Interiors

Using Rugs To Transform Spaces

OKA Kelim RugWhen you think about decorating your home, some elements automatically spring to mind: furniture, paint colours, general décor. But there’s also something else that can dramatically (and often inexpensively) transform your whole space, which sometimes gets overlooked: rugs.

A thoughtfully chosen and well-placed rug can do wonders for your room. It can help to define your space, add warmth and comfort to your floors, and even make your rooms feel larger than they are. Want a feature in your home that you can customise and match with your personality or lifestyle? Rugs is the answer. You can even have different rugs for different seasons – a ‘cool’ space in summer, for example, and maybe something a bit warmer and cosier in winter. Your options are truly endless.

Defining your space using rugs
For an open-floor plan or an especially large, multipurpose room, rugs can be the perfect thing to define the space into separate areas. You could use one to divide your living area from your dining area, or in your master bedroom to distinguish living and sleeping areas. A good idea is to get similarly designed rugs in different sizes to use in multiple rooms, which would help keep your home’s design and colour schemes consistent throughout.

Injecting a bit of personality

If you think a particular room in your home could do with a little livening-up, try a rug with bold, prominent colours. It will immediately add a splash of vibrancy to your space, and you can also use this as a chance to experiment with different colours and combinations around your home. The colours don’t have to be too loud either – a simple, neutral rug incorporating one or two of the main tones of your overall interior scheme will easily do the trick.

Softening hard floors

While a bare hardwood floor can be beautiful to look at, it’s not exactly inviting – it’s cold to the touch, and can be loud when you step on it. In fact, most hard-surface floors, be it wood, tile or concrete, do usually need some form of softening. The perfect solution? Throw a rug over it. This way you can have the best of both worlds: pretty floors that are also comfortable and cozy.

Tips on rug choice and placement

  • If you’re thinking of decorating your room from scratch, pick the rug first – it will act as a centrepiece that ties the room together, so you’ll probably find it a lot easier to theme and arrange every other element around it.
  • Before shopping for a rug, measure the size of the seating area you’re looking to place it on and then get the closest size up from that.
  • Decide beforehand what your rug colours will be too – if you’re stuck, take a look around your home and make a note of one or two prominent colours you see that are not white or black, then try to match them.
  • Don’t think small – a tiny rug will ‘shrink’ your room by defining only a small area, so try not to skimp on size (in the living room, for example, your rug should be large enough to have at least the front legs of the furniture on it).
  • If you’re placing a rug in your dining room, pick one that’s large enough for your table and chairs to sit entirely on top.
  • Use square-shaped rugs are for square-shaped rooms, round rugs for foyers and more ‘playful’ spaces, like kids’ or family rooms.
  • Orient the rug to the room’s dimensions – lengthwise if it’s a long rug, horizontally if the room is wide and spacious.
  • Play around with layers – you could buy a large, neutral jute rug and place a smaller, patterned rug over it.
  • You could even layer a rug over any wall-to-wall carpeting in your home – this can help pull together your room with the boundaries it needs.
  • Always aim for symmetry – if you have two sofas in your living room, for example, your rug should be evenly positioned between them, i.e. be of equal distance from each sofa.
  • If your living room isn’t too big, place the rug in front of your sofa to show a narrow strip of floor – this will make the room appear more spacious.
  • Conversely, a large-sized rug can make a particularly big room feel more intimate by connecting all the elements.

Keep these pointers in mind, and you’ll be able use your rugs to transform any space in your home like a pro.

If you have any questions, please ask below!