Braided Area Rug

3 Aspects to Consider When Choosing a Braided Area Rug

A braided area rug carefully placed in a home can serve many purposes. It can be used to incorporate color into an area, change the feel of a room or just serve as floor covering. However many homeowners do not know how to choose the correct type of rug needed for their home. We are going to take a look at three aspects of choosing the correct braided area rug for your home.

Beginning with choosing the correct size rug for the room or area where you plan to install the new rug. Begin by measuring the area where you plan to install it. You want to make sure that there is going to be enough room left around the edges so that it looks proportionate to the room. A good example of this is the general rule of thumb for using area rugs in a hallway. You need to leave just about 2 inches of space between the wall and the rug.

By leaving the 2 inch space you make the rug look centered and proportioned properly. You should also make the rug approximately 20 combined inches shorter than the length of the hallway. Once you have determined the correct size of the braided area rug you need to decide on the material that it will be made from. There are generally five types to choose from wool, wool blends, cotton, cotton blends and synthetic materials. Each material has its own advantages and just depends on the usage and placement for them.

Wool is a great material for heavier traffic areas as they are very durable and resist wear naturally. There are also two popular blended fibers that are incorporated with wool and they are silk and chenille. By adding the silk you can get more vibrant color schemes and by adding chenille you get very soft rugs and neither type should be placed in a high traffic area.

With cotton you also get a very wear resistant braided rug but not quite as durable as the wool braided area rug. However these rugs will be a little softer and may serve well in a family room where there is not a lot of foot traffic but maybe where the kids lay on the floor to watch TV. The other is synthetic material and with this type of fiber you can pay at little less up front because it is manmade material. Synthetic rugs tend to hold their color better and are considered mildew and mold resistant but they will wear out quicker than either cotton or a wool rug would.

One great aspect you should know is these braided area rugs are generally very easy to keep clean. You just need to make sure that you vacuum them regularly and turn them every few weeks. This keeps them from wearing on only one part of the rug and will greatly extended the life of your rug. One misconception about area rugs is that you should take them outside and beat them. This is not true and in fact you will most likely end up damaging the rug if you do this. If for some reason your braided area rug becomes too dirty for either damp spot cleaning or vacuuming call a professional to clean it.