Area Rugs Do's and Don'ts

Now that we are completely aware that rugs are the cheapest yet best decorations that we can put in the small areas of our home, we should move to the next step which is knowing the do’s and don’ts in using area rugs. But first, let us define the purposes of our rugs.

What are the purposes of rugs?

Our rugs, aside from giving a touch of colour to a pale room (or give a feel of cosiness in a room made with hard materials), also helps us to define spaces. A rug acts like an area that groups the furniture that belongs together. The piece of art that is lying on the floor unifies the furnishings that are placed upon it. It helps the people distinguish which place is which: it separates the dining room from the living room and the living room to the other areas of your home.

Besides defining space, area rugs also help creating an illusion that your room is big and spacious. When put together with the proper furniture, a rug will definitely give the feel that one is staying in an expansive room.

Lastly, rugs make the areas in your home look “complete.” Through coordinating the colours of your rug, furniture and wall, the decorations in your room will appear as if it has been already given the final touch.

Needless to say, area rugs really do a lot of things in our room without us even noticing it. Now that we know how much rags beautify our spaces, let us take the time to know the do’s and don’ts in using area rugs.

Area Rugs Do’s

• Use the appropriate size – How would we know if the rugs that we have on hand is perfect for our area? This may appear hard but it is actually easy; to know if the rug has the appropriate size for our area, we should look at it after we have already placed the furnishings on top of the rug. If it looks like it is awkwardly placed, then the rug is too small or maybe, the furniture that you have is too big for it. There is actually no ideal size for rug – However, in the living room, the perfect rug should cover at least 2 front legs of your chairs. Nevertheless, the other smaller pieces of furniture that you have like coffee table and vases should be placed upon the rug. In the dining room, the rug should be large enough that when the chairs are pulled out from the table, they are still covered by the rug.

• Cover fully the heavy traffic areas of your house – Living room and dining room are the most common heavy-traffic areas of our house. When people walk in those places, they shouldn't have one foot on the rug while the other foot is off it. In our previous blog post, we have mentioned that wool rugs are the perfect rugs for high-traffic areas.

• Check the cleaning instructions – Rugs that have natural fibres may appear to be inexpensive at first. However, they cannot be cleaned. If unfortunately, you have soiled them, you are left with no choice but to replace them. Carefully weigh the types of rugs that you would like to use in your home, while of course, not disregarding your budget before you go ahead and buy a piece or two.

• Match the shape of the rug with the furniture on top of it – People assume that oval rugs go well with almost everything – this is not always true. The rule of thumb when choosing a rug is to match its shape with the furniture that you are planning to place on top of it. For example, if your dining table is rectangle, then it is best for you to buy a rectangular-shaped rug as well to complement your table.

Area Rugs Don’ts:

• Clash colours – The purpose of your rug is to complement your furnishings and not destroy it. If you are not sure of what is the best rug to buy, you can opt to choose safe colours that are one shade lighter or darker than your furniture.

• Be afraid of using patterned rugs – How would you know if a pattern is good for your furniture? The pattern of the rug doesn't necessarily have to be the same as your furniture. You can just pick a furniture and see the dominant colour that it has and make sure that the patterned rug has that colour too.

• Leave your living room and dining room looking bare – As mentioned earlier, rugs make the room look complete and “finished.” Since the living room and dining room are the heavy traffic areas of your house, then you might as well avoid the mistake of leaving it bare-looking. Make sure that your dining room and living room are presentable to your family and future guests as well.

In order for our rugs to meet its purpose, we should also be knowledgeable enough in placing them in the proper areas.

Tips on How to Decorate Your Home Using Shaggy Rugs

Shaggy rugs are soft, textured and chunky home accessories that you can use to decorate your house. Instead of having a regular rug, why not choose a shaggy rug that can definitely change the mood of your home? The use of rugs as home décor has, once again, gained popularity. Our modern ways of living has not changed the way we feel about having a cosy home. Shaggy rugs are the most commonly used rugs at home today. From the living room, to the bathroom, people prefer the feel of shaggy rugs against one’s skin over other rugs. 

Shaggy rugs can be made from various materials such as cotton, wool, nylon and many others. They are also known to be durable and most ideal to be placed in areas of the home where there is much foot traffic. If you are thinking of decorating your home using shaggy rugs, here are some tips that you can take note of.

Shaggy Rugs with Playful Hues.  These types of rugs are best placed in the children’s room to make it look more fun and youthful. On the other hand, you can also place them in an all-white or all-black room to add a hint of colour and make the room look more interesting. 

Shaggy Rugs with Animal Print. Ideal for rooms with not much colour, animal print shaggy rugs are central pieces in themselves. They tend to attract attention and are usually placed in the living room or bedroom. These rugs add greatly to the personality and feel of a room.

Shaggy Rugs with a Solid Colour. Best placed in monochromatic rooms – either to match a theme or to stand out from it – shaggy rugs with a solid colour are the easiest ones to place anywhere around the house. If you are going for a formal look, it is recommended that you purchase a rug with a neutral hue, so it can fit almost anywhere. 

Shaggy rugs come in different sizes, shapes, materials and hues. All you need to do is to ensure that your choice would fit the look that you are going for. Keep in mind that it’s all a matter of styling and matching colours – if you are not confident with your choice, try seeking the help of a friend or looking for ideas through magazines and other resources. At Fantastic Rugs, we offer a variety of stylish, affordable and high quality shaggy rugs that you can choose from.

Wools: High-Traffic Area Rugs

Rugs do not only give warmth and cosiness to our rooms – rugs also connect us to our space. When buying this piece of art, we should always remember that rugs should be treated as a textile product.  Thus, the furry things under our feet should also be cleaned and maintained. However, one may formulate an argument about the real purpose of rugs. Of course, rugs do not need to be flawless and they are meant to be used. Perhaps, the best way to answer this juxtaposition is to put the perfect rug in the best area.

Choosing the right rug for your home’s high-traffic areas such as living room, where you entertain your guests, and dining room, where you serve your specialities to your guests can be considered as an investment. Doing so means that you choose a rug that is durable and will surely last. For us, wools are the best material that can be used in areas where people walk to and fro. Why? Because:

• Wools can be easily cleaned.  Wools are stain resistant. Furthermore, they contain natural oils that can prevent dirt from adhering to the yarn. However, using it for a long time may change its appearance. Using a vacuum cleaner, you can already get rid of the dirts and residues that are stuck in a wool rug. But if you feel that using a vacuum cleaner is not enough, you can try using dry extraction powders. On the other hand, it is not advisable to use cleaning solvents when cleaning a wool rug. Scrubbing the rug excessively and letting it be soaked for a long time in a cleaning solvent will damage its quality.
• Wools make us feel luxurious. If luxury is the only consideration in choosing the perfect rug for your high-traffic areas, perhaps, silk is the best answer that you may think of. On the contrary, people should avoid using silk rugs in their living room because of a number of reasons. Aside from the fact that silks are not durable, silks are too soft and smooth that it may cause an accident to the person who would walk over it.
• Wools are fire resistant. You may wonder why this quality of the wool is included here in the list. I will explain why. Most of the time, our living rooms and dining rooms have several windows. The windows let the rays of sunshine pass through our house. By using a rug that is fire resistant, you can be at peace that nothing bad will happen to your house while you are away.
• Wools are cosy. Lastly, wools are made of continuous fibre loops that provides warmth to our feet. Naturally, our reason for buying a rusg is to treat our feet and avoid the feeling of stiffness.

Now that we know that wools are the best rugs for your living room and dining room, let us take a quick look at these fantastic wool rugs that will perfectly suit your taste:

It is also good to take note that it’s better to choose dark-coloured rugs for your high-traffic areas. A plain black rug is good but a patterned rug is better because the illusions of the fabric will definitely hide the dirt.

If  you want to  know more about rugs and what rugs are best for the other areas of your home, you may find this article interesting.

Why are Rugs Good for Wall Hanging?

Hanging of rugs on the walls is not a new trend. However, the application of rugs for wall hanging has expanded over time. Aside from the many things that a rug does to our house flooring, it can also be used for hanging. Here are the reasons why:

1. They can be used as an art. Opting for rugs instead of expensive paintings is a good idea if you are a practical person. A fine art can be expensive and many people would not probably opt to spend lots of cash just to buy something that they will just hang on their walls. One painting costs twice or thrice the price of an elegant rug.
2. They create an instant focal point in the room. Instead of putting your rugs on the floor, hanging it on the wall may create a better decoration in your house. Hanging a rug behind a furniture that you fancy will make the furniture more outstanding and appealing to the eyes of your visitors. Rugs add up to your house’s friendly atmosphere, too!
3. They can be used to customise your room. There are some rugs that appear to be too good to just set our feet upon. We sometimes have a feeling that certain rugs are not okay to be soiled by our feet. However, rugs don’t always have to stay on the floor. You can try adding some personal touch to your room by hanging your rugs instead of just putting them on the floor.
4. Rugs can be used to reduce noise levels. Who would’ve thought that the most overlooked thing in the house can be useful in reducing noise? Because of its thickness, a rug absorbs the sound waves better than plain walls. Rugs are useful, most especially if you are living in a crowded apartment. Amazing, right?

In line with these, we included some of the rugs which we think will look good on your walls:

This Funk Rug Multi will surely blend with a white walled room with minimalist-designed set of furniture. The funky bright colours will create a lighter mood to a plain room.

On the other hand, this Bob Marley rug will fit well to break the colour of any dark painted room walls. The design of the rug will without a doubt complement your music room.

This Harlequin Bamboo rug is indeed a great wall decoration that will add a cozy feel to your place.

To find more of these decorative rugs, please feel free to browse on our page and check out the rugs that we offer!

What are the different types of Rugs?

When it comes to decorating and furnishing a house, we have a few things that we just can't do without. A very good example of this is what we all usually have at home - the famous Rugs. Rugs are usually neglected nowadays, but no one can deny that they are a staple when we talk about home decors. 

The quality of a rug depends on who made it and what materials were used to make it. The quality and design of rugs have evolved through the years. 

After many generations, rugs today are no longer the simple decor that we know. Below is a list of the most common types of rugs that we see today.

1. Tufted Rugs - Tufted rugs are the most common type of rugs that we see today. They are also the easiest to produce in volume. They are usually man-made rugs.
2. Needle Felted Rugs - This type of rug is considered the most durable and it is also very costly. Needle felted rugs are also very new in the rug industry as they were only made available over the last 30 years.
3. Knotted Rugs - It could be man-made or machine made. Knotted rugs are commonly sold in a variety of sizes and colours.
4. Woven Rugs - Woven rugs are made using a loom - the oldest technique of creating rugs and other garments. Hand-loomed rugs are usually very expensive and have the most intricate designs.
5. Hooked Rugs - As the name implies, Hooked rugs are made by creating loops of wool in a backing like cotton and linen. This is a durable type of rug and costs less compared to other rugs with intricate patterns.

There are more types of rugs available out there. Your choice will definitely depend on your purpose, your budget and, of course, your taste. No matter which one you choose, your home decor will surely be complete once your rug is in place.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rug_hooking

Rage on Rags

For a person who is dedicated to adding a personal touch to his or her house, rugs are important. With the simplicity that it have, rugs are adding a touch of style without us noticing it. Do we even know that:

1.       Rugs provide our home a touch of coziness?

o   Rugs accentuate the beauty of our house, making it more homey and pleasant to stay at.

2.       Rugs help in separating areas in our house?

o   Rugs help in defining spaces in our home through its geometric patterns. It’s safe to say that because of rugs, some of the areas in our house look more spacey and large.

3.     Rugs distract people from the defects of the flooring?

o   Scuffs on the floor make the house owner itch to repair it every time it catches the eye. But repairing it, most especially if you are on a tight budget should not be an option. Instead of scouting for home repair services, it would be more practical if you would just buy a rug to conceal your flooring’s defects.

4.       Rugs accent a wall or a furniture color?

o   Rugs can be a decoration that can complement our furnishings and walls. You just have to choose the right rug that will go well with the interiors of your house.

    5.       Rugs protect your floor from dings?

  o   Moving of some furniture from one place to another may create scratches on your flooring. By putting a rug under heavy furniture, you can already protect your floor from having eye-irritating dings. Also, rugs can make it easier for you to transfer heavy furniture by just sliding it.

    6.       Rugs make your flooring pleasant to walk on?

  o   Your feet would definitely love a soft rug more than hard flooring or a cold tile.

Rugs are often overlooked by people, disregarding the little help that it gives to our house. But we at Fantastic Rugs know that a rug is not just a rug. A rug is something that is essential to have in every home. You just need to find the perfect ones. To help you find the rugs of your taste, you may browse through our products.