/4401340/product.html
I am SOOO in love with the Gray Tibetan rug, the first one right?
But the price? Not for a starving student...
Rule 1: Buy what you love. LOVE!
Some things you have to have just for day to day living, regardless of finances -- but not a rug. You can survive without a rug, so why live with something you don't love?
My first rug I bought from an estate auction -- and though the price was low, the quality was great and I loved, loved, loved the color.
Rule 2: It's OK to let furnish a room with a rug, if you really love the rug. Get the amazing rug first, add a few pillows and posters, use pretty sheets for curtains, and live with the rug until you know what else it needs. For now, find everthing else at auctions, yard sales, IKEA, Target and family beg/borrow/castoffs. A good rug will take care of you the rest of your life.
Rule 3: Scotch Guard. Now, when it's new, while it's spotless.
Oh, how funny. I thought that first rug photo was showing us the no-no's of the Rug Rules - it looks so obviously wrinkled and poorly displayed to me. Hmm.
I myself am having a hard time figuring out a living room rug that will magically tie everything together. Currently have a long narrow hallway rug in front of the sofa as its the only thing I've got!
I just bought a beautiful 7x10 antique Persian rug on Craigslist very inexpensively. (By the way, I definitely recommend Craigslist as a source for rugs, especially if you want antique oriental ones - you never know when you'll find a great deal.) I absolutely love the rug, and the price was too good to pass up, but I am trying to tweak my living room a bit to accommodate it. It's mostly a rich, bright red, with blue accents. My room previously had blue as its main accent color (brown leather furniture & blue striped pillows and blue vases). So I need to live with it a while, I think, and then decide whether I still want to play up the blue accents or just buy red pillow covers and let the red really dominate. Any thoughts?
Oh, and architect, definitely the gray rug, as everyone has suggested.