Spicing Up That Room With an Area Rug

You all too easily find several articles that tell you how to use an area rug to lend a little bit of character to any particular room. What we’d like to do though is to show you how to spice up an entire room with the rug as the starting point.

First things first – do you have a special theme in mind for the room you want to decorate? What colors do you envision using? Once you have decided that, it’s time to go rug shopping! And seeing as the rug will most likely be the focal point of the room, the best option would be to either get yourself a Persian rug or perhaps an Oriental rug or a nice transitional rug. The latter is named thus due to its ability to blend different elements and colors in a room into one seamless creation.

Regardless of your choice of rug style, it will have to be one capable of grabbing the attention of the observer, hence our recommendations. Each of the recommended rugs usually comes with a central medallion in bright, bold colors which, as you can imagine, will be the focal point of the room.

As soon as your rug has been chosen, it’s time to consider the other décor elements. Remember, as the rug is the focal point of the room, all other items will have to be accessories to this focal point. This means they should complement it in color but otherwise be rather neutral, though definitely not boring. Consider items such as an ottoman, an armoire or even a chair with a fine pattern that will match the rest of the room. The key here is to have a combination of textures, such as soft and hard, dull and shiny, rough and smooth, etc.





And in addition to normal furnishings, you can also consider traditional works of art to adorn your walls. The great thing about art is that it need only share certain elements of the general design of the room and can be transitional elements themselves. Think about some timeless favorites such as black & white photographs or, for those rooms where the colors are bright and bold, prints from some of the great masters such as Monet, John Williams Waterhouse, etc.

Once you are happy with all the furniture and art, another thing that will have to be paid attention to is the lighting. Does the room get plenty of natural sunlight? What kind of lighting does the room have at night? Having a couple of spotlights focused on key items could enhance the ambience of a place and supply it with a smoldering warm look.

And finally, when all’s said and done, use some more area rugs to define areas within the room. These should preferably be neutral or adorned with small patterns in colors that will enhance the main focal point of the room. Also take care to ensure that they are smaller in size than the main rug – rugs in equal size could divide the room in two.

Interior decorating has never been this simple with the use of area rugs; and in particular red rugs are popular this year.

Spicing Up That Room With an Area Rug
By Fran Sloan