MANY REASONS FOR BUYING AN AREA RUG: 6 KEYS

By Jeanie Harrison
Rug Buyer

It was estimated in 2016, that the U.S. floor covering industry was worth more $23 billion. While this amount covers a myriad of flooring options from wood and ceramic tile to vinyl and stone, the Soft Surface category, which includes carpet & area rugs, made up a lion’s share of the sales, more than 46% worth $10.74 billion.

Leading the way for area rug growth is the new level of importance it has taken on in the modern American home. As more and more homeowners are opting for hard flooring surfaces that offer elegance, beauty and efficiency, it does usher in a whole new group of challenges. Many of those challenges can be easily and economically addressed with an area rug.

This blog will address the six reasons an area rug is a great choice for the home. I have been buying rugs for the Darvin Furniture Rug Gallery for more than six years and when it comes to rug styles and sizes, there is something out there for every taste, every budget, and every room in the home. The important thing to keep in mind when you are looking for a new rug, is that you are not limited by the size of a room, the color palate, or the furnishings. Those items are merely guides to take into consideration when searching for the perfect rug(s) for your home.

Protect Floor & Furnishngs

For any homeowner who is trying to protect their investment, this is often an overlooked reason to choose an area rug. Hardwood floors are especially vulnerable to water damage and scuffs from pets and other high impact traffic. An area rug will go a long way toward protecting these vulnerable surfaces and protecting the investment owners have in their homes.

Area rugs can provide a barrier between furnishings and flooring. This will provide essential separation between the contact areas on furnishings and the flooring surfaces. This separation offers resistance to slippage as well as a barrier for accidental scuffs, cracks or other unintended marks, which are expensive to repair. Overall, area rugs also provide a textured surface for a higher degree of sure-footed safety.

Cover imperfections in floor

If you have a brand-new floor, this really does not apply so much as it does for millions of American homes that have had existing hard flooring in place, many for decades. Especially for homes in the Midwest, where harsh weather conditions and traffic patterns that can pull snow, rain, melt salt and other foreign substances into the home where they can discolor and even change the surfaces, an area rug is an immediate solution.

Area rugs can be strategically placed to cover up imperfections in existing floors where traffic patterns and other use (and abuse) has taken its toll. Area rugs can be a difference maker by turning a negative into a positive. There’s no reason to keep blemishes, flaws or discoloration in plain view. An area rug can conceal flaws while adding an infusion of color and a whole new level of desirability to the room.

Comfort

Area rugs offer a practical level of comfort by providing a soft surface underfoot. In addition, during cold weather months, area rugs provide an additional degree of warmth based on interior home temperatures. It’s a natural insulator between people and the floor.

Focal Point

Every room should have a design cue that serves as the focal point—and area rugs are a great way to make a huge impact in any room. Area rugs create contrast within a room by merely offering a visual accent that plays off the hue used on the walls, or a central focal point such as a piece of artwork.

By choosing a rug featuring a hue that picks up one of your walls’ colors, you can control the mood that is set in the room while also establishing continuity throughout the home. One of the most important aspects, in addition to choosing a color or pattern, is the choice of area rug size. The area rug will have the correct proportion of impact if it is sized correctly. Sizes range from 2’x3’ to 12’x15’ depending on the manufacturer and construction.

Coordinate Rooms

I have worked with a lot of customers over the years and the one thing I can say is that the area rug is an incredibly versatile tool for creating or maintaining the mood for any room. Use a rug to calm a room or turn up the visual impact as needed. If your upholstery or wallpaper have an ornate pattern, choose a rug that is subtle. When walls and upholstery are fairly subdued, you can try a busier pattern or bolder colors to add more impact to the room.

At Darvin’s Rug Gallery, we display the rugs on convenient swinging vertical panels that are organized to provide easy comparisons to color and texture. It is easy to coordinate the rooms throughout the home by choosing a family of rugs that feature similar colors that will bring the rooms together.

Control Noise

The area rug offers an easy solution to controlling the volume of noise in rooms where large groups will gather. Acting as a buffer for noise volume throughout the home, area rugs can be used to strategically muffle sounds in key areas of the home or in bedrooms where silence is golden.

No matter what challenge a space in the home may present, whether it’s the need for a splash of color or a texture to compliment your existing furniture, choosing an area rug is an important tool to finishing any room.