When we think of rugs, we think first of living rooms. Though no one said this, they could have. Living rooms are where we congregate with our families, and where we host friends, visitors, and loved ones. A living room rug needs to be comfortable, but stylish, but functional, but easy to clean. It needs to be both durable and personable. To choose the best living room rug for you, start by measuring your room so you can be sure to buy the proper size. Even if you want a living room rug that fills up most of the room, you'll still need to make sure there are at least 1 to 2 feet of space between the rug and the wall, otherwise it will feel too tight. When you place a rug in your living room, you generally want at least the front legs of most of hte furniture to be on top of it. Some designers believe you should have a rug large enough that all of the furniture can fit comfortably onto the rug, but we think it those rules are a bit strict. Sometimes you'll even have several rugs in a living room, delineating different seating areas. Or, you might have a smaller rug in your living room, that only fits under your couch and coffee table, but doesn't reach any additional furniture - like a pair of chairs, or a television. The best rule of thumb is that you want your living room rug to be inviting. Living room rugs can often pull off a lot of color or design, too, depending on how loud the rest of your decor is. One of our favorite ideas for living room rugs is getting a large, flatwoven jute rug and layering a smaller vintage piece on top of it. Whether a kilim, or an overdyed, or a reversible Moroccan shag rug, all of these pieces add flair to the simple elegance of jute. Plus, if you're someone who gets bored easily, when you layer rugs, you have more to play with. You can always try just the jute for summer, adding softer or shaggier vintage pieces for winter.
