Should rugs go under furniture?

Area rugs are a great addition to any room. Not only do they provide a sense of hominess to your room, but they also tie together an area with different pops of color. Other benefits of area rugs are:

• Noise reduction
• Helps with warmth
• Helps break up the room
• Helps with allergies by trapping allergens

Area rugs can be used on tile floors, carpeted floors, and even hardwood floors. What is great about rugs is that not only are they a good alternative for carpeting, they also do not require a commitment. If you want to shake things up, you can get a completely new rug that has new colors and patterns on it, unlike traditional carpet floors.

Let's look at area rugs for different rooms of your home:

Living Room

When you are looking at living room area rugs, you might want to think about getting a larger rug. Small rugs can make the room seem small and compact, while larger rugs can make the room seem larger. After you have chosen the area rug you like (there are several different patterns, colors, and sizes that you can choose from), place the area rug in the center of the living room underneath your coffee table or ottoman. Place the front feet of your couch and chairs on the edge of the rug so that the rug seamlessly disappears underneath your furniture. Not only does this create a better appearance, but this also sets a clear "living" space.

When choosing a color you can match the wall color, accent pillow, couch color, or bring in a completely new color altogether. The choice is yours. Do avoid clashing colors that will be unappealing to the eye such as red and purple, or blue and orange.

Bedroom

An area rug in the bedroom has the same idea as in the living room; making the room seem larger. If you have a double or queen bed, you can stage them nicely with an 8 x 10 area rug. Put the bed in the middle of the rug so that the rug disappears underneath the bed. This will create the illusion of a larger room. Again, tie in colors with the colors in the room (wall, comforter, pillow shams, etc.).

If you have multiple smaller rugs for your room and are afraid they will clash, don’t sweat it! You can either use both in different areas of your room or swap them out at different times. The great thing about rugs is that they are tailored to you and your style.

Dining Room

While you might be iffy about putting an area rug down in a place where you eat, it is pretty popular and will help set your dining room up for style. Before purchasing your area rug, measure out your dining room table and add at least two feet to that to get your ideal rug size. You want to do this so that when you pull your dining room chairs out, they don’t fall off your rug.

To be sanitary, you will want to avoid shaggy rugs and sheepskin rugs. They tend to trap materials in them, so sticking with smaller fibered rugs will be best. To tie in colors, you can bring in secondary or tertiary colors from your dining room chairs into your rug to make the room pop. Additionally, you can also tie in colors from accent pieces, such as pictures, paintings, or knick-knacks you might have up on your walls.

Cons to Rugs

There are certainly cons to having rugs in your home. Cleaning is one of the biggest cons to having rugs in your home. As you would with carpet, at least once a week vacuum your carpet to pick up food, dirt, dust, and anything else that might start collecting in the fibers of your rug. Not only will this keep your rug fresh and clean, but it will also keep your home smelling nice. If your rug gets especially gross, you can actually take it outside and wash it with rug shampoo. Here’s how:

1. Vacuum your rug on both sides, making sure to get as much dirt and debris as possible
2. Next, mix up your rug shampoo or dish detergent (either will work) in a bucket of warm water
   1. Before you begin, test the solution on a corner of the rug to make sure the solution doesn’t cause the rug's color to run
3. You can wash the rug with a brush or sponge and scrub your solution into the rug
4. Rinse the solution out with water
   1. You can use a hose, buckets of water, or a pressure washer (low setting) until all the solution is out
5. Get rid of all the extra water by using a wet-dry vacuum or even a squeegee
   1. Afterward, let your rug air dry completely
6. Once your rug is dry, run a vacuum over it one more time and it should be considerably cleaner

Overall, accent and area rugs make a great addition to most rooms. They can help make a space seem larger, and in many cases, act as carpet without the commitment. We like that rugs can really tie a room together with their bursts of color, and add warmth to any room.