Hand-Knotted Area Rugs Guide

Throughout your home, area rugs add luxury and comfort as well as enhance your decor. In the bedroom, they can add insulation and comfort that softens your first steps in the morning. In the living room, a unique area rug can set the tone for your entire design scheme. Area rugs can also tie together different groupings and visually set apart distinct areas in shared spaces and open-concept homes. For instance, an area rug under your dining set can lend a completed look to your dining area and separate it from the adjoining kitchen, and an area rug under your desk can help section off your office space in a family room or den.

While the physical and visual benefits are many, choosing the right area rug for your space and personal design aesthetic is not always as easy as it seems. Most quality area rugs are large investments that really define the look and tone of a room. Before committing to any single rug style or selection, you should take several factors into consideration, such as the quality you desire as well as the style of the furniture and décor throughout your home.

Use this area rug buying guide to determine the ideal area rug style and size for your space, and learn how to best incorporate your new piece to add luxury and warmth to your home.

Hand-Knotted Rugs for One-of-a-Kind Beauty

It’s easy to purchase an inexpensive area rug that’s mass produced and will last a couple of years. By that time, you’ll likely tire of the standard design and the low quality of the rug itself. It’s another thing entirely to look at area rugs as what they can be: pieces of art for your floor. When you consider the superior quality and unique beauty of hand-knotted rugs, the choice may become obvious. Your home deserves the best, and a hand-knotted area rug is worth the investment in quality and craftsmanship.

As the name implies, hand-knotted rugs are made by hand by expert craftsmen, using the highest quality materials. This process ensures that each rug is unique—and that you’ll be bringing home a piece that no one else on your block, or anywhere in the world, will have.

Hand-knotted rugs are mostly made from wool, silk, cotton, viscose or a combination of these materials. Wool is a natural material that offers many benefits. It is durable and stain resistant. Additionally, wool is soft, so you’ll bring home comfort as well as style. Since wool is subject to shedding, it must be vacuumed regularly. It also isn’t suited to damp environments, so you’ll want to stick with bath rugs for your bathrooms and skip these rugs for any very moist rooms in the basement.

Color, Color, Color

Since area rugs, especially common rug sizes such as 8x10 area rugs, are one of the largest pieces in the room, they have the ability to set the tone in terms of the color scheme. However, what that tone is depends on your own preferences. With the right contrast, a bold rug can really finish a room to perfection. On the other end, a neutral area rug can bring in understated style and texture, projecting an overall appearance of visual harmony in your space.

Choose a rug that reflects your favorite colors, keeping in mind how different colors can affect the mood in your space. For instance, warm colors such as red and orange can help energize your room, while cool colors such as green and blue can bring a calming and serene feel to your sanctuary.

Considering Style

When you think of an exceptionally high-quality area rug, the traditional oriental style may come to mind. There are a wide range of traditional area rugs available, featuring beautiful color palettes and unique motifs. These pieces are certainly show stoppers, and the classic style will withstand the test of time. If your home is more casual, you may find yourself drawn to transitional style rugs that can suit a wide range of furniture and home décor. Contemporary rugs are ideal for urban-style homes, bringing a modern edge to your home décor.

Along with style, you should consider how the pattern of a rug will enhance your existing furniture and accents. In an already busy room, a neutral rug can give the eye somewhere to rest. In a room with predominantly solid-colored walls or upholstery, the addition of a patterned rug can add life and contrast into the space. Additionally, if a room already has a patterned sofa or focal piece, picking a rug with a differently sized pattern allows you to coordinate a textured look without the end result feeling overwhelming. When done right, using similar colors or complementary patterns to tie the two patterned pieces together, the look is stunning and personalized.

Area Rug Size Guide

The dimensions of a room and its accompanying furniture are key considerations in sizing an area rug. There are a wide range of area rugs available, from small rugs to large rectangular area rugs, and different sizes will have different effects in your room. For instance, a small, splatter area rug can be placed under a favorite accent table in a room to draw attention to that specific piece, or a large area rug can be placed under a coffee table and the front legs of the sofa and chairs to visually group together your conversation area.

Common standard rug sizes include: 4x6, 5x8, 6 round, 6x9, 8 round, 8x10, 9x12 and 10x14 area rugs. Additionally, you should factor in the rug shape, and how that will impact your room. While rectangular area rugs are the most common, runners, round and square area rugs may be the right fit for your space.

Your ideal area rug size is heavily determined by your own personal preference. However, a general guide is to choose an area rug that leaves at least 24-inches between a wall and area rug in a large room, and allow 12 – 18-inches between a wall and area rug in a small room. This being said, many people choose area rugs that are too small for their room, which can actually make your room seem smaller and disjointed. For open concept rooms, the space from the edge of the rug to the wall may be more than 12 – 18, or 24-inches.

Below, we detail several common rooms where area rugs are used, with tips for selection and placement in each room.

Living Room

It can seem difficult to make a living room rug look like it belongs in what tends to be a larger living space. Typically, larger rugs such as an 9x12 area rug are used in living spaces to take advantage of the available space. In general, you have three choices for rug placement:

• In very small rooms, center the rug under the coffee table to the edge of furniture
• Place the front two legs of the furniture on the rug
• Place all four legs of the furniture on the rug

Dining Room

In a dining room, an area rug can add your unique style to your dining furniture and visually tie together the space, which is especially important in open concept homes. The rule of thumb is to add between 24 and 36-inches (2 – 3 feet) of space on all sides of the table for an excess rug border. This allows diners to comfortably maneuver in and out of their chairs, without the chairs sliding off of the rug. For example, if you have a table that measures 40 x 64-inches, ideally, you want to get an 8 x 10-feet rug. For a 42-inch round table, an 8-feet round rug is ideal.

Bedroom

Placing an area rug in the bedroom provides a soft space for your feet to land as you transition from slumber to the tasks of the day. This means leaving an ideal 36-inces of rug exposed all around the bed, or at least across each side. Like in the living room, you want to make sure that either all four or just two legs of all furniture touch the rug in a uniform manner. Alternately, using a large round rug or a set of two runners placed on either side of the bed can have a similar effect.

When determining the ideal area rug size for your space, don’t rely on visualization alone. You can get a good feel for what works best in the space by taping off the area and measuring it to determine exactly what your space requires.

By factoring in the size of the area rug, the style and pattern that you love, as well as a color scheme that will work well in your space, you can find a top-quality area rug that will bring comfort and beauty into your home, which you can enjoy for years and years when the rug is properly maintained. Don’t forget to purchase a quality rug pad to fully enjoy the benefits of your beautiful area rug.