Top 5 Best Positions to Place Rugs

Rugs are an ideal piece of decoration in any living space. They are one of the more versatile decorative pieces and can be placed anywhere. If your dining space looks empty then place a rug under your dining table. If your smooth surface flooring is getting a little too cold for your liking, simply place a rug down to add some warmth. Rugs are very commonly placed in the living room as they are the most utilized and occupied space in the entire home - everybody in the home uses them! It is one of the go-to places for comfort and relaxation and mostly the place where everything happens. It is expected for that area to be the most decorated and for it to be at its maximum comfort for full potential. In addition to the sofa and the tv, a rug is a very important part of the room - it's vital for warmth and comfort, especially if you have smooth surface flooring. What it comes down to is the positioning or the orientation of the rug can have huge effects on the appeal and the aesthetic of the room. The room will have to be measured to understand which size rug is best for the room. The size of the living room will determine which size rug is needed. 

Linear Stem Ombre 061103 Tomato Wool Rug by Orla Kiely

What is done in most living spaces, is that there are six inches of unused space around the rug, on all sides. This is more typical in closed spaces, where there are walls or furniture around the space that you are wanting to cover. This can vary for open floor plans or in larger areas where you aren’t wanting the rug to fill up too much space. Having six inches around the rug unoccupied, allows the rug to fit perfectly within the space and maintain a symmetrical appearance. The actual size of the rug, as mentioned before, depends on the space available or the space that you are wanting to put it in. Before choosing a rug begins, you would have to know which dimensions to choose from. Understand the full layout and the placing of every furniture piece by measuring the room. You don't want a rug to be too small and look out of place or have a rug that starts climbing up the walls. 

All Furniture Legs on the Rug

Labyrinth Roman Beige 9175 Designer Rug by Jules Flipo

Sometimes the rug isn’t there to be the main attraction or the focal piece, but rather to fill in space and compliment the surrounding furniture. This is perfectly fine and is quite common in modern living rooms where the rugs are a simple light, block color. Or instead, the point of the rug is to add warmth near sofas rather than having toes touching cold flooring. With this in mind, you should consider placing all the furniture, that surrounds the rug, on top of it. With this layout, the rug is there for more practical reasons rather than aesthetics. It will still be a part of the whole ordeal, but it will less noticeable and less able to take attention away from the furniture and the decoration. Maybe you have an open floor plan, a cheap large rug may just be the answer to help provide warmth and comfort rather than contributing to the appearance. 

Furniture Partially On

Manaus Blue In Green 9179 Designer Rug by Jules Flipo

The one mentioned previously is where all furniture legs are on the rug whereas this one entails only the front furniture legs being on the rug while the back span out onto unoccupied space. Having furniture placed around a rug is a very popular floor design no matter how many furniture pieces are around it and this can variate depending on how you want the furniture pieces to be placed around the rug. Usually, with very large rugs, quite often there are more than one or two of the sides of the rug covered with a sofa. However, this is up to you how many sides you want bare. Having furniture partially on is more used where space is abundant and where the rug is a main feature of the room decor. You want more of the space occupied while the rug is showcasing its beauty while being placed in perfect harmony with the other furniture pieces. It can be a very good layout for open floor plans, that tend to have more space than usual. It can also be a good plan for when you are wanting some of the smooth surface flooring to peep out from underneath. Perhaps you have a waxed wooden floor or sturdy laminate flooring with a realistic print layer, you might want them incorporated into the appearance and aesthetic of the room and play a part. This can be achievable by having furniture partially on so that the laminate peeks through. 

No Legs on the Rug.

It is common for the rug to be the center of attention. Maybe that is what you have or what you are wanting. To have a rug that is the focal point, what draws attention every time someone walks in, shouldn’t be covered up or downsized by covering the edges and corners - all of the rugs should be on display so they can act to their full potential. When placing the rug down, simply don’t have any of the edges covered up by furniture so it can be shown off. The downside is that it may take up a lot of space, and may even require more than there is, but in that instance, a large rug isn't needed and a focal point can still be recreated with a smaller rug. This layout is key for rugs that have detailing or intricate patterns around the edges of the rug or have a heavy border. It wouldn't make sense to cover up the main part if it is on the edges. If the majority of the design is in the center and there is a guarantee that it won't be covered up, you can consider having furniture around the edges of the carpet. 

Combine rugs.

In open floor plans, where everything is not segregated, the position of the rugs can help give separation between different compartments. If the kitchen and the living room are on the same flooring, use a large rug in the living room to separate the two. By doing this, you can allow each space to have its own vibe and give off the illusion that there is more space than there is. The difference in floor texture and comfort can definitely trick someone that they are in the living ‘room’ even though they are in an open floor plan.

Rather on the wall than the floor

This idea may seem absolutely silly but it goes back to the roots of rugs when they first started out as hand-knotted tapestries. Rugs were originally made by making several thousand knots made onto a thread frame. Each knot was carefully placed to create an incredibly intricate image that could be used as a rug, a seat cover, or as a tapestry. Using a rug as an art piece is not unheard of and is a very good way of styling up empty wall space. Rugs are available in many patterns and can also entail very intricate details and imagery. Finding a rug that can be used as a tapestry, that can also match the room, won't be a hard task at all. You might just prefer to have a rug on the wall than a painting or large mirror.

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