Define your space with Catwalk Rugs - The Catwalk Rugs Journal

Working with Colour

Since with most rug purchases you will be working with your pre-existing colour themes, it's best to start with colour!

Apply this same concept to rugs, but amplify the impact by about 10!

Have you ever been shopping for clothes and tried on two different coloured tops only to find one just does not work but the other one is a match made in heaven?
Oh, and even though both designs are completely the same? 

How do I decide which rug colour will suit my decor?

Your eyes are blessed with the ability to see a dizzying amount of colours, which at first thought would make one think "I can't do this!"

Luckily when it comes to decor design, you can usually split these seemingly infinite choices down to two basic levels:

Complementary Colour Scheme

Well, there's an amazing creation called a colour wheel. If you haven't used one before, it's going to rock your world!

 

You've heard the saying "opposites attract" and in design, this is often true when deciding which colours 

are going to be the best of friends in your space.

Let's have a look...

Take a look around your space and make a note of which colours you've already used. You can then get a decent idea of which colour type you should be going for in your rug by using the above colour wheel!Complementary colours sit across from each other on the colour wheel, like separated lovers of cruel fate gazing longingly at one another wishing to be united at last.

It's going to be your job to make this happen. You want them to be together again once more, don't you?

Analogous Color Scheme

 

Analogous colours on the other hand, are already best buddies on the colour wheel. They are found sitting together side by side, playing around and having fun. They're actually really well suited for more casual settings such as family rooms, bedrooms, and kids rooms!

If you're looking to define your space with analogous colours, look no further than this colour wheel.

Demonstrated here is that analogous colours sit besides one another. Complementary colours are opposite to one another

Another general rule of thumb is that if you have a lot of colour and pattern going on in your space then a single coloured rug in a shade that blends with your existing decor is normally a great idea. Busy + busy will probably create a design war, with the rug and your furniture both competing for attention!

In the example above, take a look at the decor and it's colouring. It's what we would call mid-range busy. There's books, cushions, flowers, table, a sofa all in varied colours which do work well together and they're all arranged very nicely we must say!

However, this creates the need for a rug with some similar colour along with a design which is mid range in terms of complexity to balance what's going on around it.

We hope this has given you some ideas on how to define your space with colour!

Choosing a rug texture

In our colour section you've already seen three different distinct rug styles and how to use them.

Lets cover rug texture a little too!

How a rug feels will also change how it looks. The texture of a rug can be an overlooked aspect when making a choice, but do try to factor this in as texture be another useful tool in balancing your space.
The best example of texture balance in play would be a shaggy rug.

Have a look around again and see what's around you to work out if you can get a contrast going!
If you have a leather couch this is of course smooth and lacking any real texture.

 

 

So what can we do about this? 

Awesome! The shaggy rug is now balancing textures in the room, along with any of the other background decor. The colour chosen was fairly simple but works well. Here, the texture is doing most of the work! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rug size

Bigger is better in a lot of cases when it comes to rugs. You'll find that if you see an amazingly well placed rug and make it smaller, it just doesn't work as well.

 

Size is one of the easiest aspects in choosing a rug and you probably have a good idea already of what's going to work and not work.

One handy tip that many overlook is that if you're placing your rug in a dining area, the rug should be as large as possible. The rule of thumb being that if you're pulling your chair back at the dining table, the chair should still be under the rug.

Have you ever experienced the hassle of having a chair just half way off a rug whilst eating? Imbalanced and slightly dangerous! Not to mention the rug catching on the chair legs upon pushing it back in under the table. 

 

Over in the lounge room, all you need to do is make sure the rug is placed under the couch and table legs, or very close to it. The rug should cover the seating area, which isn't the whole room! This should be the focal point of the room.

Another handy tip is that if your room is square - a round rug or a square rug can make all the difference. If your space is rectangular then usually a rectangle rug (oriented in the same direction as your room, think a rectangle within a rectangle) is a great choice!

Just so you're aware, CatwalkRugs can actually do custom sizing for many of our rugs here. And included here in our Rug Buying Guide is a guide to help you choose the right size of rugs for any rooms in home.