In our last article we started to espouse the great beauty and benefits that can be obtained through coupling a great rug with your current choice of flooring. We spoke in particular about carpets and laminated floors, both great flooring favourites currently – and gave you some useful ideas on how rugs can be successfully overlaid to create both beauty and warmth on these floors.
In this, the second part of this 2 part series on a great rug can enhance any floor, we look at rugs for stone, hardwood and tiled floors…
Stone
The use of stone floors is less common nowadays with the options of so many others being so freely available, but a stone floor still has its own kind of beauty. Obviously the general look is cold and a bit hard, so there is no better surface upon which to overlay a beautiful rug, contrasting both in colour and feel.
Apart from being long lasting, Wool rugs are popular due to their soft material, strong construction and diversity in terms of design. They also look fantastic when placed over a Medieval, or antique type of floor like stone! Area or sheepskin rugs also work well, especially in terms of adding great warmth to them.
Hardwood floors
Although Hardwood floors can look pretty fantastic just in themselves, you can go for a rustic, or a modern elegant feel with a rug overlay. Rugs can be used for many different purposes when paired with this type of flooring.
Real wood, as attractive as it is, can get scratched and show up a lot of dust and dirt. A great Area rug can eliminate this problem. A sheepskin rug too, gives a great soft point in the middle of the room (and some additional warmth) whilst enhancing the look of a beautiful natural wood floor.
Tiled floors
Tiles, being easy to clean, are generally great flooring material for rooms that will often come into contact with running water and dirt like kitchens and bathrooms. Even tiled floors can be greatly enhanced by the use of rugs, but in terms of material and look they need to be well chosen.
The rug needs to be slip resistant, generally less expensive and protect the tiles from plenty of foot traffic. A polypropylene rug, generally used in all areas of the home, as it is easy to maintain, water and stain resistant, is a good choice.
This material offers a great deal of variety and is usually available in flatweave, loop-pile and cut-pile forms. Regarding colour choice – where there is spillage and wet staining it is better to choose dark colours for the rug, like navy blue – a good colour to associate with water anyway!
Hypoallergenic rugs
As an aside, many rugs made today are said to be hypoallergenic, thereby eliminating what used to be considered a problem with laying rugs. A good tip is that man-made ones are even more so!
Consult the professionals
Remember that we at Libra Flooring provide not only a wide range of rugs, but a massive range of flooring in general, including the natural hardwood flooring as mentioned in this article.
Check out our website and why not contact us for more advice and arrange to view our impressive range of flooring options. For fitting, quality of products and superior service, come and find out why we are South Africa’s leading flooring company!