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Revolutionise your look with rugs
It can be a nightmare if you are looking to incorporate a new design scheme, but are limited by your existing floor-covering.
However, a rug can be a versatile ally giving you amazing results without going to the expense of changing a fitted carpet or replacing a hard floor.
Here are my top tips for using rugs to their best advantage:
· Provide a contrasting focal point: Stuck with a heavily patterned fitted carpet? Inject a calming influence by introducing a plain rug that picks up on one of the key colours in the base carpet to draw the eye away from the wilton!
Alternatively, add a design focal point in an overly bland decorating scheme with a rug in a bold pattern or design.
· Enhance a colour scheme: Heighten the sense of overall design by ensuring that you include a rug in your dominant accent colour to draw the entire scheme together.
· Add warmth: Overcome the austerity of a tile or laminate floor by adding a plain or patterned rug in a deep colour to break up the expanse of floor. It will make your room feel warmer, more inviting and lessen the impact of harder furnishing finishes, such as leather.
· Change the room size without the need for a builder: Relies on using a sufficiently large size of rug. A light coloured rug to make a room feels more spacious, whilst a dark rug in a large room to make it seem cosier.
· Delineate different areas within the same room: Ensure that each area in a multi-purpose room feels distinct by arranging furniture around specific rugs; allowing you to introduce contrasting designs within the same area that still feel cohesive in an overall scheme.
· Highlight a room feature: Draw the focal point in a room to a particular feature, such as a fireplace, by placing a rug nearby in a complementary, but striking design.
· Hide spots, stains and burns: It may be a cliché, but this can be a lifesaver for those of us with animals or just friends who like a glass of red wine!
· Safeguard high use areas: Cover areas with high traffic (such as hallways) with an easily replaced rug, ensuring that these get worn out or dirty and not the surface underneath.
Jamie Hempsall is one of the region’s leading interior designers and a BIDA Associate. To contact him call 01777 248463 or visit
