If you’ve been following along with “Educator” Dan’s home renovation adventures, you’ll know why I keep threatening to drag him out east here and put him to work at my house: This man knows his way around a sheet of drywall — and now, as it turns out, he’s got a bit of a decorating streak in him too! But we’ll let Dan tell the story. Enjoy! ~ Jen

Colour Coordination – Enter The Rug

How important is a rug on top of wood flooring? Does it really make a difference in the ambiance and aesthetics of the room? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

During the summer of 2007, we purchased a 20-year-old house with the intention of undergoing major renovations in every part of the home, family room included. We previously wrote an article entitled Home Renovation Tip – Color / Colour Coordination – Critical in which we described the renovation of our family room, as well as providing before and after pictures of the renovation.

The renovation saw the replacement of old light blue carpet with dark hardwood flooring, installation of recessed lighting in the ceiling, covering of the top portion of the floor to ceiling fireplace with fire-retardant drywall, the painting of the fireplace’s remaining brick with a medium beige to complement the cabinetry in the adjoining kitchen, and a complete repainting of the room in an earth forest green.

These colours brought the forest adjacent to the back of the home into the house, visually speaking of course, through the 5-foot-tall windows on the south wall of the family room.

Here is a picture of the renovated family room.

But, what about the flooring?

For some people’s tastes, so much dark hardwood is too much without a rug somewhere on the floor to break up and even enhance the look of the flooring.

For us, the issue was more about the television.

My wife goes to bed much earlier than I. During those times when I am not on the computer writing on our blog about our continuing home renovation experiences I am likely to be in the family room watching a comedy or action movie, both of which can get pretty loud. So, placing a rug somewhere on the hardwood floor would, in theory, act as a noise dampener.

But, what about the aesthetics? What type of rug would one acquire? Should it be complementary or contrasting to the existing colours in the room? And, what about the price?

Below is what the renovated family room now looks like with the rug.

We went with a complementary colour scheme for the rug. Notice how it appears to be the same or very similar shade to the paint used on the remaining brick of the fireplace with hints of darker brown to complement the hardwood flooring.

As well, it looks like the rug is centered in the room, right? Nope. Actually, it is placed 4 to 5 inches more to the left of the fireplace than to its right. However, by placing the run under the front of the couch and having the coffee table on top of the rug corner beside the couch, it gives the appearance that the rug is actually centered.

Which appearance to you prefer? Why? Would you have gone with the same or similar complementary colour or would you have gone with a contrasting colour?

As far as the price? Well, the rug’s dimensions approximate 10 feet by 6 ½ feet. Would you believe all of $89.99. From where? Would you believe….Costco! And, would you believe that it is an indoor / outdoor rug! Talk about bringing the outside into the house.

For more of Dan’s ongoing home renovation experiences, including the increasing efforts to reduce his home’s consumption of non-renewable resources as part of our home renovation efforts, simply visit Dan’s web site, Daily Home Renovation Tips.

Now I ask you — who says that neutral tones have to be boring? You’d never say ‘dull’ about these rugs…

Here’s the story on the source:

A while back, I had a review request from a company called Bold Rugs (good name, eh?). At the time, their website was just getting started up and I was rather disappointed in the selection.

That has all changed now — I just checked back in, and it’s possible that I owe these guys an apology…

I’ve just blown away the better part of an hour, looking through the gi-normous selection of area rugs — everything imaginable from zebra prints and sunflowers to rather nice shag rugs (now there’s a phrase you don’t often hear!) to those Oriental-style carpets with fine-detailed borders that always remind me of switchplates…

So these are just a few of the funky rugs that caught my eye, glancing around in the black and brown colour range. All are Momeni area rugs, some are wool and others are acrylic, some are hand-tufted, all come in a variety of sizes… Never mind the floors, I’m thinking wall art!