Area carpets play a leading role in décor and have become a top choice for flooring as homeowners prefer the look of tile and hardwood over broadloom.
A well selected rug can dictate the décor of an entire space where furniture and artwork selections are based on the carpet colour and pattern. Go ahead and fall in love with your carpet; the floor can work like wall space and become a platform for an artistically-inspired carpet.
Pull colour, not the pattern, from within the rug to bring it into the décor. Ideally, walls will offer neutral décor to let the floor do most of the work from a style perspective. When a decorative carpet holds court in the room the rest of the space needs to honour the look. Let the décor influence start from the ground up.
Bringing just one or two colours from the carpet to go into furnishings will ensure that the look is tastefully pulled together. Trying to bring in too many elements will just cause chaos within the room and the carpet will get lost within the décor.
For the greatest impact make sure that the area rug is big enough for the space. Bigger is better when a carpet is a statement piece. In a dining room, the carpet should never be less than 60 centimetres from all sides of the dining table. Ideally it will extend 91 centimetres so that chairs sit on the carpet when pushed back. In the living room, there are a variety of options; a large space is best suited to a carpet that sits under all pieces of furniture, or underneath the middle of each piece to “float” within the room. A smaller room can handle the look of a carpet that floats under a coffee table. An area carpet should never touch the walls.
For your next decorating project consider planning around an artistic area rug to create grounded intrigue within the room.
Mary Taggart
