When looking at how to style your home, we often focus on furniture and wall art. Flooring is often forgotten - but in fact the right floor design or rug can have an enormous impact on the atmosphere in a space.
In this blog we’ll look at how modern rugs can transform an interior design and set the tone for any room. Not only can the right rug totally change the look and mood of the space, they’re a practical choice too. Warm your floors, reduce footstep noise and soften echoes - there are many ways that the right living room rugs - and rugs for other spaces, can make a difference.
Why are rugs such an important part of your interior?
Wall to wall carpets in a home are pretty rare these days. The trend for most interiors is now to have hard flooring. Whether that be wood floors, polished concrete or tiling, hard floors are easier to look after, simpler to clean and much longer lasting.
But a hard floor can sometimes be cold and impersonal. A rug is the perfect solution - yet many interior designers miss a big opportunity with their rug choices.
A rug doesn’t just have to complement other decor. It can lead the theme and become the focal point of the room. Modern rugs are available to suit every purpose in your interior design - they certainly don’t need to be boring.
Modern rugs - how to choose the right design
The first step in choosing the perfect rug is to focus on what you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking to bring colour into a monochrome theme? Or create a visual focal point for a space?
You might be aiming to coordinate with an existing colour scheme or complement an interior design motif. There are a few factors that will help you decide on the perfect choice of living room rugs or designs for any space.
The wonderful example below by @houseroundthebend/ shows perfectly how you can complement and round off an interior theme with the right rug.
Match your colour scheme
If the space has a strong theme, explore living room rugs in the same colour palette. It’s easy to search modern rugs by colour and shade to complement other accent colours and furnishings in your interior design theme.
Genesis 3 below works well in a space with accents of ochre or red, for example, as well as more neutral shades.
Contrast with a scheme
An highly effective approach is to use modern rugs to contradict and lift the theme of the room. We often think of rugs as being neutral, background items - but they can absolutely be the statement piece in a room. Our new rug design, Soul Searching Blue B is a perfect example. Animal print is an ever popular choice in modern rugs, and this design by Mad Shack takes the traditional zebra print to a whole new level.
If you’re looking for living room rugs with an extra dimension of design flair, this is the perfect option. It will add a pop of colour, draw the eye and redefine the space that you use it in.
Add visual interest
In some interior design schemes a rug can literally be the focus of the room - and that’s why Mineheart loves to create high impact designs that are out of the ordinary.
The surreal rug below by Himitsuhana is the kind of statement that we absolutely love. It’s beautiful, strange and captivating. Is this child really flying with a giant goldfish balloon, or is it all a figment of her imagination?
A round rug in bright colours like this will transform the look of any floor.
Create a mood
Rugs don’t have to be neutral and flat. They can be a form of art for our floors instead of our walls. And good art is something that brings out an emotional connection for us.
Modern rugs embrace all kinds of artistic styles. Our own collection spans the full range of our wall art genres, including abstract art, photography, Renaissance style pieces and surrealism.
The haunting collection from Furio Brigo brings together a series of rugs based on Urbex photography, a creative style that celebrates forgotten buildings. The example below is Asylum 22 - a photograph of an abandoned building that was previously a mental hospital. This image will give any space a thoughtful, mysterious atmosphere.
Lighten a dark floor
Dark wood floors are beautiful and popular in contemporary homes, but they can drain light from a space, especially hallways with limited natural light.
Rugs in a lighter tone will add light and depth to this kind of flooring, as with this example by @vda_designs, using our popular Blue Brown Persian Faux Cowhide Rug.
Define zones in a home
A further advantage of styling your home with rugs is that they are a highly effective way to make sense of large, open plan areas. A separate rug for each ‘zone’ in a room will help define different seating areas or reading spots.
The style of rug can be attuned to the type of area - a relaxing space might have a more soothing rug design and colour palette, while a creative space could reflect bolder, energetic colours and images.
Living room rugs - giving you total versatility
We all want to refresh the design of a room from time to time - and swapping out your rug is a low-cost, highly convenient way to do it.
Just move your rugs from room to room and invest in a new statement rug for the space you want to refresh.
Modern rugs are a pleasure to explore - there is absolutely a design for every setting. Plus, many of them are a practical choice as well as a stylish one. Our own rugs are rubber backed for safety and most are fully washable. Explore our full collection of designer rugs.
For more tips on styling your home with rugs see our blog: the importance of rugs in home interiors and buy carpets and rugs online.
