Decorating with rugs 101

Adding a rug is the best way to spruce up any room. Wherever there’s a dull room that needs livening, rugs can immediately bring warmth to empty spaces. Cosiness and ambiance are good enough reasons to use them. But as a design and visual element, there’s so much more one can do with rugs. From anchoring various pieces in the room together or offering added definition, rugs are perfect to layer décor in any room. Here are some of the easiest ways to decorate with them and up your home décor game several notches.

Defining Areas
If you live in a studio apartment or have large rooms in the house, use rugs to separate or define different areas at home. Designate seating, dining, or foyer areas with pretty rugs. They lend subtle definition while adding beauty to various parts of the room.

Give the Eye Variety
Sometimes rooms can look unidimensional without different textures and shapes in them. Bring variety to your living spaces with different-sized rugs. Remember not to choose rugs of the same size since they tend to separate rooms into two disjointed visual parts.

Harmony and Balance When choosing more than one rug, pick ones where the color schemes or styles are harmonious but distinctly different. Avoid clashing or jarring patterns so that all the design elements complement each other.

Experiment with Shapes Go beyond rectangular rugs and choose rugs according to how you group furniture.  Choose from round, square, or oval rugs to enhance furniture arrangement.

Amplify or Control Visuals Rugs with fun patterns are fantastic to brighten up a quiet room. But before going all out, take a look at everything else in the room first. If your walls and upholstery are fairly subtle, a loud rug can add more interest. But if the furniture and walls are already quirky in design, control the visual noise with a simple rug instead.

Use Rugs as Wall Décor Who says we can only use rugs on the floor? Deconstruct the familiar by using rugs as bohemian wall décor instead. It’s an excellent way to display your rug’s patterns or create a focal point in a room.

Decode Color Schemes What’s the oldest but surprisingly lesser-known decorating hack? Get ideas for room color schemes based on your favorite rug’s color! Conversely, if you buy rugs after furniture, use them to bring together or accent your upholstery’s existing color scheme.