Rugs are haaard to pick. Especially area rugs. Because they’re big and expensive. And you don’t want to end up walking all over a big, expensive bad decision every dang day.
So, what rugs are ‘awesome’? There are a gazillion styles, textures and materials out there, but for me, there are only two real rug loves of my life: plain natural fibre rugs (linen, organic cotton, jute, sisal, hemp, etc.) that quietly bring furnishings together or finish a look. Or, a flatweave vintage style that bring the last bit of visual texture or colour needed. I say vintage style, because real vintage is generally expensive, unless you luck out at a second hand shop. Which brings me to the next criteria… affordability.
I’d consider anything under €500 for a large area rug affordable (gulp, I know) BUT, it’s nearly as much material as a carpet in some cases. Fear not, most rugs in the edit are much less than €500 and start around €100.
And finally, what in the heck is an area rug? For the purposes of the edit, it’s anything 150cm x 230cm or so, and up. About the size you might need for a living room or bedroom rug.
Here are some of my key rug-gets of advice on rugs:
- Never buy a temporary, ‘it’ll do for now’ rug. It will become the rug for the next 10 years that you’ve had to look at every day thinking you should have waited for the right rug. They can make or break a whole look. Buy once, buy better.
- Keep an eye out for really interesting new eco materials – recycled plastics, recycled denim, recycled nearly anything…
- Use one big one. Or use a few smaller to zone areas.
- Consider layering. Say, your heart is set on a proper vintage rug, but it’s too small. Put a relatively inexpensive larger jute rug underneath.
- Got kids? Or, a clumsy adult? Consider indoor-outdoor rugs and save yourself the stain-terrors.
- Put some of your rug under furniture, if even just the front legs of a sofa. If it’s floating in the middle of the room, it’s probably too small.
- Finally, don’t skip the non-slip rug mats. There is nothing more annoying than continually fixing a gathered rug or worse, slipping on it. Okay, there’s plenty of more annoying things. But, this would be one less.
These 20 rugs are only a TINY selection of awesome rugs out there, but I’ve purposely picked from a wide range of suppliers, so you’ll have a list of great places to search for the right rug.
Neptune Hemp Rug 2. The Rug Warehouse vintage style rug 3. West Elm handcrafted Rani rug 4. Caseys cream geometric rug 5. Zara Home vintage effect rug 6. Rugs.ie vintage style rug 7. IKEA Jute rug 8. Woo Design 9. Sostrene Grene cotton rug 10. Foxford Woolen Mills 11. Woo Design 12. La Redoute recycled silk, cotton and wool rug 13. Rugs.ie Sisal rug 14. French Connection vintage style 15. Amara natural cotton rug 16. The Rug Outlet 17. OrianaB vintage style rug 18. Amazon 19. Rug Vista 20. Browsers indoor-outdoor rug