Rugs can make the difference
Floor coverings can take a space from barren to warm and inviting
Is there any better feeling than pulling up a swath of old carpet to find beautiful hidden wooden floors? I think not! We moved into a new home about a year ago, and I was thrilled that we had hardwood floors nearly throughout the house. They would need to be refinished — the two levels were stained different colors — but the dust and strong smells that come along with refinishing floors was definitely worth it.
Besides being a gorgeous flooring choice, hard wood floors give us a wonderful, warm blank canvas to play with a wonderful New Traditional staple: rugs. It is my firm belief that a home isn’t complete without floor coverings. A rug can take a space from barren and chilly to warm and inviting.
Rugs complete a room by anchoring furniture to a specific area. With open floor plans being commonplace, it is especially important to be able to create groupings of furniture that feel like their own separate spaces. Placing a rug underneath your dining table or living room furniture gives your space a focal point — not to mention it protects against scrapes and bumps when furniture
gets moved.
Besides protecting your floor from scratches (and your feet from touching the cold ground), rugs bring texture and interest to your spaces. Whether you want to leave a large swatch of natural floor uncovered or bring in the full rug experience (nothing wrong with a little or a lot), there is always something to gain from a floor covering. Rugs introduce fantastic color palettes to play with in your spaces. In fact, often rugs are so colorful and eye-catching that our designers plan entire rooms around them.
Don’t be afraid to layer your floor coverings. We are always looking for ways to add dimension to our rooms and floor coverings are a great place to start. One of our favorites is pairing a natural fiber rug ( jute or sisal) with a beautiful vintage covering (or trendy pattern or fun shape). Layering floor coverings helps address pressing issues such as “this looks boring” or “this rug is too small for my space now that I’ve moved but I love it.” Ordering a custom-sized sisal or jute rug to act as a base layer to your favorite rug is a fantastic way to add interest.
There is a variety of ways to arrange your rugs once you find the ones you love. As a rule of thumb, we try to either have all furniture sitting on our floor covering, or at least the front legs of all furniture sitting withing the rug boundaries. This lets the floor covering do its job and anchor our furniture together. However, there are always exceptions to a rule. For example, in bedrooms it is not uncommon to find two runners used in lieu of a traditional large rug.
With seemingly endless options, personal preference is key when choosing and placing a rug.