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Choosing a rug should be the best half of furnishing a room, proper?
Turns out, it’s more durable than it seems to be.
The rug you’re keen on will not be the proper dimension. Or perhaps it’s an vintage that may very well be destroyed by foot visitors. Or it’s attractive however not that comfy. Or perhaps you simply can’t determine between totally different kinds?
Not to fret: There’s a simple repair. Instead of looking for a single rug that meets all of your wants, you possibly can merely layer rugs on prime of one another.
“We do it all the time, for both aesthetic and economic reasons,” mentioned Heide Hendricks, who based the structure and inside design agency Hendricks Churchill together with her husband, Rafe Churchill.
Layering rugs, “makes it very cozy, and very comfortable,” she mentioned. And as Ms. Hendricks, 55, identified, shopping for a number of small rugs is normally extra inexpensive than shopping for a single giant one.
At their 1871 farmhouse in Sharon, Conn., which might be featured in the Rizzoli guide “Our Way Home,” out this September, they layered rugs in quite a few rooms — each to make favourite ones match and to present the areas a relaxed vibe.
“The look is eclectic,” mentioned Mr. Churchill, 53. “If you have a room that’s decorated in a way where you’re drawing from different sources and time periods, it does a really nice job of pulling it all together. When you start layering rugs, it begins to feel like home.”
Ms. Hendricks and Mr. Churchill confirmed us how they do it.
Plan the Furniture Layout
“The first step is determining the layout of the furniture,” Mr. Churchill mentioned. Before you take a look at rugs, determine the place you need your furnishings, after which decide how layered rugs can assist that plan.
In their house, the couple typically middle small, ornamental rugs on prime of bigger, plain ones. But additionally they layer rugs end-to-end to cowl longer rooms and in L-shaped preparations to accommodate circulation paths round furnishings.
Take Stock of Your Options
Whether you have got a stockpile of rugs to select from otherwise you’re narrowing your decisions whereas procuring on-line, “there’s the larger palette to think about,” Ms. Hendricks mentioned.
When she and Mr. Churchill had been choosing an vintage rug from their assortment for the lounge, she mentioned, “we intentionally didn’t want green in the rug, because of the strength of the green paint in the room.”
They selected a Russian Soumak rug from the Eighteen Nineties that was wealthy in reds and blues. And as a result of it was patterned, they paired it with a plain-looking, woven water hyacinth rug from Rush House.
Mix Patterns, Within Reason
Setting off a small, patterned rug with a bigger plain one is a basic strategy to layering. But mixing rugs with totally different patterns can even look hanging, so long as they relate one way or the other.
In the couple’s sunroom, they layered two classic off-white Beni Ourain rugs. “It’s a layering of different patterns,” Ms. Hendricks mentioned, “but they’re unified by the same background color.”
They had been extra daring in the eating room, the place they paired an ornately patterned vintage Serapi rug with a up to date checkerboard rug that Ms. Hendricks discovered on Etsy. Both have an earthy colour palette that make them good companions.
Install With Care
When you’re putting in the rugs, “you just have to be careful, because it is an extra layer,” Ms. Hendricks mentioned. Any rug is a potential tripping hazard, and layers of rugs enhance the threat.
She and Mr. Churchill use a rug pad underneath the backside rug solely, to maintain it from slipping. Then they add further rugs on prime, whereas making an attempt to reduce raised edges the place folks must stroll. They additionally attempt to keep away from having rugs overlap in a busy space.
“You pick your spots,” she mentioned. “Layering under a coffee table is a great location, because it’s not a main thoroughfare.”
Fine-Tune the Furniture
When you usher in the furnishings, the colours and patterns might not mix the manner you hoped.
One instance: Ms. Hendricks didn’t like the manner the inexperienced upholstery of her ottoman regarded subsequent to the lounge rugs. So she draped it with an vintage paisley scarf: “I introduced this layer with a finer pattern on top of the larger-scale pattern of the rug.”
Change as Needed
Another profit of layering rugs: It’s simple to maneuver them round, the similar manner you’d swap out a throw pillow or bedding when the seasons change.
“Layering rugs is an ongoing exercise,” Mr. Churchill mentioned. “It definitely changes seasonally.”
He and Ms. Hendricks steadily change the format of their lounge, together with the rugs, to shift the point of interest from the hearth to the home windows, when spring begins. They additionally roll up the Moroccan rugs of their sunroom for a lighter feeling in summer season.
Layered rugs are perfect for entertaining, as nicely, Mr. Churchill famous: “If you’re having a bunch of people over, you might take up a slightly more precious rug, just to protect it.”
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