Area rugs anchor a design and bring all the elements together to create a wonderful cohesive look. They not only define areas in your room, but area rugs do a fantastic job of uniting different pieces of furniture in a grouping.

The pattern and colors in an area rug can form the foundation for a fabulous room too. For example, the pattern in your rug sets the style for your room’s décor. If you want a classic traditional look, think classic style oriental rugs. But if contemporary is a better fit for you, then select an area rug with a contemporary style such as a geometric or circular pattern.

Materials can play a huge role in area rugs also. Sisal and cotton rugs are great choice for warmer weather or a beach house, but wool is a wonderful choice for colder weather or winter because wool adds cozy warmth to your room. Silk or silk blend rugs are another fabulous choice, because they look beautiful and feel fabulous to the touch.

Color also plays an important role. The colors in an area rug you select can form the basis for the color palette throughout your room. For example, you could pull out the lighter colors in your rug for your walls or bigger areas. Then you can use the medium colors in your upholstered furniture and save the boldest colors to use in accessories to create drama in your space.

Area rugs originated thousands of years ago, but for hundreds of years in Europe, area rugs were used almost exclusively on walls and tables because of their expense and rarity.

Now rugs can be found everywhere, in a multitude of styles, materials, colors and price ranges. Rare antique rugs are the most elite rugs available, but they can be cost prohibitive. Persians are considered the best of the oriental rugs and they’re normally a wool material. Hand knotted rugs are better than machine made and to determine whether a rug is hand-knotted, separate the pile of the rug and look for a row of knots at the base of the tufts. An excellent quality rug can actually have 500 plus knots per square inch and you should also be able to see the pattern of the rug on the back of these rugs.