The moment has arrived. You have officially decided it is time for you and your family to have a rug for your living room,  for those family times you spend together watching a movie or having a chat; or a runner for your hallway for those cold mornings, so your feet can be met by a comfy, warm tissue; or even an area rug for your bedroom,  so you can always go to sleep and wake up the next morning standing over a beautiful and practical piece of art. You must be excited about this new decision and whether you have a specific design in mind or not, you might surely be looking for inspiration, and let us tell you that you’ve come to the right place.

In this post, we’ll be talking about the most common rugs you can find in the market, what are the shapes, sizes, designs, and styles that you are sure to find when you go browsing for a rug yourself, also, we will discuss what are the types of rugs most likely to work for your rooms. Furthermore, we’ll be paying special attention to something often forgotten when browsing rugs: The thickness of a rug, and how it can affect the aesthetics of your house.

Purchasing a rug is no child’s play

Before making your purchase, you should keep in mind a series of details about both the rug you want to have and the room you want to place it in. Besides being a very practical and comfortable addition, rugs are a piece of art, and they must be treated as such; they must fit with the ambiance of the room, both in matters of style and dimensions. If your room has a modern, minimalist style, then a perfect match would be a modern-styled rug,  which can come in plain colors, bold shapes, and sizes. However, if your room were to be attracted by the mystery and beauty of an oriental decoration, then a Persian rug is the perfect option for you, with its gorgeous and meaningful designs. Shall we discuss it further?

Styles you could have at home  

There is an interminable list of rug styles and categories you can choose your rug from. Here, we will discuss which are the styles that have been the love at first sight of most people:

1. Foremost, we have Persian rugs, which have been in existence since the 12th century and are made in the northern parts of Iran, where they are preserved with great love. The Persian style is still used today and has become a massive trend among contemporary designers.
2. Then there are transitional design rugs,  which, as the name implies, are the transition between Persian and contemporary rugs. There are many ways in which these two styles can be combined. Rug makers can get their inspiration from Oriental designs, and combine them with the bold designs and shapes of contemporary styles, or the other way round, and have a modern, geometric or floral design be in the beautiful colors of a Persian rug.
3. Furthermore, there are modern rugs  to choose from: In the modern rug style, you will find a variety of designs and colors that is different from what you can find in the two previous categories. You can find a bold red rug, that can attract all the attention in your room, it could be combined with black and white geometric shapes.
4. Another very great design to have in your home is shag rugs. These rugs have a very special and unique design indeed. They have a lot of long, thick strands, making it look like they have hair, and of course rendering your whole room a playful, welcoming environment that will surely entertain everyone who visits it. 
5. Last but not least, there are hand-woven rugs:  Hand-woven rugs usually have less variety in terms of design and color; this makes them very unappealing to some people.  This should not be the case, for these beautiful rugs have been the product of hours of effort and millimetric attention to detail. They are normally made out of wool or cotton.

When choosing a style, you should foremost follow your heart's desires, your taste has the last word in the decision. Now, if you were to need some kind of guidance; it all depends on the design your room has been previously configured to have. If you have ostentatious wooden furniture, and golden decor pieces and your room makes a combination of brown, black, and reddish-brown colors, a Persian rug should fit perfectly in there. However, if your room seems to have a lot of glass, black wooden, or steel pieces of furniture, a modern rug might fit perfectly in there.

Dimensions

We have talked about shapes and sizes before, and it is true, that they are, besides the design, the most important parameter to take into account when buying a rug. Let us see how:

Rug Size

The size of a rug is very important for it will change the whole aesthetics of the room. A rug smaller than it should be can make a room look disjointed and broken, and one that is bigger than planned can make a room feel much smaller and messier.

It all depends of course on the type of room you will place the rug on; generally, in a living room, you can use bigger rugs than the rest of the areas in your home. Try to always avoid those extreme sizes. A runner size for a hallway should always be measured to have the same size as the space, for it is only this that will provide the sense of coziness and order your house can profit from. A bedroom does not need a big rug, a square  or rectangular small rug will do the job just fine but don't forget about your style, for it is what matters the most.

The standard sizes are:

Some of the common rug sizes are:

3 feet by 5 feet

4 feet by 6 feet

5 feet by 8 feet

8 feet by 10 feet

9 feet by 12 feet

you can choose from any of these, always keeping in mind the configuration and size of your room, so nothing will be too big or small.

Rug Shape

This parameter is way easier to decide, for there are only two shapes to choose from; you have rectangular-shaped rugs, which can automatically make a room feel tidy, perfect for being matched with square furniture pieces and to be placed in high-traffic rooms. The other option is round or circular rugs,  which are perfect for cozy private rooms, which might be circularly configured, or rooms with round pieces of decor, such as a chandelier, or an oval or circular painting.

Do not be fooled, however by the lack of a long catalog of options; this is no easy choice, and it should not be taken lightly. A round rug in a room where it doesn’t fit might just be as disastrous as having a flood crisis. So, be careful!

Now let’s get to the real deal, how thick should your rug be?

Rug Thickness

When you walk on a thick area rug, you will feel it. Without a thick soft area rug, you'll be balancing and tripping over the thin carpet or linoleum. But too much of anything can make your room’s aesthetic clash with its furnishing. That's why it is important to determine what rug pile is appropriate for your rug before buying one so as not to purchase something too thin or too dense that would not be comfortable to walk on.

Many factors are taken into account when determining the proper pile of a rug, such as the type of flooring in that room and what type of furniture is present in it. but before discussing all of this, we will get terminological.

First and foremost: What the heck is a pile?

You must have certainly been browsing for some rugs either online or at some establishments, and you have surely encountered the term “pile” and, as many in the beginning, you might or might not understand what the term exactly means.

Generally speaking, most rugs have a density of one-fourth their weight or less. This is called a rug pile. This term refers to the density of the fibers on a rug; they can be flat (short piles) or shag (long). Have you heard that last term before…?

Yes! Our beautiful, playful, hairy shag rugs, which can give a fun touch to about any kind of room, are mostly chosen by the effect on bare feet and have this amazingly cushioned energy to them. To sum up the idea of the thick pile rug, the higher the pile it gets, the softer the rug will be.

High, mid, or low pile rugs?

As it always is, the choice for one rug or the other depends mainly on the context. How is the room you plan to put the rug in configured? What is the type of furniture it has? Do you have children? pets? a lot of visitors? Once you have thought about these matters, you can begin deciding on the height of the rug you are to choose!

thick pile area rugs or more simply put, high pile rugs or shag rugs make an excellent decor piece for a private room, like your bedroom, where you will feel like part of the royalty as your feet feel welcome by the softness of the rug every single morning. They also make a splendid choice for a living room when you want it to be a little more inviting and warm. In these cases, you will feel comfortable walking on them. A high-pile rug is great for the TV room due to its soft, yet elegant look. Many people enjoy watching their movies or having a game night while sitting or stepping on them. If you have toddlers running about in your house, then going for shag rugs is nothing short of genius, as they are extremely safe to walk on and will keep your kids happy! It's up to you!

However, low-pile rugs have their practicalities as well: Low-pile rugs are great for living rooms. If you have furniture without feet or low to the ground all over the living room, going for a low pile rug is perfect for you. Your kids will be able to play more freely, and it will be easier to clean up afterward. Low-pile rugs are also very easy to keep clean, as you can work them with your vacuum cleaner from time to time. And maybe most importantly, they just look better than other types of rugs as they don't compete with your furniture.

Finally, we can end up in the middle ground with mid-pile rugs, which are the most popular ones. The advantages of mid-pile rugs are that they have a very delicate look, something that is perfect for any area in your home whether it be the dining room or even outside. If you have mid-century furniture in your house, a mid-pile rug will fit in perfectly as it will not make it look old.

In the end, it's up to you! Choose wisely and remember, there is a rug out there for every need and taste!

What is it going to be, then?

Are you a fan of interior design shows? We sure are too! But we have to understand there is some fantasy in them. They make interior design choices look so extremely easy when in fact it isn’t, and it is also not meant to be.

Choosing the right rug for your home is no easy task, and it should not be taken lightly, for a rug can be the life of every room, giving it its personality and particular touch. Choosing the perfect rug can be your adventure, and we are more than happy to have been part of it and hope we can help you further on your quest if you have any other doubts. 

What do you think? Are you ready?