Open floor plans have been popular in homes for decades, and for good reason! They’re a great way to bring an inviting, informal airiness to your space that allows those living within to spend more quality time together. But truth be told, they can be a bit daunting to decorate because they’re so large and undefined.
So here’s our trick for tackling an open floor plan: Start by rolling out some rugs! Rugs are key in helping define spaces, and are the first building block you need when it comes to creating areas within a large room that feel separate. From finding the perfect (non-clashing!) pair to all the extra little details, here’s everything you need to know about rugs in open floor plans.
What to Know about Rugs in Open Floor Plans
If you’re starting from scratch, turn to rugs to help create the layout.
Stepping into an empty, cavernous living-dining-kitchen area can be overwhelming—we know! But don’t panic, and look to your rugs as a starting point to help you craft the perfect floor plan for your space. Once you’ve chosen and rolled out your rugs (or at least landed on a size and sketched it out on paper!), the furniture placement and flow of the space will fall more easily into place. For more info on choosing the right rug size, head to our selection of guides here.
Think about how the rugs will look together.
Your rugs may be creating separate spaces, but they’re still in the same room! So it’s absolutely key to consider how they will look together and fit into the rest of the room as a pair. Stay tuned—we’ll dive more into how to create winning rug combinations in a bit!
Don’t overlook smaller rugs and runners.
We know you may have larger area rugs on the brain for your open floor plan space, but smaller styles can work just as well, too! For example, a petite living area can benefit from a 4’ x 6’ style under the coffee table. And runners are a great option for defining and creating walkways—especially in floor plans that have lots of room to spare.
Make sure your rugs have enough space in between them.
There are no set rules in determining how much space should be in between each of your rugs, so we say to let your furniture layout guide you—and your design-savvy intuition! But as a general guideline, we recommend leaving at least a foot in between rugs to avoid feeling too cramped.
How to Pair Rugs in Open Floor Plans
Pair a pattern and a solid.
The easiest (yet a very chic!) way to create a cohesive rug pairing is to pair a solid with a patterned style. Especially if the solid is neutral, as seen above, you won’t need to worry about the rugs clashing with one another. Try a woven jute or sisal rug as your solid for a hint of extra texture.
Combine patterns with common colors.
When it comes to pairing rugs that have different patterns, you’ll want to find a common denominator between the two to keep it cohesive. We love the idea of doing a full monochrome look, as seen in the photo above (and how the shag and the cowhide have contrasting textures, too!). But you can also pick just one color for the rugs to have in common, which will help make everything look put-together.
Double up.
Another way to make your rugs feel like the perfect pair is to make them match. You can pick identical styles and colors, which feels very classic. Or, you can pair two rugs that are made of the same material, like the jute styles seen above, or two shags, for example.
Switch it up with shapes.
Don’t overlook non-traditional shapes like rounds, ovals, and squares! These will help differentiate one space from the next, and create an especially memorable area of your home.
Perfect Pairs
A few handpicked combos we think will look great in your space!
- Stick with soft hues with styles like the Diamond Textured Trellis Tassel rug in ivory and the Melange Tiles rug in gray.
- Go classic with Persian and jute styles, like our Tasseled Medallion rug in rust with our Chunky Jute rug in natural.
- Create textural contrast with our Braided rug and our Moroccan Diamond Drop Tassel rug.
- Play with pattern by pairing stripes with a traditional style, like our Regency Stripes with Tassels rug in blue with the Barbed Mast Medallion rug.
- Get geometric with the Argyle Trellis rug in gray and the Spider Web Trellis rug.
