Need a Quick Room Refresh? Start with the Rug.
When friends and family ask for help with a new space they want to style or an existing space they want to refresh, they’ll often tell me about the room and then say “first I should just pick out my paint color.” To which I recommend that they actually start with the rug that will cover the floor in that particular area. If you aren’t planning to change out your entire space, because you love your furniture, rug and art, and you just want a quick facelift for a room, painting is a great idea, and it’ll take your room in a new direction, which can bring you a lot of joy. But if you’re ready for a bigger change, and are interested in changing out some furnishings, maybe window treatments and/or artwork, put together a thoughtful plan of what that will look like. Create a moodboard by using Pinterest, or by taking pages out of magazines and catalogs.
By creating the moodboard, and collecting images, you will start to see where your design aesthetic sits. If you find yourself collecting pictures of soft, neutrals or bold and colorful rooms, you’ll discover that you want to live around those surroundings for whatever feelings they evoke for you. Then, when you’re ready to pull it together, either on your own or with the help of a friend or an interior designer, you can make a plan. And let that plan begin with a rug selection, because that will be the most impactful element in your room, visually. Think of it as a big piece of art, even if you choose for that piece of art to be neutrally toned and patterned.
I’ve created a fairly neutral room here, but by changing out the rug selection the room is completely different. I swapped out the artwork too, as I usually like to connect the two. The reason for that is that they both function as artwork! You can have completely neutral furnishings and feel like you’ve created a new space entirely by tweaking these two things.
Isn’t it interesting how much of a ‘lil drama queen the rug is?
Hope this helps you find a good jump off point into refreshing your space, or building one from scratch.
xx
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