Household Decor: Six Ways to Maximize your Rug's Potential

Welcome back to another Fine Art Collection blog entry! As the weeks have gone by, we've covered the straightforward basics when it comes to an Oriental or Persian rug purchase. With the basics under our belt, it's high time we delve where Oriental and Persian rugs draw toward their primary purpose in the world of furnishing: Interior Design.

Last week, our focus was upon how a color's Contrast and Sync play a major roll in your Interior Design process. However, Contrast and Sync are two terms that don't simply apply to your rug's color and the room around it. Contrast and Sync apply to anything adorned in your home-- furniture, walls, floor, tile, This purpose is centered around the initial preface of Interior Design-- the ability to customize, express, and evoke a truly unique appearance in your home. For our first post placing Interior Design in the spotlight, we're going to present our first list for your viewing pleasure. 

Here are six ways your household decor can be utilized to maximize your new, or existing, Oriental or Persian rug:

1. Background

 Courtesy of Laura from Pennsylvania

There are certain elements that dot the backdrop of any room in your home. "Backdrop" can be defined as the following: the walls, the furniture pressed against them, flags, tapestries, portraits, paintings, photos. The amount of things that can fill the surrounding "outline", or as we're calling it in this case background, are incredibly thorough and flexible. With so many items having the ability to decorate this space, the freedom at your disposal extends from this backdrop to the surrounding area. The outline itself adds the first sort of "texture" to your home-- inherited from this initial setting is the overall aesthetic of your home. This aesthetic then transfers across the area, providing a certain "feel" whenever anything is associated with this room.

The above customer provided example has a background that boasts its own traits. The light color of the fridge and its adorned magnets, the darker furniture resting upon the beige and blue Peshawar rug, the lighter walls and floor that compose the room's outline-- each of these facets give a mixed vibe that resonate with the rug itself. The outline, aka the lighter walls, sport mixes of both similar and slightly different colors that cause the room the flesh out into its own realm of artistry. 

Having your carpet either Sync or Contrast with the background is a key approach in drawing out its potential. Last week, we talked about how color can either sync or contrast with the room it's adorning's tone. The same exact approach can be applied in this scenario. Think of adding sync or contrast as the following: you're either playing with similar strengths to your living space, or you're adding different, but further strength to your living space. The two are interchangeable, and the choice is entirely yours to make. 

2. Furniture

Every section of every room in every household exudes its own natural "vibe". This vibe is brought upon through all sorts of assorted avenues-- color, tone, decorations. Each of these avenues have their own forms that they're brought about, like through the walls, through the floors, and, subject to this header's topic, furniture.

The customer example above accents our point completely. Notice how the darker colors of this Peshawar rug blend with not only the walls, but the furniture too. The cabinet, table, and chair's dusky wood finishes provide a sync that gives the entire room a depth not normally found in an interior.

Furniture relates to other features of the household. Most of the time, furniture is purchased based on balancing with whatever is populating the room it's being equipped to. It's an added effect and addition to your living space. Likewise, furniture can come in a number of flavors, like couches, tables, stools, chairs, recliners-- the list goes on and on. Oriental and Persian carpets are similar to furniture. Both are meant to fill space and add an extra garnished edge. With the two sharing such a purpose, they can build off one another through either Contrast or Sync.

3. Ancestry and Present:

Old vs. New

Courtesy of Steven from California

As time goes on, you compile a myriad of different items. Some are new-- freshly purchased stools, tables, posters, flags, candles. Some are old-- portraits, furniture, vases, ornaments. Regardless of the room or locale, you're always going to have a mix or both new and old among it, a constant of heritage and modernity. 

It might be difficult to understand this balance through text, so we hope the above hands-on example brings our point home. The customer's Extra Fine Persian rug is filling a closet rather-- an area normally filled with a person's clothing purchases, both new and old. Old sneakers, new heels, old pajamas, new athletic shorts-- a thorough amount of history and modernity is held here. At the center of it is a Persian rug, a mix of both a new purchase and an ancestral piece, acting as both a perfect edition and authentic balance.

An Oriental rug is an object of ancestry, of heritage, of ages past and history. It's another edition of lineage to that emboldened and growing aesthetic of days past and days present. In adding it to your living space, you add another layer of depth to that long line of ancestry. That isn't to say older items have more depth behind them than newer items you've come to purchase-- they simply have a history already attached to them that your newer items will gain, or have already gained, over time. Each and every Oriental rug has a story behind itself. From where it was forged, to how it was crafted, to the very stories behind its weavers, namesake, or even market it was sold, there's a richness to the heritage behind an Oriental rug. Like any other items that mix well regardless of their age, from new and old to ancestral and modern, an Oriental rug is the perfect piece to add to your living space in any and all forms. 

4. Same Styles

The next two detailed avenues of Interior Design build off one another in their own formats. The approach we'll be describing in this section is "Same Style". When I say "Same Style", I mean an interior that primarily holds that same aesthetic. For instance: similar colors, furniture that belongs to the same set, things that simply embody a consistent format. Finding and purchasing a rug that fits this constantly present style is a fantastic avenue of customization that can fulfill that look you've been striving to finish.

Randy from Tennessee did just that with his light toned Oushak rug above. The entire room it fills holds a similar style throughout. Specifically, the white chairs with the same blends of blue and brown the rug sports, the light colored recliner and couch, along with the decorations and portraits that embody gentle tones of color all build off one another. This light approach supplies the entire room with a wholly elegance that can be find in any portion you focus on.

5. Different Styles

Having covered "Same Style", it's time to move onto it's antecedent: "Different Style". On the opposite spectrum is an interior sporting countless, or several, or many different aspects across its span. This can range from a number of undertakings. Maybe the furniture in your living space houses several different colors; items that populate the room are varied, or resonant, that mesh to the background; everything in the space has its own style, and in turn combine into a singular style. The contrast of styles creates a style in and of itself-- difference, rather than making it so that there is no singular style, ends up becoming a style. This blended style in and of itself allows the room to look however it wishes. An Oriental rug's purpose is to fit in with any scene, any setting-- to capitalize upon many different styles that give a locale its own aesthetic is to emblazon an Oriental carpet's primary goal.

See how the many toned Gabbeh rug above compares to its area of placement. The rug holds multiple hues and colors housed within in a light frame. The room itself, much like the rug, houses several different approaches, from white and green walls, to a pink tent, to dark toned bed frames and a black floor. With these dissimilarities comes a one of a kind look that only a room obtained through Contrast.

6. Floors

Courtesy of Meaghan from New York

Our last avenue of interior customization involves a facet not many people initially consider: their floors. We've constantly talked about walls, about furniture, about virtually every other part of a living space except for the portion that you literally set foot on every single day. Floors, much like any other feature within a household, come in several different shapes and sizes. Some are already carpeted; some are tiled, in different shades from black to white; some are hardwood, sporting a sheen of either a darker or lighter wood. Whatever rug you choose, it will end up either Syncing or Contrasting with your floor-- and, either way, the outcome will be pristine.

With our last explored avenue comes our last customer example. Do you notice how the red, blue and beige Peshawar rug settles well with the hardwood floor's luminescent shade? This is another push toward the point of how balance plays such an important role with Interior Design. Contrast, in this case, is the primary approach, but there's even a touch of Sync with the rug's darker tones and the surrounding inky furniture.

Interior Design: Anyone Can Do It

Interior Design is an art form that people spend years studying. There are specifics, approaches, and avenues such high in number that unless you've studied the craft yourself, you'll never be able to entirely comprehend it. Despite this, one can still provide tips and tricks to spruce up any interior. Everything in life is a learning experience, and knowing how to customize your living space in any way, shape, or form is merely another height to scale. With an Oriental or Persian rug, this process becomes simplified due to their flexible and extensive approach. These rugs are pliable, adaptable, and versatile. Each and every rug comes with a latent potential that is drawn out no matter what; however, knowing how to capitalize upon this sweeping potential will bring your interior, your home to all new heights.

We hope you've enjoyed this week's entry into Fine Rug Collection's blog. As always, we sincerely care about your purchase and want you to get the most out of it. We're here if you need any help, and we know for a fact you'll be happy with your rug.

Cheers, and until next time!