How to buy the perfect rug
HB editor in chief and House Rules judge Wendy Moore shares her dos and don'ts for when choosing a rug for your living space.
1. Measure your space
Leave enough space around the edge of a rug so you can see the floor around – symmetry is ideal if you can – anywhere between 30-60cm is the most comfortable – the larger the room, the larger the gap can be. If you’re putting a rug beneath a dining table, have enough room around the table for chairs to be pulled out and sat on comfortably within the rug – that avoids the wonky chair discomfort.
2. Choose a rug that suits the traffic use
A loop pile is always more hardwearing and works for high traffic, a cut pile feels more luxurious underfoot, but doesn’t stand the same amount of traffic. Consider purchasing a seperate underlay or opt for an applied non-slip backing to optimise safety in high traffic areas.
3. Choose the rug first
Then find the perfect paint colour to match. It's much easier to work in this way with so many paint colour options available.
4. Make a statement
A great rug can be the statement piece that informs the entire room design – particularly when it comes to colour. Once you’ve found your dream rug, looks for accessories that pick one colour from the design. Try to avoid using clashing patterns, it’s incredibly hard to make that work and you want the rug to be the hero of the space.
5. Colour code
If you are going for a strong colour, check that it won’t be constantly exposed to sunlight, over time this will definitely discolour – and not in a good way.
6. Back to basics
It’s what’s underneath that counts – the back of a rug shows you how tightly the knots are placed, which gives a good indication of the quality you’re buying, more knots per square means a longer life for the rug.
Wendy's favourite rugs at the moment:
1. Greystone woven wool and jute mix, Floorspace
2. ' Placid' hand knotted New Zealand and Tibetan wool with pure silk highlights, Designer Rugs
3. Stunning Monet inspired machine woven textured polypropylene rug, Temple & Webster
4. Kasbah handcrafter New Zealand wool rug in Ivory, West Elm
5. Madras oval jute rug, Freedom
