Floor Rugs

What Are Floor Rugs

Floor rugs and mats are popular solutions for covering and protecting hard surface floors such as tile, hardwood or laminate. Their function is to help with noise isolation and temperature insulation while adding a decorative quality to the room. Area rugs can be used in different creative ways, including layering a rug on a carpet. 

Advantages of Floor Rugs

• The most prominent advantage of floor rugs is their appearance. Floor rugs can blend in or stand out as an accent, pull all other elements together, even cover for some wrong decisions. They connect the colour palette used in the interior and add dimension with texture and pattern. 

• A floor rug has a significant impact on noise levels in the room. Walking around is much quieter on a mat than on a hard surface it covers. In addition to that, a food rug also absorbs other sounds from the environment. 

• A floor rug offers more comfort and feels softer to the touch. Also, it supports walking by weight amortisation, taking pressure off the body.

• In addition to softness, a floor rug adds warmth with a high insulating value.

Floor Rug Materials 

Natural Floor Rugs

Natural fibres are eco-friendly and strong, making cotton, silk, jute, sisal, and wool rugs long-lasting and durable. Even though they are not the most economical option on the market, the higher initial investment frequently pays off through a longer life span comparing to artificial fabrics. 

Some natural fibres require professional maintenance, and materials such as silk can be sensitive to water and staining. 

Wool rugs, such as famous Persian and Turkish rugs, are one of the most traditional options, pleasant to touch and resilient to water and stains. They perform well as living room rugs and can withstand high traffic flow without wearing out fast. 

Sisal and jute are ideal for doormats, due to their natural coarseness and resilience. They also add a beautiful dimension to coastal, rustic, and modern organic-inspired home decor.

Sheepskins and hides share a natural origin, although modern versions come as a variety of synthetic alternatives. 

Synthetic Floor Rugs

Materials like polypropylene, polyester, and acrylic are affordable, comfortable, resilient, and effortless to maintain and clean. 

• Polypropylene rugs are highly resistant to fading and staining and fading. However, artificial fibres have a shorter life span than organic ones and need to be replaced more often.
• Artificial silks, like banana silk, are less sensitive than the natural version while also being more affordable.
• Bamboo rugs have a smooth surface that promotes ease of movement. They make a good solution for office rugs or dining room rugs, since the chairs slide easily over the covering.   
• Viscose is very pleasant to the touch but also too delicate to withstand spills and staining. 

Standard Rug Weaves

• Hand-knotted rugs are classics, made by masterful manual techniques on a traditional loom. These rugs boast the highest quality, long-lasting structure and genuine designs, but also a price tag to match. 
• Tufted rugs are characterised by a lush tufted pile attached to a latex backing. Tufting is a budget-friendly process that creates fluffy rugs, great to use as kids rugs and available in a variety of vivid colours and designs. However, tufted rugs are also prone to shedding. Their alternative is hooked rugs, very similar in design and structure but less prone to shedding.
• Flatwoven rugs have no pile and can be made of either natural or synthetic fibres. The absence of backing means a rug pad is needed for safety, but it also makes the product reversible. Due to low maintenance requirements, flatwoven rugs to use as kitchen rugs or hallway rugs.
• Machine-made rugs are woven on power looms. Automated process makes them both affordable and available in a virtually endless range of design possibilities. Many modern designer rugs are machine-made.

How to Choose the Correct Floor Rug Size 

Living Room Rugs

In a living area, a rug looks best when centred under the coffee table. The right size of the living room rug depends on the furniture arrangement. The rule of thumb is simple - all furniture needs to coordinate with the carpet in the same way. That means, either all four legs on the rug/off the rug or only the front two legs on it. What applies to the sofa applies to the armchairs, too.

The rules are a bit different for round rugs, where symmetry matters the most. In this case, the coffee table should remain in the rug's centre while the rest of the furniture sits halfway on the perimeter.

Dining Room Rugs

A dining room rug must be notably larger than the size of the table. Ideally, it will be big enough to host all dining chairs while being pushed back when people are getting up.

Bedroom Rugs

A bedroom rug should extend around 60cm beyond each side of the bed, or cover the distance between the outer edges of the nightstands. The correct length of the bedroom rug depends on the rest of the furniture. If a bench or a pair of ottomans rest at the foot of the bed, all their legs should fit either on or off the rug.

If you need assistance to select the best floor rugs for your home or office, ArchiPro provides a connection to the various professionals, ready to assist with all requirements and questions. Simply click "Contact supplier" on the product's page, or visit the supplier's website directly from the product's page.