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Area Rugs and Lighting Fixtures
Today’s floor plans are open, airy, and beautiful. With this comes the challenge of defining specific personal spaces, while maintaining that spacious feeling. Area rugs can be a solution to this issue because they pull all of the design elements of a room together. Different sized rugs can define spaces. By combining different area rugs, sizes, shapes, and styles you can separate the various zones of an open concept floor plan. Also by keeping the color scheme the same, you expand your visual space, thus maintaining an open plan feeling.
HINTS & TIPS
Rug size is important; the size should allow a furniture grouping to fit completely on or completely off the rug.
When placing a room-sized rug on a hardwood floor, select a rug that allows 8” to 10” of wood to be exposed around the rug’s perimeter.
Define groupings with an area rug. When a rug touches all furnishings in a grouping it pulls them together.
When determining placement of rugs, ensure safety and that the edges will not be tripped over in high traffic areas.
LIVING ROOMS / GREAT ROOMS:
Furniture placement should be in consideration of guests who tend to group in small clusters. Therefore, determine these conversation areas and select a rug size that contains or centers that space. Area rugs help define different conversations areas in a living room and also help center different areas in the family room. The same rules apply when placing furniture in living and great rooms. No longer do people congregate in a centralized area. To further define each area, create several furniture and rug groupings that are comfortable for 4 to 5 conversationalists.
EATING AREAS / DINING ROOMS / KITCHENS:
Yes, there actually is an art, or rather science, to determining the perfect size rug for your dining area. When selecting an area rug size for a dining room or kitchen, here is a terrific formula: Add 30” per side to table dimensions for chairs with arms, 24” per side for chairs without arms. Everyone then has plenty of room to push away from the table to a more relaxed, conversational position without moving off the rug. The area rug should extend beyond the chair when the chair is pulled out.
VISUAL ARRANGEMENT:
Perspective creativity makes a wonderful statement to the room. While arranging your sofa, loveseat, etc. add some excitement by placing the rug on an angle, as opposed to traditional alignment. Angling works beautifully in many living spaces such as great rooms, recreation rooms, bedrooms, etc. |
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