Ah, rugs: in many ways, they’re the underrated foundations of interior design. Of all your decor items, they’re the ones that get walked on the most. Rather than the main event, they’re often complementary items. However, get the rugs wrong and you’ll know it. The rugs will either clash with the room or stick out like a sore thumb.
Image: 1825 Interiors
How to choose a rug? The answer lies in working the rug size, rug style, and rug colour to your advantage. Rugs can bring a lot of character and opulence, warmth and peace, and comfort and serenity to a room. For something so understated, rugs can be incredibly versatile. You can even use them as wall art!
If you’re trying to decide which rugs go with what style, you’ve come to the right place. This week, 1825 Interiors discusses how to choose a rug that goes with your living room. Wrap your rug-filled noggin around these handy hints—and catch our spiel about our ethical rug selection! After all, there is no conscience more beautiful than a clear conscience.
AN ETHICAL PRELUDE
At 1825 Interiors, we stock ethical rugs handwoven in India and Bangladesh. If you’ve noticed our rugs have an authentic, homemade feel about them, you now know why! Jute is a booming industry overseas, and we’re pleased to support Indian and Bangladeshi farmers, harvesters, and expert weavers by purchasing their jute rugs fair and square. We also stock the gorgeous rug selection from Weave Home: a member of Care & Fair, which is an organisation that aims to eliminate child labour and improve social justice for Indian and Pakistani carpet weavers.
Not only is jute a guilt-free fabric, but it’s also the world’s second-most popular vegetable fibre after cotton. And though it may win a silver medal in popularity, it’s often referred to as ‘the golden fibre’. There is so much more to jute than its lustrous appearance—it’s also anti-static, insulating, moisture-regulating, strong, and flexible. A handwoven jute rug will bring a comfortable warmth to any room—in more ways than one.
Left: The Laila rug from our Weave collection. Right: TheKailani rug from our jute collection.
We are grateful that Weave Home—the retail arm of Warwick Fabrics—is a member of Care & Fair. It affirms that we’ve done our part to not only make ethical choices but also to support a cause aligning with our sense of social responsibility. What sets Weave Home rugs apart from the rest? It’s the flat-weave technique, which literally holds together the rugs’ natural materials. These rugs are whimsically creative with a clear inspiration from nature.
Our rugs are something of a passion project that our customers can enjoy guilt-free. When it comes to choosing an 1825 rug, your living room ceiling is truly the limit.
RUG COLOUR
When choosing a rug for your living room, it’s important to choose the right rug colour. In the right setting, a bold rug bursting with bright colours and patterns can function as well as a piece of wall art. As discussed earlier, you could take this a step further and actually hang a rug from the wall. Should you choose to do this, we’d recommend selecting a rug with a rustic quality and some pleasing patterns. The rug from our collection that best fits the bill is the Makalu Handwoven Loop Pile Geometric Rug:
Image: 1825 Interiors
The Makalu design is a new take on Berber rugs’ diamond patterns. The geometrics will add visual interest to a room as they contrast against an understated neutral backdrop. This rug is from the Weave Home collection, which means it has an inherently authentic feel about it.
When selecting a rug colour, take into account your surroundings. Oftentimes, the rug will occupy the greatest surface area in the living room, so ensure that it fits in with the furniture, flooring, and walls. If your living room is already rather vibrant, you may wish to ground your space with a single-toned rug that speaks through texture. A great grounder for a vibrant space is our Emerson Handwoven Chunky Textured Plain Rug, available in both Seasalt and Feather styles:
The distinction is subtle, but on the left you have Seasalt, and on the right you have Feather. Images: 1825 Interiors
Please note these rugs contain no actual sea salt or feather. They are 60 per cent wool and 40 per cent viscose!
If your room is already neutral, a rug can be just the thing to add some zing to a space. Rugs in bolder colours or patterns can be the perfect accent piece.
RUGE SIZE
Whilst rug colour and styling rules vary depending on the room, the rules of rug sizing are more clear-cut. A rug should be a visual underscore of your seating area, occupying as much space as possible. Although all furniture should sit atop the rug, you can also anchor the rug using just the furniture’s front legs. So long as your feet fall atop the rug rather than the floor itself, you’ve got the right idea. At 1825 Interiors, we often like to use the ‘two-legs-touching’ hack. Exhibit A:
Images: 1825 Interiors
If your furniture occupies a considerable amount of space, you’ll also want to consider surface area in terms of shape. In this context, for example, you can indeed fit a round rug in a square room. On the other hand, square rugs in square rooms are a fantastic way to work the angles—literally. For rectangular rooms, it’s best to keep things matchy-matchy with rectangular rugs running in the same direction as the room.
RUG STYLE
Rug styling is the slightly more complex step of this crash course on how to choose a rug. You may have nailed down the rug colour and the rug size, but how will you style your rug to bring out the best in your living room? Whether you’re arranging interiors or creating an outfit, layering is a popular way to style. If you’re creating layers, remember to work with a colour theme. One option is to create layers that unify by choosing matching or complementary colours. The other option is to create a strong contrast by placing a bold-coloured object atop your rug.
Although this navy blue is a more muted tone, it still stands out strongly against this more neutral-toned rug. Image: 1825 Interiors
Rugs can also be a great way to delineate spaces. This goes double if your house is open-plan and you want a way to establish the living and dining rooms as spaces in their own right. If you’re using rugs to mark separate sections of the house, ditch colour-coding in preference for thematic linkage. Remember, your spaces are connected so you’ll need to select rugs in a similar style or colour. Think of it as ‘holistic’ rug styling.
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?
At 1825 Interiors, we know a thing or two about what looks great in a home. Rugs are no exception. Whether you’re browsing our Weave or jute rug collection, you’re bound to find something to bring warmth and style to your space. Now you know what to look for in terms of rug colour, rug size, and rug style, choosing a rug should be as easy as 1-2-3! Once you’ve chosen your favourite rug, be sure to bring out its best qualities with something from our living room collection. Rugs may be understated and subtle, but they’re one part of the puzzle that is your living room aesthetic. Here’s to bringing out the best in your home!