Best rug for a kids’ room? When putting our kids’ room designs together, I found this to be the trickiest part simply because there is so much choice! I kept falling in love with different ones.
The right rug was an absolute must to ‘make’ the room, especially as we have shiny brown/orange floorboards.
Along the decision-making way I discovered the following:
- A fab place to shop which made the selection easier
- Ways to refine your search and stick to it
- Some do’s/don’t for kids’ spaces
This will all help you in your search or, if you are time poor, opt early for an interior designer who can make this decision-making process for you.
- Mood Board
First up, get a mood board together! I am no stylist and don’t have the proper tools but my trick is, PowerPoint! Start with a blank sheet, add images, and there is a handy little button which takes the background away from pics. Canva has this function now too (a brilliant website that I use daily)
Here are a couple of my early mood boards where I was going for a natural rug with a subtle turquoise hue, called Loft.
With a basic mood board you can keep referring back to your initial ideas as you go. I used it all the time.
Observe your Aesthetic
Take a good look around your home. Might sound obvious but when I really thought about it, I’d been buying a heck of a lot of teal! Therefore, the turquoise style above was just going to be too much in the whole scheme of things.
I also honed in on our Feltex carpet which covers the downstairs floor in the colour ‘Dawn’ – a neutral, warm sandy beige. So, when I deliberated over grey or natural I kept coming back to working back with our carpet for a more unified look.
Had I gone for grey tones (and you can see how I was edging that way in my mood boards) the following were on my list (clockwise from top left: Hudson 807; Loft Grey; Alpine 844 Silver and Havana Light Grey)
Observe Your Lifestyle
- Do you have a cleaner?
- Do you have pets?
- Does your child have allergies?
I do our cleaning so a low maintenance rug was a priority, particularly in the children’s rooms. Children are messy. There is no point fighting it! Say “no cups of water” in their rooms and they will. Say “no cookies around the house” and they will. Practicalities pay with flooring I say!
We also have a kitten who is starting to shred a wool rug that I have downstairs.
And my daughter Anika has very bad dust mite allergies.
So, in the end, whilst I was so close to buying one of these, they just didn’t suit the super-practical needs that I had for our kids’ spaces. (Better for… My bedroom!)
What Is The Hero Of The Room?
For mine it was the wallpapers so I needed something quite subtle for the rug. Whilst I really love a bit of colour, in the end I realised that I had to stick to neutral tones. For subtle hues and a bit of pattern though, take a look at the Levi 365 in peach and blue.
Budget
I swung wildly from blowing the budget on Havana Light Natural which I completely fell in love with, to being realistic and going for the practical, lower-end Metro 606 Ivory.
What I needed was something in between!
The Final Two
After fine-tuning all of our requirements it was decision time. And it was down to these: The Allure Ivory (left) and the Alpine 822 Natural.
And The Best Rug Is…
The Alpine 822 Natural!
When it came down to it, all of my natural wool rugs have stained over time and Anika’s allergies are getting worse. But the Alpine is made from power loomed polyester and heat set polypropylene. It’s durable and stain resistant, great for allergy sufferers and low maintenance for me. It’s also budget friendly but looks very plush!
I am absolutely 100% pleased with the result and it lifted the look of the room to the next level!
It’s definitely worth researching, having a plan and sticking to it.
By the way, you may have noticed that all of these links are to Rug Culture. They are a leading Australian rug brand which can be found at most home furnishing retailers. In the links are videos which provide a really great resource for selecting, as well as a “Search & Buy Online” and “Find nearest local store” – easy.
We like easy.
Rug images courtesy of Rug Culture / Jaye Chaffey Photography and the twins room by David McGowan.