How to Choose an Area Rug for a Hardwood Floor

Hardwood floors add so much character to a home. They are welcoming, elegant and beautiful all at the same time. When choosing an area rug for your hardwood floors, the goal is to enhance the look of your floors while choosing something that fits the style of your room. The wrong area rug can easily take away from the beauty of your floors, so choose with care.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tape measure

1. Measure your space. You need to make sure that you know what size rug you need before you start looking. Since the idea is to enhance the look of your floors, you don't want to purchase an area rug that covers your entire floor, but you also don't want to get a rug that looks too small in your room. According to the World Floor Covering Association (see References 1), the best rule of thumb is to get a rug that will leave a 12- to 15-inch border of your hardwood floor showing.

2. Determine the style you are aiming for. Note the color of your hardwood floors. If you have dark floors, then you should go for a lighter-color rug, and vice versa. The contrast will enhance both your hardwood and your area rug.
   
   There are many different patterns and colors to choose from. To select a good style for your floor, take into consideration not only the color of your floor, but the walls and the type of furniture and fixtures that are in the room. A rug can serve to bring together the whole room. There are traditional styles and there are modern styles of area rugs. According to Flooring and Carpets (see References 2), modern styles use angles, straight lines and pops of color. They are best used in rooms that have accessories and furniture that is mostly black, white and silver. Traditional area rugs are patterned with things like flowers or diamond patterns, and they make use of borders. These rugs would go best with lighter furniture and traditional cherrywood floors.

3. Choose a texture. Texture is important to the feel of the room. According to Flooring and Carpets, there are many textures to choose from. A woven texture tends to be rough, braided is more relaxed and soft, and bamboo is rough and coarse.

Tips & Warnings

• Padding prevents the rug from sliding around and scratching the floor. Hardwood Floors 101 recommends three types (see References 3). Choices include rebond padding, which is made from recycled scraps, polyurethane padding, which will add a lot of cushion, or fiber padding, which holds up the best of the three but doesn't provide as much cushioning.
• Padding underneath area rugs should be an inch shorter than the rug itself and should be attached to the rug with tape.
• Avoid using an anti-skid synthetic rubberized product; Hardwood Floors 101 says it can leave a permanent marking on your floor. Also avoid stiff pads with grippers as these can cause dents in the wood.

References

• World Floor Covering Association
• Flooring and Carpets
• Hardwood Floors 101