Square Area Rugs: Getting Squared Away

Oh, no. You have a square room, and you are feeling boxed in by your decorating dilemma. Four identical walls, four equidistant corners, and you want to do something to make it all just a little more interesting.

Where to begin? Well, most successful projects begin from the ground--or, in your case, the floor--up. You could go with wall-to-wall carpeting, but that would really not do much to break up the lines of your room. Hardwood adds a certain charm, but needs protection from furniture and traffic.

So you’ve decided to go with an area rug. Good decision, but one of the cardinal rules of area rug selection is that your rug, if room sized, should always allow an equal amount of flooring to show all the way around. Another is that, if your area rug is to be used in a dining room, it should extend at least eighteen inches beyond the perimeters, or circumference, of your table, to allow diners to push back their chairs without damaging your floor.

Given those rules, it will not require you to have a degree in interior design to realize that square rooms, and square, or round, dining and coffee tables, look best with square area rugs. Putting an 8’ x 10’ rectangular rug in a 12’ by 12’ room will leave you with two feet of exposed flooring along two sides, and only one foot of exposed flooring along the others. And the lack of proportion will draw attention to the squareness of your room.

A square area rug, by leaving a wider exposed borderalong each side, will make your room look larger. And, if you want to use the square area rug to accent a grouping of furniture, place the rug so that at least the front one-third of your furniture pieces rest on it. If the back legs of your furniture do rest on the floor, shim them to keep the furniture level.

When you go off in search of square areas rugs, help yourself in advance by understanding that, depending on the type of square area rug you have in mind, your selection may be limited.

If you have your heart set on a room-sized Persian square area rug, the ones you’ll find are likely, in their patterns, to resemble round ones; they will have a circular, or oval, medallion center bordered by varying designs. Such a square area rug will perform admirably in drawing the viewer’s eye away from the squareness of your room, so make sure you situate yours with the medallion exposed.

Persian square area rugs, other than small meal or prayer mats, are relatively rare, so you may pay a premium for one. Square area rugs in contemporary or traditional designs, however, are easier to find, and available in a variety of textures.

A dark, solidly-colored square area rug will close in a large room, while a light one will make it appear more spacious. An a square area rug woven of natural fibers like sisal, hemp, or sea grass will add interest to your square room without overpowering the its other design elements. You can even find, for a country decor, find braided square area rugs.

So stop seeing your square room, or foyer, as a box, and let a square area rug get you “squared away”!

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