Simple, daring, comforting — rugs really do say something about your style.
BY DAVID LENNAM
When my wife brought home a circular blue rug with a print of a blue-eyed leopard and announced this was to be the focal piece of our tiny living room, I was more than skeptical.
I stomped around a bit in a dramatic fuss. “We can’t have a round rug! This is a square room,” I complained while she unfurled the soft wool rug like someone ready to raise it as a flag.
I was stunned. It looked gorgeous. And the shape is sublime. Elaine Balkwill, owner/designer with Luxe Home Interiors, gets it.
“Powerful pieces of art on the floor,” she says. “It’s a different way of expressing what your idea of design is — what speaks to you in your space.”
I thought it was going to be a bit show-offy, but this round rug, as bold as its colour and pattern are, makes this small room appear larger.
Balkwill explains that a rug (not just a round one) changes the shape of a room and grounds individual spaces, especially in an open-concept home.
“If you’re wanting to create some definition between your seating areas, your dining room, your living room, that’s a nice and easy way to do so.”
But exercise some caution, she says.
“I think round rugs add interest, but a round rug needs to be placed correctly. Otherwise it looks like you’ve just dropped it there and it looks like it doesn’t belong.” Because the circular shape naturally guides the eye, round rugs should be placed under a seating area or table to define a space and create a focal point in the room.
Warm and soft underfoot, rugs deaden sound and accessorize whatever else surrounds them, says Balkwill, especially when a room full of neutral furniture and a similar colour palette is highlighted by a gorgeous rug.
There’s the notion of letting a rug tie it all together. For Balkwill, the rug is often the last element she’ll add when designing a room. She chooses the bigger pieces first — sofas, chairs, fabrics — then picks a rug to complement their colours and textures.
While that staple-of-the-’70s shag might be less popular today, there’s a trend towards finer pile (not quite as thick) rugs. Think Scandinavian utilitarian and relatively thin, but crafted from natural fibres. Patterns favour organic shapes, though geometrics are still strong. And black and white, like a checkerboard, appears to be having its moment.
Two other things to consider: how much money and care you want to invest.
A hand-knotted five-by-eight-foot rug can cost up to $10,000, while a machine-made rug the same size might only be $1,500, or even less.
“They look the same, but don’t act the same,” qualifies Balkwill. “When a rug is hand-knotted you’ve got a pair of hands tying each individual square knot. You may see some imperfections, but that’s the beauty of having someone construct a rug by hand.”
Balkwill also says that owners aren’t always aware of how much care a rug needs.
For instance, natural fibres like wool (still the gold standard for a rug), will fade more quickly than synthetic, so you should consider turning a wool rug if it gets a lot of sunlight.
“And we do get clients that tell us, ‘My rug is shedding. It’s six months later and it’s still shedding.’ Well, that’s a sign of good quality.”
Whatever you choose, a rug will add comfort and art to any space, even if it is a round rug in a square room.
The Right Rug
Let your style dictate rug choice, whether it’s a long runner for a hardwood hallway, a soft mat to set your feet on when you get out of bed or a velvety statement piece in front of the fireplace.
There are endless patterns, styles, materials and shapes to ponder, but one way of breaking it down is this:
