Right-sizing your rugs to fit your room and decor

(ARA) - We've all seen decorating debacles, and even perpetrated a few ourselves. A wrong-sized rug is among the worst. The color can be perfect and the shape pleasing, but if a rug is too big for a space it will overwhelm the room. Too small, and its impact will disappear.

"A great rug can serve as a visual anchor for a room, a base to make your furniture work together, a subtle backdrop for dramatic pieces or color, and a comfort-enhancer for the soles by covering cold flooring," says Dan Auer, a rug expert with Decorative Product Source. "Yet if your rug is the wrong size, it can totally throw off the look of a room." Sometimes the effect is so subtle you may not even realize what's making the room look wrong. Other times, the wrongness of the rug will be glaring.

Learning to right-size your decor can help in choosing the right rug for your interior design. Determining the size rug you need is actually simple.

Start with a tape measure; you may be tempted to "eyeball it" based on the size of the room. But taking the extra step to measure is a good investment of time. Measure the area you want to cover with the rug.

Area rugs of 8 by 11 feet or 5 by 8 feet will work for most living rooms or great rooms - depending on the size of the room and your furniture arrangement. A 5-by-8 rug makes a great anchor for a sofa and chair grouping. Or place furniture atop a larger rug and leave a border of flooring around the edges. If your room is large enough, you can use multiple rugs to define different functions for areas within the room. One rug might anchor the entertainment end of the room, while another defines an intimate seating area.

In dining rooms, 8-by-11 area rugs work well. The measurements of your table will have the biggest impact on the size of the rug, since the rug will be beneath it. The area rug's dimensions should exceed the table measurements by at least 4 feet in length and width. The extra rug allows you to move chairs without the legs falling off the edge of the rug. Other furniture, such as a buffet or china cabinet, should not be on the rug.

An area rug can also create a welcoming effect in an entryway and soften the transition delineated by a hallway. Rectangular, round or oval rugs add great interest to entryways. Rectangular rugs work best in hallways. If your hallway is particularly long, it may require a runner - a rug that is much longer than it is wide. Runners are generally 2 1/2 to 3 feet wide and 6 to 20 feet long, or even longer.

Scatter rugs, small area rugs, are most often used in kitchens and baths. Available in a variety of shapes and smaller sizes, these rugs are meant to act as accents in front of sinks, baths, showers, stoves, etc. Most rooms can handle more than one scatter rug to help accentuate the room design without overpowering it.

"The size of an area rug can greatly enhance - or detract - from a room's impact,' Auer says. "The good news is, it's not that difficult to find rugs online in the size and shape you need." To learn more about rug sizes and shapes, visit www.rugshowplace.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent