Decorating Advice: Rugs in your Dining Room

Decorating advice:  Reasons to Use a Rug in Your Dining Room 

 

So this blog hits pretty close to home this month. I am in the middle of re-decorating our dining room.  When we moved into the house we didn’t really do much in the dining room, and I have been acquiring furniture slowly to use in this space.  Well, last month we redid the floors in the living, dining room and kitchen, which kicked off the redecorating of the dining room.  We went with a light grey wood look vinyl floor and went pretty neutral on the wall color. The last major purchase is the rug, I have been all over the internet searching for just the right rug. I want to bring some color and a little softness into the space without going overboard.

I want the rug I pick to make a statement, to say something about my design style. Choosing the right rug can help tie together all of the other elements of the room through color or pattern. You can go with a neutral area rug that will complement the space fine or you can choose a more stylized area rug that would liven up the space. Here are some reasons to use a statement rug in your dining room:

1. Soften up the hard edges and surfaces
Dining rooms can be hard to decorate, most of the furniture is utilitarian and hard surfaces. A dining room presents a unique issue in that most of the floor is also visible and therefore the space will seem less inviting. The addition of a rug can help soften up the space and make it feel inviting. A rug with a strong pattern or color can catch the eyes attention and make the space more interesting.

2. To add a personal touch
So, if you are an avid reader of this blog, you know that I love all things blue, so it should come as no surprise that my future dining room rug will be blue in some form or another.  The rug shown to the left is in the top of the running. This navy patterned rug by Varick Gallery was found on Wayfair. I have a love of architecture and geometry so I am really drawn to the strong pattern of this rug. I also love impressionist painting so the watercolor like color of this rug really appeals to me. It makes the rug feel soft and helps to balance out the strong pattern.  The most important thing about purchasing a rug is to buy something that you really like, if you don’t like trendy you probably won’t be happy with a trendy rug.

3. To define the space
Open floor plans and larger rooms are present in a lot of houses these days. While these space visually open up the house they create a unique decorating problem, all the rooms can feel like they are running together. The easiest way to define a space is with a rug. For the dining room you should choose a rug that generously holds your table and chairs even when the chairs are pulled out.

4. To experiment with color

If your space is neutral, like mine, then you can choose to inject a little color into it with the right rug.  It is a large enough are that you can really make a statement, but it is easily changed out if you want to make a change. The rug pictured to the right is an over-dyed area rug in teal by Artistic Weavers. I found this rug on All Modern and fell in love with it, the color is vibrant and really catches you’re eye. It is an update to a Persian rug and made more modern through the strong color. The color teal is a very trendy color at the moment but in a couple years it can be easily switched out.

Happy 2017 to everyone - and Happy Decorating!