Welcome to Our Series on Home Design Accents

At Perry’s Home Furnishings & Design we have a passion for helping you create the home of your dreams. We are driven by a passion to help you create a beautiful, functional space with beautiful, quality home furniture as well as unique home accents and accessories. You know that you can find well-built, quality home furnishings that will last your family a lifetime when you furniture shop with your friends at Perry’s Home in Belfast, Maine. Our home décor specialists are very particular with the feel of the home design vignettes that we create for you throughout our showroom. Our space is eclectic and you will find a space here that speaks to your home design aesthetic. For help accenting and updating a home design look you already have or to start with a fresh palette full of inspiration, visit our showroom on Route 3 in Belfast, Maine.

In this series, we will be providing you a “How to Decorate with Home Accents” Series on affordable ways to easily change and update the look of any living space using beautiful and functional home accent accessories. In the “How to Decorate with Home Accents” Series we will be covering:

1. Table & Floor Lamps
2. Throw Pillows
3. Area Rugs
4. Throws
5. Table Top Accents
6. Wall Art & Clocks

Part Three: Area Rugs

When you want to make a huge impact on the look of a room without a huge price tag, the right area rugs are just what you need. In the third part of our “How to Decorate with Home Accents” Series, we’ll be discussing the home accessories that make the largest statements in a space without being ostentatious. Large enough to make an impressive home decor statement and easy enough to move from room to room on your own, area rugs are versatile and useful home accents. We’re always reminding you of the importance of beauty and function in your living space. Area rugs are a sure way to bring beauty and function into almost any space. If you are looking for a small or subtle change in your room, maybe an area rug isn’t for you right now. But if a statement piece (or two, or three) that will cover a lot of real estate in your room and make an big impact on the overall look and feel of your home decor is what you’re looking for, read on, friend!

4 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR INTERIOR DÉCOR WITH AREA RUGS

1. DEFINE: Define or separate a space such as a dining area or a seating area. Studio apartments or large great rooms that need definitions are especially benefitted by using area rugs in this way.
2. ENHANCE: Quiet a room or turn up the volume of a room with the right area rug. Choose a more subtle area rug to calm ornate walls or upholstery. Choose a busier pattern area rug if you want to add more interest to a room.
3. INTEGRATE: Let the way you group your furniture help you decide what shape rug to choose. While most area rugs are rectangular, you can also choose a square, round, or oval shape if they are more suitable for your home design style.
4. INSPIRE: Adding a new area rug to a room is an easy update for changing seasons or introducing a new color into the space as color trends change.

Area Rug Sizes

Choose the right size area rug for your room. Leaving the edges of the floor bare will make your room appear larger. We recommend you measure the room you want to put a new area rug in and then subtract three feet from the length and the width. This will give you a good idea of what size area rug to buy. Decorating with an area rug that is too small will make your room look smaller. If you are putting more than one are rug into the space, don’t use the same size area rugs. Area rugs that are the same size will visually cut your room in half.

• Dining Room: Make sure to leave at least two feet of area rug from the edge of the table on all sides. This will ensure your guests’ dining chairs chairs stay level whether pulled in our pushed out.
• Hallway: A runner should be 4 inches narrower and one and half to two feet shorter than your hallway.
• Bedroom: An area rug should extend at least two feet from the edges of the bed so your feet enjoy feeling it every morning.

“You need your area rug to set boundaries, and ground your furniture.” ~Danielle Oakley

Layering Area Rugs

If you fall in love with an area rug that is just too small for your space, don’t give up on it. Smaller rugs have smaller price tags so don’t be afraid to purchase multiple area rugs. Layer them in your space to create a more luxurious and multifaceted look in your home. Don’t be afraid to put an area rug on a wall-to-wall carpet either. Layering on wall-to-wall carpeting helps you define living areas in a larger room and it’s a fun and easy change that will give your space a whole new look and feel. At Perry’s Home Furnishings & Design we love to layer area rugs. It creates a much more polished home design look. Visit our furniture showroom in Belfast, Maine to see for yourself.

“Don’t be afraid to layer an area rug over carpet. It adds playfulness, and pulls together your room with the boundaries it needs.” ~Danielle Oakey

Area Rug Selection: Before or after the initial design?

BEFORE: If you are decorating a room from scratch, choose your area rug first! Choose the color of your area rug and use it as the basis of your room’s color scheme. Area rugs have a huge impact on the look and feel of your home décor. If you wait until the end of the design process to choose the right area rug for your space, your search for the perfect area rug could be a long and arduous one. Here’s a nice list for the order in which to pick your home accent pieces as you move throw the decoration process:

1. Area Rug
2. Throw Pillows
3. Textiles

AFTER: If you are spicing up a room by adding a new area rug to an already decorated space, choose an area rug color that accents or ties together the existing colors of the room. As mentioned above, this can be a hit or miss opportunity. So when an area rug really speaks to you and your home design aesthetic, make sure to take it home with you.

Area Rug Colors

Although sticking with neutrals in home decoration can feel safe, we beg you to take a risk. Color is so important in your living space. It helps create a mood, one that can change throughout the day with the lighting to fit the mood, activity, and function of the living space in which it is used. An area rug is an easy gamble to take when wanting to add color to a room. Area rugs are large enough to have a great impact on your home décor. They’re also affordable and easy enough to change more often than your sofa. Because area rugs are not permanent fixtures in a room, you can even change them among rooms to switch up the look of your home- at no cost!

Changing the color of a wall can be an arduous, messy process that could be too bold for your first go at integrating color into your interior decorating. An area rug provides a more subtle pop of color to your room from underneath, not all around. The right area rug can even bring out new life in the color of your walls. For example, if you have a neutral wall color, add an area rug in the same neutral with a touch of some bolder, accent colors. This will inspire you and make tying the room together with other home accessories, not only easy but, lots of fun! A vibrant area rug is a sure way to complement the color of your walls.

If you are in the mood for a change from neutral colored walls, you can create a much bolder, personalized look in your home. Create contrast in your room by painting your walls in a color family that echoes an accent color in your area rug. This will open up endless possibilities for decorating your home with all kinds of fun home accessories.

FUN TIP: Really love an area rug? Consider hanging it on the wall as a focal point wall hanging.

Area Rug Patterns

A beautiful space requires a touch of contrast. To keep your room from looking bland, don’t be afraid to choose a beautiful patterned rug. To avoid an unpleasant effect, make sure the area rugs you choose to use in the same room are the same style. Area rugs that complement each other will maintain a sense of harmony in your interior décor.

Area Rug Liners

Always use rug liners with your area rugs. Choose the right liner material for your floor and the right size to make sure the area rug doesn’t slide around. Dispelling slipping and sliding of you area rug is a must for aesthetics and safety. It also adds a layer of comfort and luxury. A little padding underfoot is especially important for flat weave rugs. The right area rug has the power to transform a space into something spectacular and the right rug liner will help it last.

“Rug tape is useless. It doesn’t work, and will ruin your hardwood floors with its stickiness.” ~Amber Lewis

At Perry’s Home Furnishings & Design we pride ourselves on providing you with home solutions of value. With that in mind, we carry Surya’s area rug pads to provide your new area rugs with durable, long-lasting foundations throughout your home. Like we mentioned above, they provide a more comfortable walking surface by giving your area rug a cushiony feel. To ensure the long life of your new area rug, Surya’s rug pads also reduce movement, bunching, and slippage while protecting the floors below. Surya also provides a wonderful web page on Area Rug Care.

Click here to see our chart on the area rug pads we offer by Surya.

Conclusion

If you are inspired by a specific home accent, whether it is an area rug, artwork, or even a table top accent, grab it! Creating the home of your dreams begins with following that impulse to surround yourself with beauty. You can always change out lamps, throw pillow, curtains, and other home accessories to tie in with your inspirational home accent. Find the quality, timeless pieces of furniture that you will love to accent and decorate for years to come at Perry’s Home Furnishings & Design in Belfast, Maine. Visit our unique and ever-changing furniture showroom for fresh, new inspiration. We will help you create a functional space that adapts with your needs, grows with your family, and inspires you to live a more beautiful life.

Read Part 4 of our “How to Decorate with Home Accents” series all about Throw Blankets here.