It’s that spooky time of the year when the days get shorter and the trees lose their leaves. So it’s perhaps relevant to mention that Edgar Allan Poe, one of America’s foremost writers of atmospheric horror literature once said, “The soul of the apartment is the carpet. From it are deduced not only the hues but the forms of all objects incumbent.” Poe had quite a lot to say about carpets and which ones should and should not be included in the home, including: “The abomination of flowers, or representations of well-known objects of any kind, should not be endured within the limits of Christendom.” Ha!
Today we have laxer standards about what kinds of rugs can be used. It’s not hard to see that the carpet you choose will affect the atmosphere of your room. Why is this?
The rug is the anchor of the room’s decor – Flat surfaces are the base layer of design. Eventually all eyes will move to the floor and what is on it. Typically rugs take up significant space in a room, so their colors and design with have a greater impact on the atmosphere than a single piece of furniture or decoration. You want what’s anchoring the room to have presence and weight.
A large rug will be adjacent to most of the room’s other features – Most people are concerned about how well individual pieces of decor complement or “go” with other pieces. Does the couch match the curtains? Do the pillows clash with the upholstery? You can get away with some color or pattern variations as long as those pieces are not right next to each other. The carpet, though? That’s going to be “next to” just about everything in the room because of its size. That means for most people it will be much more practical to decorate the rest of the room around the carpet rather than to try to make a carpet fit into the room after choosing the paint, the curtains, and the furniture.
After all, clashing fabrics or colors create an atmosphere of unease. Some people will not realize why they feel uncomfortable in a room. Others will examine every piece of the decor to decide where the homeowners went wrong. Some of them will mentally redecorate your room, replacing in their minds the pieces that don’t work until they can create harmony – even if it’s just in their own imaginations.
Interior designers reflect Edgar Allan Poe’s opinions when they offer advice on how to design your room decor around your bold area rug. No doubt Poe would shudder at many of the rugs we like today. He would likely agree with our motto at Bond Products, though. “Every hard floor needs a nice area rug” is essentially a restatement of his “The soul of the apartment is the carpet.” Most people want to be comfortable and at peace in their homes. That’s why choosing the right carpets is such an important task in home decorating.
