The great benefit of a rug is its changeability, which allows you plenty of options in how you want your rug to look and feel.

You could express your artistic flair, knowing that what you like this year could be replaced when you decide that a different style is needed on your floors, or if you change the rest of the décor and need the floors to add contrast.

Rugs also soften sounds, welcome guests or give that homely feel for the family, especially if you like the feel of a warm rug on bare feet, between your toes.

You also get to decide how much area it covers, and what you want people to do in that space.

So much choice! To make these decisions easier, let’s walk through your options.

Main factors in choosing a great rug

1. Size:

A rug creates boundaries. You want it big enough for everyone to do what you invite them to do, without taking up space that is for something else.

2. Design:

You may want a rug to be eye-catching in its own right, or to provide some colour contrast to brighten up an otherwise bland space. What you can’t do with the carpets or the walls, you can do with a rug.

3. Texture:

A rug’s texture both facilitates and instructs what is to happen here. A short-pile rug tells your visitor to keep their shoes on, whereas a warm shagpile rug wants you to get cozy upon it.

4. Material:

We love a natural fibre, see our guide here [https://www.carpetcall.com.au/blog/which-natural-rug-fibres-are-best-suited-to-your-home], but in some cases a cheaper and more cleanable synthetic option is better. See our guide here [https://www.carpetcall.com.au/blog/which-synthetic-rug-fibres-are-right-for-your-home] for the difference.

The important question: What is this space for?

As soon as you decide what you want to happen in a given area, the answers become easier to make.

Here are a few examples:

A large warm rug makes a cosy room.

Want a cosy nestling place in front of the couch?

To invite people to lay down upon it in front of a fire or TV, you can’t go past a thick, lush and large rug. A warm, thick, natural pile just begs you to take your shoes off and run your toes and fingers through its luscious strands.

You will want it to be big enough to fit all the people you want to be there. Might be just you two, or it might be a gaggle of kids. This doesn’t need to be too large, as you won’t get the benefit of that lovely warm fur when it is tucked too far under the couch.

Just beneath the front feet of the couch is as far as you’ll need it, and to a safe distance from the feature – especially if it is a fireplace.

Choose a dark, warm colour, as it will give contrast and delineation to the area, but also because it is easier to keep clean from red wine, coffee and chocolate.

Contrast: Black floor rugs make the dining room

Whatever your décor, rugs can add contrast. Modern houses so often feature light tones, usually a creamy white or beige, on which black floor rugs are ideal, especially atop white tiles or light-coloured floorboards.

Modern houses also have quite a lot of open space, and rugs contrast the floor allow your guests to identify one designated space from another in the same room. A black floor rug under the dining table gives contrast as it marks where the dining area begins and ends.

Black is the best contrast you can get against white, but any dark colour will work just as well, and is easier to keep clean after all the dropped and spilled substances that may make their way off the table.

For that, and for the scuffing from feet and chairs, choose a hardy material and low-pile or flatweave. Natural materials to chose from are jute or sisal, or durable synthetic fibres like polypropylene.

You want your rug to be big enough to accommodate the table and chairs when they are drawn out to be seated, at least 60cm around the table, preferably 75cm, depending on the arrangement of your furniture – how far you have to draw your chairs back without catching on the edge.

Modern floor rugs show your character:

People will get more of a chance to see the rug in your lounge area, which enables you to add a bit of flair.

So choose an art style that you like, preferably one that contrasts and works with the furniture, and make that a feature.

If you like a big rug, you could choose one big enough to accommodate all of the lounge chairs. Or you could get one that is big enough just for the front feet of the chairs. Lounge chairs are low-set, stable and aren’t moved around much, so you won’t have the problem of the feet catching on the edge of the rug.

A thicker weave is great for a lounge, giving that warmer atmosphere, lovely spongy feel under your feet, and softening echoes for better conversation.

Medium rugs show where to relax

In an open-plan living room, a medium rug can let you mark out an area with purpose.

A medium rug is around 200cm x 290cm, which is enough space to place just under the feet of the chairs, include a coffee table on top, and mark out a reasonable amount of space as the ‘living room’.

If you have a space where you don’t want the TV as the focus, say with couches lining the walls and facing in, then that space often doesn’t know where to stop. Marking the limits of your living area provides a mental divide to let you know when you have entered the relaxation zone.

You can also use where a medium rug ends to mark a walkway. People will tend to walk around a marked area rather than through it, so you can direct traffic to where you want it.

The colour can offer contrast to the rest of the floor, which also helps walking in dim light, and the design can be patterned to add art and to take scuffs well. If your rug is a high-traffic area, choose a short pile and hardy texture to resist wear and reduce tripping hazards.

So what makes a great rug?

A great rug will ease the mind of the visitor by wordlessly letting them know what is expected of them in each section of the space. It also adds contrast and artistic flair without committing it to a permanent fixture. This means you can either change your art expression, or take it with you when you move.

So be bold, be expressive and enjoy your rug!