Designing a room from scratch can be super overwhelming. What wall colour should I go with? Couch colour? Coffee table? Throw pillows? Artwork? Options are endless and the decision fatigue is real. This is why the very first item you should select and buy for a new room is: the rug.
1. Your rug sets the tone.
The rug you select determines the overall style of your space. For example: A vintage turkish rug will set the stage for an old world, classic, collected space. A moroccan rug will set the stage for a colourful, natural, boho-inspired space. A geometric rug will set the stage for a sleek, modern space. See what I mean?
Deciding on a rug first narrows down so many decisions in your room designing. Colours, textures, and the overall style of the space are dictated by the rug you choose – making every decision that comes after it way more easy and clear.
2. Your rug sets the colour palette.
Have you ever heard of Harris Tweed? (I promise I’m going somewhere meaningful with this.) It’s that classic, 100% Scottish wool material used for men’s suiting. The pinnacle of men’s fashion. I bought a Harris Tweed jacket for my husband for his birthday one year, and the tailor called it a pant-eater. Why? Because he can wear that jacket with almost *any* colour of pant. Why? Because from a distance, the jacket looks brown. But when you look up close, you can see *loads* of different coloured wool fibres woven into the mix. Brown, green, black, tan, burgundy, etc. So the jacket can be worn with literally any of those colours of pants and it’ll look incredible. Pant-eater.
That’s how I feel about a good rug — especially a vintage style rug. From a distance, it might have one or two primary colours to it, but when you get up close, there are so many colours to pull from. The rug in my living room has creams, greens, oranges, and browns in it – so those are the colours I chose for all my furnishings. When you buy your rug first, it dictates all the colours of the furniture and decor in your room.
- Don’t know what colour of artwork to buy for your space? Look to the colours in your rug.
- Don’t know what colour of couch will look best? Look to the colours in your rug.
- Don’t what colour to paint your bookcase? Look to the colours in your rug.
3. Your rug ties everything together
You could have a green couch, orange pillows, white walls, a wooden coffee table, brown bookcase (sound familiar? hehe) – where not a thing matches in the room at all. Until? You put down a rug.
All of these individual items might make no sense together in a space, but add the right rug underneath it all and suddenly it all makes sense. When the rug is the first thing you buy for a room, this ensures that everything will make sense and come together in the end.
4. A rug grounds your space.
Furniture in a room without a rug feels like everything is floating around without a purpose. It feels uneasy. Disconnected. The second you put a rug under everything, all those individual pieces suddenly feel cohesive, intentional, and unified. It grounds the space and defines zones. For an item that does such heavy-lifting, it really should be decided on and purchased first – rather than it being an afterthought.
*Using rugs to define designated zones is especially important if you live in a more open-concept space. Say you have your living room and dining area in the same space, putting a rug under each area creates separation between those two spaces and defines what each zone is to be used for.
5. It’s the most practical.
From a completely practical standpoint: it’s easiest to add a rug to a room before there is a bunch of furniture all over the floor! Putting down the rug first defines the zone and helps you know exactly where to place all of your furniture.
Choosing your rug last makes it feel like an afterthought – when really, it is the single piece in a room that ties everything together, so should be chosen and purchased first and foremost! If you’re in the market for a new rug, these are my two favourites in my apartment!
