Much more than just an accessory to a clever decor scheme, the area rug serves a much higher purpose when rolled out on top of your reclaimed wooden floors. Area rugs help guard a reclaimed floor from the everyday wear-and-tear of your household. Of course, choosing the best rug for the job can be an arduous task; however, with a little advice, you can select an area rug that will serve your floors dutifully and complement your home dcor at the same time.
Choosing the Right Size
The first order of business is to figure out where the area rug will go and how much of the floor you’d like it to cover. Rugs come in all different widths and lengths; you can choose to cover a whole room with an area rug, or you can confine the rug to a small space by the front door. When you’ve got a general idea of how much of your reclaimed wood flooring surface you’d like to drape, the next step is to consider the different shapes and sizes available.
Area rugs are most commonly rectangular, and the measurements can usually be suited to fit your specific needs. There are wide ones to fit large rooms with oversized furniture; slender ones that can be squeezed into a hallway; and nearly every size in between. Square area rugs are more common for smaller spaces such as kitchen nooks and entryways, where there is less furniture. Likewise, circle-shaped rugs work well in sparsely furnished rooms.
Choosing the Right Pattern
When choosing a specific area rug, don’t be afraid to mix and match patterns with your existing dcor. Clashing has become trendy when it comes to accessorizing, so don’t hesitate to splash a little bit of floral or toile in with your stripes or mix up your contemporary couch with an antique Persian. Just remember to keep the colors constant. Take a look at your palette and make a decision from there; your reclaimed floor will thank you no matter what color and style you choose, so pick something that pleases you.
If you can’t settle on a pattern, solid-colored area rugs work just as well as patterned ones. Browns, tans and creams are your basic neutral shades that can go with nearly any type and style of dcor. Rugs that are light colored have a tendency to make a room seem more open, which may work to your favor, so not only will your reclaimed wood flooring receive a layer to protect it from busy feet, but it will also gain a bit of trick-of-the-eye square footage, too.
There are hundreds of textures to choose from, thousands of patterns to compare and dozens of sizes – not to mention an endless spectrum of colors – so you’ll have plenty of variety when you go to make your choice. But don’t let variety cloud your reasoning when it comes to practicality; you need something that covers your floors and fits with the style of your home, too.