Somehow we find choosing a rug to be the hardest part of designing a room. (The last time I bought a rug, I tried to economize and chose one just slightly too small for my space; it floated awkwardly at the end of my bed.)
The Marble rug, from the Mosaic collection.
There are two key components of styling a rug color and size You can tell very quickly if you like a design or a pattern so that is the easy bit Be sure that the...
1. Whenever possible, buy the rug first.
...colors work for the room That is why you should always begin with the rug Cushions fabric and accessories are very easy to find which go with the rug rather than the other way around
Never ever make the false economy of making a rug smaller than you need what might save you a couple of hundred dollars will drive you crazy for the rest of the time you have that...
2. Don’t skimp.
...rug A very easy way to judge what is your ideal size is to lay out newspaper to what you feel is your perfect dimension and then measure that Alternatively you can do this with tape
The Cumulae rug, properly proportioned to create a living space.
If you are totally refurbishing a room start with the rug and build the room from the ground up in terms of colors and fabrics etc If you are looking to refresh a room with a new rug take a balanced view of what the general palette of that room is and choose...
3. Err on the side of subtlety.
...your rug color accordingly I would strongly recommend that you do not use strong colors in your rug unless you are 100 percent sure of what you are doing it is far easier and cheaper to use fuchsia pinks and canary yellows in cushions and change them if you tire of the strength
Irwin’s past collection for Anthropologie, in neutral tones.
4. Know your rhythm and flow.
Essentially there are two types of rug rhythm pattern and flow abstract You need to have a clear idea whether the room you are putting the rug needs the structure of pattern or whether you would like it to be more understated and have an abstract design Pattern obviously gives room structure and balance but this can...
...be overpowering if the colors are too contrasting Rugs in a room are always subliminal you notice them out of the corner of your eye but it immediately sends a message I like juxtaposition so putting the regularity of Ikat in an informal setting and mosaics in a more formal one Equally mosaics work wonderfully under dining tables
5. Position properly.
In a large space a rug can create a room within the room by clearly delineating an area It provides focus to a particular area As a rule of thumb the front legs of furniture should sit on the rug and the rug should go about...
...fifty percent of the way under a sofa etc However I always feel that this can look slightly truncated and make the furniture look like it is cut in half I prefer and this is only my preference for the furniture to sit entirely on a rug
The Spring Clouds rug from the Fresco & Nimbus collection.
“I like to use octagonal rugs in a hall under a round hall table. It gives you the sense of directional flow and movement (which is essentially what a hall is) but also gives you an angular feel which somehow to me works better than a round rug.”
6. Use rugs to structure the room.
7. When in doubt, choose wool.
I would generally use a cashmere rug in a bedroom wool and silk in a drawing room and wool everywhere else This is not a hard and fast rule basically wherever the design works best and that design may be dictated by how...
...it is made in order to get the best design result For instance our Mosaic collection is predominantly silk but there has to be wool in it which is then oxidized to create the mosaic effect These rugs can used in any room
The Vespasian Rug from Irwin’s Mosaic Collection. The rugs are hand-knotted and available in a range of sizes in wool, silk, and cashmere.
8. Sometimes, forgo rugs.
Is there anyplace that Irwin advises going without? We’re longtime fans of Irwin’s; see some of our original posts at New from Luke Irwin: Rugs Inspired by Roman Ruins and Magic Carpet Ride: Luke Irwin for Anthropologie, and check out his new collaboration with Williams Sonoma.