How Rugs can Liven up Your Living Room Decor

When it comes to interior design ideas for the living room, wall decoration sets the tone, lighting creates the atmosphere and furniture… well the furniture gives you somewhere to put your feet up after a long day.

However, when it comes to pulling off a cohesive living room look, a statement rug can really bring that ‘finished’ quality to your design scheme, transforming a communal space from drab to fab!

Rugs for the living room add texture, colour and cosiness, plus they can be used to define different areas of a space.

Read on to find out more about how you can use living room rugs to instantly liven up your interiors.

 Rugs Create a Focal Point

Photo by: keresi72

A well-chosen area rug for the living room can create a stunning focal point in ‘box-like’ living spaces (i.e. spaces containing no architectural features, like fireplaces). A bold striped pattern, like the one pictured above, contrasts with the rest of the scheme, whilst also echoing some of the room’s key accent colours, creating a purposeful look.

A mirrored piece of furniture, like the chairs featured or even a modern, metal coffee table can also reflect the dramatic pattern and create a design impact elsewhere in the room.

Rugs add Texture

Photo by: keresi72

As well as providing a snuggly surface underfoot on those cold winter evenings, a living room rug can bring many other advantages to rooms with hardwood floors.

A living room rug can form the ideal place setting for your beautiful pieces of furniture.  Heavy items such as bookcases, sideboards and dressers can often lead indents in floors and movable pieces of furniture, like chairs, can become scratched if they are constantly dragged across hard surfaces.

A shaggy rug, like the one pictured above, can also provide an extra area for children to play on, as well as a more comfortable seating prospect for adults, creating a more welcoming and versatile space for everyone.

Rugs Create the Illusion of a Larger Room

Photo by: jinkazamah

Rugs can look stunning in all shapes and sizes, but for living room rugs in particular, larger rugs will always look best, as they can create the feeling of a larger space.

As you can see in the room pictured above, the large rug has defined the seating area and the furniture placement in relation to the rug shows off just how much floor space there is.

As a general rule, the edges of your living room rug should exceed the edges of the furniture, to create a more intimate feeling in your main seating area. If your rug isn’t quite big enough for that, placing the front two legs of your sofa and chairs will create the same effect.

A rug that is smaller and, say for instance, placed under the coffee table in the centre of the room, will look like it is ‘floating’ rather awkwardly in the space. The aim with proper rug placement is to ‘anchor’ the room and bring the other pieces of furniture together.

Rugs Add Balance

Photo by: wee bird

Bold statement rugs create a focal point and contrast in a room, but neutral coloured rugs can liven up a pale colour scheme, making it look clean and airy, but also cosy.

The subtle introduction of pink, in this largely neutral rug design, complements the lace and antiques found elsewhere in the space, preventing the room from looking too stark.

Rugs Define a Space

Photo by: podlesakpetr

As mentioned previously, rug placement can help you define different areas of a room.

For multi-functional spaces like the room pictured above, rugs create optical divisions in the floor plan. The rug included under the table, for instance, makes the dining area feel separated from the sofa and chairs and the inclusion of a smaller rug by the bookcase also visually emphasises another aspect of the space.

It is also important to note that mismatched rugs can also become a design statement, as they create a casual and relaxed look. Persian and Kilim rugs are still hugely popular because they look luxurious and are beautifully made. For this reason they are timeless and will always add a sophisticated edge to any interior design scheme.