Area Rugs
Rugs are very useful things in staging a home, they warm a space up, add colour and texture and also help in breaking a large space up. A rug will help to break up the floor and allow you to specify an area for a particular purpose, These are most helpful in a multi-purpose room, where you have can have say a kitchen, dining and living area.
When choosing a rug or rugs for a room, you should think about:
What type off floor you have
How much texture or depth of pile
Which colours or patterns to choose
What size you need
The type of floor is important. For example, for wooden or tiles floors, you may need to add some gripping tape to hold the rug in place, for carpeted floors, carpet tape may be needed. Harder floors may also lead you to a softer rug with more pile depth. Wood tone or darker floors may lead to lighter colours and so on.
The deeper the pile, the softer it is, however, you probably don’t want a deep pile beneath a dining table or in the kitchen or hallway, but it would be great in a bedroom or living area.
Selecting a colour or pattern for a rug is another minefield. Although you can choose colours that are up-to date, you probalby won’t want to go too fashionable as you won’t be changing the rug as often as, say, a cushion or throw. A decent rug will be around for many years, and will also be on full display - it can be quite an investment piece.
Be guided by your room decor and flooring. If you are looking at a neutral room, add a slight pattern, but in muted colours. Pick up on the colours for throws and cushions. Or be brave and add a slash of colour with your rug, go for a deep shade of contrast to your decor, perhaps find a small element from any wallpaper or curtains you have, or a vase or piece of art already there.
Contrast to your flooring if wood or tiles, or go tonally slightly darker if it is a plain carpet. For any patterned carpets or tiles, pick a plan rug, perhaps in one of the colours of the floor. Adding more pattern will not work and will make a room look more busy.
In my view, go for the largest you can fit in and afford. For a bed, have it big enough to fit underneath, and leave a decent amount sticking out each side and at the end. This gives a feeling of luxury and is soft when you are barefoot at night and in the mornings.
For a Dining Room, have enough space that the chairs fit on the rug when pushed in and pushed out so you are not half on and half off the rug when eating. This is bigger than you think!
For Living rooms, you can either have the rug under the sofa/chairs or just in the centre. It depends up on the size of the room you have and potentially if it is carpeted or wood/tiled floors.
Here is a great guide to sizing a rug and placing it in the spaces I have mentioned. Finally, have fun with a rug, even though it could be an investment piece, it is not stuck down, and can be moved/changed if needed. Keep them clean, and use an upholstery cleaner once in a while to refresh them.