Your guide to finding the perfect floor rug
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Temple Fine Rugs • STORY Elizabeth Clarke
A beautiful rug is transformative and functional, and can soften the mood of any room while adding vibrancy and texture.
"People ask what you should start with when decorating a room, and I always say a rug," says Chris Hoyne, owner of Temple Fine Rugs. "It's one of the biggest visual elements in a space with a significant impact as a strong statement piece or a vehicle for texture."
Finding the picture-perfect rug for your space can feel impossible, with endless materials, varying sizes and shapes to choose from. Yet once you place that big colourful or patterned rug in a room, it makes it. Nothing pulls a room together like a rug does.
Quality, Materiality and Durability
"A rug lets a space down if the quality, materials and cleanability are not there," says Chris. Like furniture, a rug must be durable, so invest in one crafted using a high-quality material. The ultimate choice is a protein fibre, such as wool, silk, mohair, cashmere or alpaca. Not only are they comfortable underfoot and look luxurious, but these fibres naturally repel dirt, and their stiff and glossy cuticles are resilient and springy, ensuring their pile is always upright and plush.
Design, Colour and Texture
Not sure where to start? Open your wardrobe. "We can often tell which rug you will be attracted to by looking at what you're wearing!" says Chris. A rug sets a room's tone: rich and opulent, soft and breezy, natural and tonal, avant-garde, eclectic, or sophisticated.
"Minimalist interiors are calm and serene, with clean lines, minimal colours and negative spaces," says Chris. "Where less is more, quality and workmanship are important as less colour and pattern distracts the eye."
Maximalist spaces are unique, rich, and full of beauty and objects, and provoke an emotional response by pushing creative boundaries. "Look for dynamic and eye-catching rugs that embrace colour, texture and pattern in silks, cashmere or mohair, or antique and vintage rugs with vibrant colours and patterns."
Decorative or Simple?
Pattern hides the detritus of life – crumbs, dog hair, red wine – making it a practical choice for dining tables, hallways and family rooms. It also creates visual richness and gives a simple space detail and volume.
Plain rugs are understated and sophisticated and can be used to define, soften and warm a space without drawing attention. A single-colour rug also showcases exquisitely detailed furniture pieces with sumptuous marble or fine metalwork that can be visually lost against a pattern.
Shaped Rugs
"Rectangular rugs provide direction, are stable and grounding, and versatile for many spaces," says Chris. "An organic shape is ideal in an avant-garde or architectural space, and a round rug in a grand entry or awkward asymmetrical room is an elegant choice."
Tribal hand-knotted rugs from the world's nomadic weaving cultures are often wobbly, wonky, stretched and curvaceous, with ragged fringes and naïve drawings, and are always a good investment. "Their lack of symmetry makes them perfect for scattering in open spaces," Chris says. "If a shaped rug will enhance the coherence and integrity of your space's design direction, or help solve a spatial challenge, then go for it!"
"A rug is a stage for furniture and starting point for a beautiful room that informs your selections for creating a beautiful room."
—Chris Hoyne, Temple Fine Rugs
01. Perfect Placement
If sofas are off the walls, rugs look better wholly or partially under the setting. "Place the rug under the front of the sofa by a third or two-thirds," suggests Chris. "Half-on-half-off or just a few centimetres can look strange."
02. Fit For Purpose
Bigger is best when it comes to accommodating a dining table and chairs. "Size the rug for the space rather than the table," says Chris. "At a minimum, the rug should be at least one metre longer than the length of the table."
03. Split Decision
Broken plan living can be created in an open plan layout using rugs to zone and split spaces, creating a diversity of moods, purpose and ambience in the home.
04. Go Big or Go Home
A vast rug extending 60cm from the walls provides a strong style statement and enhances smaller spaces. "In furnished spaces, it anchors each piece, calming the area and creating balance," says Chris.
05. Simple Styling
Warm and cool colours are a cinch to style as they naturally relate to warm elements like timbers, stone and leather, and cool materials like chrome, glass and stainless steel.
Visit Temple Fine Rugs
343 Railway Road, Shenton Park
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