Sep
04
2009
How to Pick an Area Rug
Adding area rugs to your home is a great way to enhance and protect your floors, absorb sound and give your feet a little warmth on a cold morning. Plus, they can serve as a beautiful focal point to a room. But what size rug is best for a particular room?
Keep in mind that while rugs come in standard sizes, rooms do not. Since ordering a rug in a custom size is very expensive, many people opt to find a standard size that comes close to what they want. When determining the size area rug you need, keep the following rules of thumb in mind:
- Measure the space you want the rug to cover carefully before you choose the size rug you want. This means an entire room for room-sized area rugs, or the space under a table or in the middle of a conversation area for smaller rugs.
- When choosing a room-sized area rug, plan to leave about 18″ of floor space uncovered.
- Don’t arrange furniture so that it sits partly on a rug. For instance, if you are choosing a rug to go underneath a coffee table, all four feet of the coffee table should rest on the rug. Likewise, a dining room table and its chairs should all fit on a rug (otherwise, the chairs could get hung up when people are sitting down or rising).
- For an entryway or other high-traffic area, cover it completely or leave it bare. Partially covering the area could cause someone to trip. If the shape of the area is odd, consider laying two rugs.
When choosing a room-sized rug, use this chart as a reference guide:
| If the room dimensions are: | Buy a rug sized: |
| 4’6”x6’6” to 5’0”x7’0”+ | 3’0”x5’0” |
| 6’6”x9’6” to 7’0”x10’0”+ | 5’0”x8’0” |
| 9’6”x11’6” to 10’0”x12’0”+ | 8’0”x10’0” |
| 10’6”x13’6″ to 11’0”x14’0”+ | 9’0”x12’0” |
| 11’6”x16’6” to 12’0”x17’0”+ | 10’0”x15’0” |
Shop Rugs and Runners at Solutions.com
Hi, I am looking for an area rug 10ft by 15ft to save the wear and tear of the berber capet underneath. What type of rug should I look for?
I would like to know what kind of fabric to buy which would not be attractive to my cat’s scratching and ruining the material?
If your cat scratches she will be attracted to ANY fabric. Get her a scratching post, trim her nails and if she still ruins things……declaw her front feet only. She won’t miss them and can still protect herself with her back claws, she’ll still scratch but won’t ruin anything and you will both be happy. If you choose not to declaw because your friends think that’s cruel, give them the cat and let her ruin their stuff.