Tips for picking the perfect rug

When buying a rug there’s a lot more to choose than just colour. So thinking about what you need in advance can ensure you get the right rug for you.

Pile depth
If you’ve got pets, a thick deep pile rug might seem like a cosy place for them to sleep, but it will attract hairs and be hard to keep clean. Maintenance is an important consideration when it comes to picking a rug and pile depth is crucial to that. For areas with high foot fall, maintenance will be much easier if you get a harder rug with shallow pile. Softer rugs are also going to wear out quicker. If the rug is for your dining room or kitchen a shallow pile rug will be much easier to keep clean in the case of spillages. So think about what you need the rug for and what sort of use it’s going to get to make sure you get the right one.

Size
A well-chosen rug can completely change the feel of a room. But getting the wrong size can overwhelm a space and make it look small. A rug shouldn’t really be a substitute for a carpet, and you don’t need it to cover every inch floor space. So picking the right size is really about thinking about the area it needs to cover. Plan your room, arrange the furniture, and then measure out the space you want to cover.

A rug is great for breaking up big blank areas in a room, or for hovering items of furniture to sit on. In a lounge, a large rug can look good as a centre piece, with a coffee table on top, in a bedroom on the other hand, a much smaller rug would be more suitable at the foot or side of the bed.

Placement
Placement is even more important than size and is a vital aspect of the styling of your room. A rug clearly needs to fit in with the layout of the furniture and complement the look of the room. While rugs in hallways might simply be to protect the carpet, rugs in bedrooms and bathrooms need to be placed to best benefit the purpose (such as to avoid treading on cold wooden floors or tiles). In lounges rugs can be used for furniture to sit on to soften the lines of a room. It is fairly simple to position a rectangular carpet well – by making sure the edges run parallel with the walls, but circular or oval carpets are a whole different ball game and need to line up well with your furniture.

Colour
Rug colours obviously need to complement the scheme you already have, but that doesn’t mean you have to match everything up perfectly. A rug is a separate feature in itself so you should certainly try to make it stand out from the floor colouring you already have. Texture is also part of this. A deep rich colour might look good in contrast to a light floor, likewise a lighter colour might sit well on dark wooden flooring. Where you have kept your flooring neutral, rugs can be a great way to add a pop of colour to liven up a room design.

Shape
Rectangular rugs are, of course, the most common, and the simplest to position in a room. But going off piste a bit with your rug shape can again emphasise it as a key feature of a room and add to a classy design. A modern layout with lots of clear straight lines might actually benefit a circular rug a bit different from the norm to give your room a new perspective.

Style
Style is often the first thing you think about when it comes to rugs, and, let’s face it, it’s definitely one of the most important. That said it’s worth thinking about all the other points first and then turning to style, otherwise you might end up buying a great looking rug that just doesn’t suit your room. Rugs should complement a room, rather than match it perfectly, which is why going for a vibrant pattern can often be a really stylish choice. Still, the style of your rug should be down to your own tastes and is your choice alone.

For more great tips visit www.drytron.com.au. Of course, if you need to get your rug cleaned by the experts, simply give us a call in the Drytron Customer Care Centre on 13 12 50.