How to Choose the Right Rug
Stressed about finding or choosing a rug? I don’t blame you! Although it’s fun and exciting, buying a rug is a freaking COMMITMENT. I’ve always said, when you choose a rug it’s like you’re marrying it so you better think long and hard before you pull the trigger.
A rug can determine the vibe or direction a room will go in so you first need to get clear on that because once you choose that rug...that is IT for the room. You build the room around the rug after that. So think about what kind of look or style you are going for or what you genuinely love. Always go for what you naturally gravitate towards otherwise decorating will be exponentially harder.
Once you know the look you’re going for, make sure to buy the main piece of furniture you’re going to have in the room first. If it’s your living room, pick out the couch first. If it’s the dining room, choose the dining table and chairs first. If it’s the bedroom, decide on a headboard and bedding first so on so forth you get the idea. The reason being, those larger ticket items are usually more expensive and will most likely be staying with you for a long time. A rug can (and probably will) be switched out more easily. Also, once you have that main piece of large furniture, selecting your rug will then be much easier because you will have something to go off of.
The furniture isn’t the only thing you need to consider before buying your rug, though. Don’t forget about the floor. Is it wood or carpet? Is it light or dark? If it’s a carpeted area then I recommend going with a thicker, more plush rug because if it’s too thin the weight of the furniture will make it so the rug can’t lay flat. Since I’m not an expert on this, depending on if your floor is dark or light wood I’d suggest doing a Pinterest search for “rugs on insert light/dark wood floors” to get ideas of what will look best. In my opinion I have found that lighter rugs look better on lighter floors and darker, more richly colored rugs look better on dark floors. However, rules were meant to be broken and it’s your home so do you! But I definitely recommend looking for inspo on instagram and Pinterest and then making boards with various furniture and rug combinations that include a swatch of the color of your floor so you can see the way certain things will look together before you buy them.
I feel like there are two directions I usually think about going in when selecting a rug and it’s two completely different vibes. There’s the extremely minimalistic vibe with muted colors (almost no color..basically like 50 shades of neutral) or there’s the more worn, patterned, vintage, colorful Persian vibe. I am a HUGE SUCKER for Persian/Turkish rugs so I went with a very neutral couch so I could get a patterned/colorful rug. (That was another thing Adam complained about when he saw my plans for the house - lack of color. But I PROMISED him color would be added with a rug, pillows, and greenery.) If you get a rug that has lots of colors in it, it also gives you a helpful guide to finding pillows because you now have an obvious color palette. A patterned one can be super pretty layered over a plain light colored jute rug as well. I love that look if you have the space for it. It adds so much interest, depth, and texture. If you choose to go with the more plain (50 shades of neutral) vibe or like a black and white Moroccan style shag rug then you will have LOTS of freedom when it comes to accenting items such as pillows and blankets. The plainer, more understated kind can also sometimes make a space look more mature. Like I said, both are great. Just depends on what you’re going for.
Next, CONSIDER THE COLOR in a practical way. If you love the look of a light colored rug but you wear shoes in your house or plan on eating over the rug, the color of it is GOING TO CHANGE over time. So you have two options, either stop wearing shoes and eating on it or try to love a darker one that will mask the dirt better.
Another thing I have to stress is to make sure to measure the space before you buy a rug. Then, when you think you’ve found the rug you want, tape off the dimensions of that rug where you would place it in the room so you can visualize what it would look like in the space and also reconfirm that the size is right.
Last bit of advice when choosing the rug: If you’re like me and get sick or bored of things kind of fast: consider getting a cheaper rug because you won’t feel as guilty when you switch it out for a new/different one. You also won’t worry as much about it getting dirty.
Where to Find Cute Rugs:
For authentic, Persian ones look on Instagram (here are some accounts I love: @jeanpalmerhome, @vintagerugshop, @mirafloresvintage, @rugandweave, @rugged.co, @urbanrug, @newenglandloom, @rugandweave, @violetvintagerugs), etsy, ebay, brick and mortar vintage stores. Or you can just go to Turkey or Morocco and pick one up there lol.
For new ones that are a mix of both vibes I’ve mentioned, that look authentic, and are usually much cheaper (going from most to least expensive): Potterybarn, cb2, McGee and Co, Urban Outfitters, World Market, Lulu and Georgia, Homegoods, Overstock, Rugs USA, Boutique Rugs, Rugs.com.
Below is a round up of some of my faves at the moment. Most also come in runner form. All photos are linked! Enjoy!
