Red Area Rugs

STYLING YOUR RED RUG

Red is stimulating, but this can be a little vague. What does it stimulate? There seems to not be a direct answer; the emotions red evokes are based on the context. However, studies show that people who see red not only feel stimulated but show physical signs of stimulation with slightly increased heart rate and breathing. Common emotions triggered by red are love, war, and hunger. This makes it great for a master bedroom or dining room.

Bold

Play up your red rug with equally dramatic color schemes, like teal, or black and white. Bring in bold patterns like stripes and checkerboards and go for a modern, edgy look. Select chrome accessories and simple furniture with clean lines. Add a splash of color with multicolored geometric design pillows or bedding, or add a modernistic over-sized print with plenty of red in it.

With a bold red rug, selecting a neutral shade for walls provides the safest form for your room. Most of the rooms have white, ivory, cream and beige paint, like the color of the wall, but with a rich shade of red, it can actually be a bit dramatic between the light walls and dark floors. Instead, select a deep neutral shade which stands better against the warm red area rug. Gray is another neutral wall color option that works especially with dark red rugs.

Monochromatic

Add more reds to your red carpet room. Think maroon drapes, scarlet bedding or a red leather couch. Use lamps with amber shades and Tuscan-inspired accessories like red enamel bookends and candle holders. Bring in different textures to help differentiate various decor elements -- for example, red linen drapes, red damask throw pillows and red wool throws.

A monochromatic color scheme can provide a modern look that works well in a living room, dining room or even a bedroom. You shouldn’t match the walls to exact shade of red as the rug, however, if you want the room to be one dimensional. Instead, choose the option of muted red tone on the walls. An ancient or barn red is an ideal choice because it is not as bright as the primary or tomato red. You can also use an orange color wall with red rug.

Rich and Warm

Use the red rug as a basis for building a warm, inviting, cozy environment. Bring in shades of gold, taupe or chocolate on the walls and accessorize with antique gold finishes. Look for ornate, heavy, gilded mirrors, vintage copper tea kettles and stoneware pottery filled with reeds to use as decor. Hang tapestries or abstract fiber art to add to the unique and vibrant design.

Fun

If you’re using your red rug space as a game room, go wild with colors. This is a great opportunity for family members to display their favorite photos, collectibles and mementos with no care for design or flow. Include your favorite oak rocking chair right next to a neon-yellow beanbag. String multicolored twinkle lights in the windows. You’ll create a fun place where everyone feels comfortable.

Masculine

Go for a look reminiscent of a smoking room or library and introduce dark woods, leathers and plaids. Add dark trim and heavy wooden furniture and bookcases. Include framed hunting-lodge style prints of ducks and mountain streams. Find a vintage distressed wing-back chair with a footstool and accessorize with large silk ferns and a vintage floor-stand globe to finish off the effect.

Feminine

Be daring with a throwback boudoir look complete with feather-trimmed red lamp shades, draped red tulle, heavy velvet curtains and silk bedding. Victorian furniture and framed cameo portraits can help you pull the look together. If you want something a little less daring, soften the room with the addition of whitewashed furniture, rose-colored accessories and floral prints.

SOME TIPS:

Match a Colour From the Rug to The Room's Accesories

If you want to ensure that your rug blends gracefully into your space, pull a colour from the rug’s pattern and bring in a few small accessories to match. While your style of bringing in a bold rug probably goes along with your powerful personality and lifestyle, choose carefully what areas of the room to continue your daring aesthetics. If you are lucky to have a blank slate in your room, why not start with the rug, and build the decor around it? The wonderful point about starting with the floor is it gives you a chance to build a space piece by piece, rather than getting overwhelmed with the rug, furniture, walls, and window treatments all at once! Planning your design around a centerpiece rug allows you to start with a striking color, then bring in pops of similar hues around the room through home accessories.

Keep The Largest Pieces of Furniture Neutral

A dazzling red Persian rug can be a powerful focal point in a room if executed correctly. When most of us think of bold, we think bright colors, bold patterns, and over the top graphics. When you choose a rug with this much going on, make sure the main elements of the room are neutral to give the eye a place to rest. Then you can bring in playful accessories, artwork, and flowers that you love, without stressing if it all matches. Keeping large furniture neutral is more adaptable; it will allow you to change up the design scheme more easily in the future.

Know What Look You're Going for, and Choose a Rug Accordingly

Your space should feel welcoming and perfect with the addition of a great rug. If you’re trying to figure out how to choose the ideal Persian carpet for your home, determine what colours already dominate in your room. Then, pick a rug that has at least one to two colors that will easily coordinate. Ideally, if you can choose your furniture and area rug together, it will take the hassle out of finding the perfect match later on. Even if you’ve fallen hard for a rug, take a moment, to be honest with yourself about the overall look and feel you want to cultivate in your home before making the purchase. Remember, the challenge is not what can go with it, but what lifestyle and feel you want to convey when inhabiting the space.