A rug can be a nice addition to any room in your home. But with more homeowners choosing hardwood or tile floors over carpet, many people wonder if they should cover their hard floors with a rug, especially in the living room. We've thoroughly researched this question to bring you the answer you're looking for.
There are many reasons why having a rug in your living room is a good idea. Here are some of the benefits:
- Rugs can help to pull the room together.
- They help to provide a source of warmth.
- They make the room feel more comfortable.
- Rugs help to reduce the amount of noise in a room.
- They play a role in grounding the room.
In this article, we'll dive deeper into the advantages and disadvantages of having a rug in the living room, as well as some style tips to help you choose the best rug for your living room. Continue reading to learn more.
What Are The Advantages Of Having A Rug In The Living Room?
Most people place a rug in a room for reasons that are strictly related to style. But rugs play a lot of roles in a room that people don't always consider. Earlier in the article, we mentioned some of the benefits of having a rug in the living room. Let's look at each of those benefits in more detail.
Rugs Pull The Room Together
Rugs come in many styles, textures, and designs. If you have a room with many accent colors, rugs can be used to pull all of those colors together by choosing a design that has all of the colors in it. Rugs can also be used to bring texture into the room. If you want a rug but are worried about it taking away from the look of the hard floors, there are plenty of rugs available that look great with different flooring types.
Rugs Provide A Source Of Warmth
One of the downsides to having hardwood or tile floors is that they can get cold, especially during winter. Having to walk across or rest your feet on cold floors isn't ideal, especially in living rooms that receive a lot of foot traffic. Rugs help to insulate the floor and provide warmth underneath your feet.
Rugs Make The Room Feel More Comfortable
In addition to being cold, hard floors aren't comfortable walking, standing, or sitting on. Rugs add comfort to the room by providing a soft surface for your feet or body to walk or sit on. The softness that rugs provide also reduces the amount of pressure on your feet when you walk across them.
Rugs Reduce The Amount Of Noise In A Room
Rugs can make a living room more peaceful and quiet, especially if you have kids or pets that are always running across the floor. The rug's softness absorbs instead of echoing them as hardwood floors do. If you have a basement underneath your living room, a living room rug can help make the room below it quieter as well. You'll hear a difference when walking across the rug versus walking across hardwood floors.
Rugs Help To Ground The Room
Rugs play a role in grounding the room, but what exactly does that mean? Grounding means that the energy and space in a room feel balanced. If you follow Feng Shui's principles, rugs can slow down the amount of energy in a room, helping you feel more relaxed. That's precisely what you want in your living room after a long or stressful day.
Even if you don't follow Feng Shui, rugs also help the room feel more intimate by bringing all your furniture into one location centered around the rug. Placing your furniture around the rug helps to break up the room into smaller "rooms" that feel cozier in larger living rooms. Larger furniture pieces can almost feel out of place without a rug beneath them to balance them out.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Having A Rug In The Living Room?
As with everything else, there are some cons to having a rug in the living room. Before making any design decisions in your home, it is important to be informed of both the pros and cons that come with it. Let's look at some of the cons of having a rug in the living room.
Rugs Are Expensive
Depending on the size, quality, and material that the rug is made of, rugs can be expensive. A living room rug needs to be very large to fill the space appropriately. The cost of a large area rug averages from $400 to more than $10,000, depending on where it is purchased from and if it is a designer rug.
Rugs Collect Dust And Dirt
Due to all the foot traffic that comes through a living room, your rug will collect dust and dirt quickly and begin to show stains. With hardwood or tile floors, you can sweep and mop up the dirt. But when you add a rug, it takes a little more work to clean it. You will have to vacuum it at least once a week and deep clean it by steaming or shampooing it when it begins to show dirt.
If your rug does get dirty, try this carpet cleaning vacuum from Amazon.
Rugs Can Be Smelly
Along the same lines as collecting dust and dirt, rugs will also begin to collect odors from pets or food and drink that get spilled on them. Some smells can be removed with frequent cleaning, but other smells are harder to remove, and you'd better off replacing the whole rug. Rugs are expensive, and you don't want to have to replace them all the time, so you may have to take extra precautions to avoid spills.
How To Choose A Living Room Rug
If you've decided that a living room rug is a good choice for you but aren't sure how to go about choosing one, here are some things to consider.
Material
For a living room, you want to choose a rug that is made of durable material. It needs to be able to withstand heavy foot traffic. Jute and wool rugs are incredibly durable and easier to clean than shag rugs.
Click here to see this jute rug on Amazon.
Room Shape
You also want to consider the room's shape to make sure that the rug fits in the room. It should fill the room (or for larger rooms, fill the main seating area) without taking up too much space. If your room is rectangular, your rug should be rectangular as well. If your room is larger, but your furniture is arranged in a square shape, then a square rug might be a good choice.
Color Palette
Rugs come in a wide range of colors and patterns. For a rug that can go with any color scheme, choose a solid, neutral color like beige, grey, or brown. Look for patterned rugs with colors used in other aspects throughout the room for a pulled-together look.
See more: What Color Rug Goes With Wood Floors?
How To Position A Rug?
Area rugs should be centered in the room's main seating area with your furniture positioned around it. The rug should be large enough for the furniture to be placed on top of the rug.
If your room is smaller and you don't have the space to place the furniture on top of the rug, you should place at least the front legs of larger furniture pieces on top of the rug and leave the back legs on the floor. The rug should also be oriented so that it naturally follows the shape of the room.
Can You Have Two Rugs In The Same Room?
You can put two rugs in the same room, but there are certain ways to do this to make it look good.
- Choose two smaller rugs that look the same to separate seating areas.
- Mix two smaller rugs with different patterns, as long as they have similar colors.
- Layer a smaller rug on top of a larger one. This look works well if you put a rug made of a natural material on the bottom and a softer, patterned rug on top.
The key to putting two rugs in a room is to make sure that they work together visually. Following the suggestions above can help you achieve a cohesive look.
Should Rug Match Wall Color?
You can match a rug to your wall color if that is your preference, but a rug doesn't have to match the wall's color as long as it matches the other decor in the room. If you want it to match your wall color, but you have another color featured in the room as well, consider choosing a patterned rug that has both colors in it. This will bring the whole room together.
Is A 5x8 Rug Too Small For The Living Room?
For most living rooms, a rug between 5×8 and 9×12 is the right size. If your living room is smaller or you have a larger living room with a smaller seating area, a 5×8 rug could be the right size for you. It all depends on how big your room is and how your furniture is laid out.
See More: What Size Rug Do I Need? [A Complete Guide]
In Closing
We hope this guide was helpful in your decision of whether or not to put a rug in your living room. There are pros and cons, but ultimately the decision depends on your preferences and how you want the room to look and feel. What matters is that you're happy with space. Thanks for reading!
This is a very informative article, choosing the right and perfect rugs can add to the beauty of your room. Thanks for the tips and ideas. Great Blog. Thank you so much for sharing.