Chic Advice: General Rules for Area Rugs

As our showroom has grown with gorgeous displays of high-end patterned carpets that can be made into to custom-sized rugs, we have had many questions about the best layout for specific spaces such as living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms.

Living Areas

Tuftex Carpets

There are generally two schools of thought for the living room. One is for “all the legs (of the furniture) on” or “all the legs off”.  The decision could be made based on the hard surface originally under the furniture. Is it something older that you would like to cover up? Or, do you have children that still rough-house and play in the area, and you need as much cushion as you can get? These rugs are generally around the 9’x12’ size in order to get everything on the rug.

Tuftex Carpets, style Bling

Or perhaps you just invested in new hardwoods or tile and want to showcase that investment but still need a rug to soften and warm the room. When choosing to keep all the legs off the rug the size usually becomes more of a 5’x7’ range. With such a size, and if the rest of your palette in the room is neutral, you could make a statement and decide on a pop of bold color or interesting texture to make it focal point for the whole room.

Stanton Carpet

Rules can always be broken though, and this third option is becoming so popular that it’s turning into rule 3. Leave about 1/3 of the furniture on the rug (or just the back 1/3 of the furniture off). This allows you to spread the furniture farther throughout the room if that is needed.  It’s becoming more and more of a favorite and an easier way to snake a lamp’s electrical cord up the back leg of a side table!

Dining Rooms

Tuftex Carpets

Dining rooms are a little easier to visualize because the main rule of thumb is to keep all the chairs on the rug even if they are pulled out for eating and entertaining.  This is where customizing the size can really be a blessing.  Dining sets are designed in so many sizes and shapes. Rectangle shaped sets should have a rectangle rug, round sets can have a round rug or a square rug, and a square set should have a square rug.

Bedrooms

Tuftex Carpets

The general rule for this area of the home is that the rug extend outside the edges of the nightstands and extend outside the end of the bed. The rug can either go under the nightstands or just in front of them. Make sure that when you swing your legs off the med in the morning they hit the soft rug below.

One last final tip is to use blue painter’s tape to create a virtual rug without even using the measuring tape yet. That way you get a “rug” true to the look that is best. Then when you’ve finally created what you want, measure the two sides and swing into the showroom to look at what we have and place an order with your exact needs. Add your desired binding and it will be ready for you within weeks.

Happy Creating!

Chic Advice: Mixing Browns and Grays With Products You Won’t Have to Change

We talk a lot with our clients about whether to follow trends. The trend that comes up most is the tendency to go more gray. No, not your hair…. Your home!  So, what do you do in the time ahead, though, when or if you want to make a change? If it’s something more permanent like floor products, master bath or kitchen renovations, or fireplace façade, you’ll want something that can blend with what you do in the future.  Because this you can’t change as frequently as your hair color!

There are many products available that we use to blend beautifully with colors that are on trend (like now with gray) and what tends to stay constant in many of our homes: the color brown. Whether it be the kitchen cabinets, or the legs of your furniture, we have our favorites here in the showroom that we’ve used to blend these two worlds together -- with beautiful results.

Floor Tiles/Shower Tiles/Mosaics:

A product that oozes peacefulness is this cream, gray and brown tile from Hutcherson, style Caesarstone, in the color Crema. The homeowner wanted a kitchen floor that helped pull together the gray cabinets, the cream backsplash and quartz and the brown stools and adjacent rug/décor. This tile definitely fit the bill.

The 18x18 tile pulls together the light gray cabinets, the darker gray island, and the brown island stools.

The same tile also pairs beautifully with the custom-sized rug, from Tuftex, style Bling.

In this master suite, our customer chose Shaw Tile, style Sofia, in the color Toscana. The linear brown and gray lines blend well with so many different neutrals. She used the tiles both on the floor and in the shower and tub surround. The feel of continuity makes the suite feel like a spa. Bliss linear and square mosaic tiles for the border and shower floor also blend well and pull in the two colors.

Using the same 12x24 tile creates continuity for a clean, spa-like feel with no distractions.

The tile has a linear pattern of cream, brown and gray.

Granite and Quartz:

Granite or quartz is an excellent way to pull in some color with your browns and neutrals. There are a wide range of colors to choose from. In this secondary bath, the granite that already existed in the home worked perfectly with the light gray walls.

Santa Cecilia Classic

In this kitchen, our customer wanted the look of marble, but with the ease of maintenance of quartz. Cambria Quartz in the style Torquay looked a-MAZ-ing with marble 2x4 beveled marble backsplash and her dark brown cabinets.

An after pic showing the mixture of grays and browns.

Hardwood:

Hardwoods these days come in so many permutations of browns mixed with grays. This is Johnson Hardwood, English Pub Series, in the color Stout. Another favorite of ours, that when placed in a brown environment, is warm and beautiful, and when installed in a home full of gray, it blends perfectly! It morphs into whatever the home needs.

Johnson Hardwood,English Pub Series, color Stout

So blending in your browns and grays, and any future trends, can be easy and much more long-term with just the right products. Give us a call or stop by and we can show you!

For more information call 832-299-6432

4711 Louetta Road, Suite 120, Spring, TX 77388

 

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Advice: Chic Floors- Common mistakes made on home renovation projects

Ihab, Owner of Chic Floors

Home improvement projects can turn a house into a home. Homeowners plan scores of renovations to transform living spaces into rooms that reflect their personal tastes and comforts.

Homeowners going it alone may find things do not always go as planned. In fact, a Harris Interactive study found that 85 percent of homeowners say remodeling is a more stressful undertaking than buying a home. But homeowners about to embark on home improvement projects can make the process go more smoothly by avoiding these common pitfalls.

Failing to understand the scope of the project

Some homeowners don’t realize just how big a commitment they have made until they get their hands dirty. But understanding the scope of the project, including how much demolition and reconstruction is involved and how much time a project will take can help homeowners avoid some of the stress that comes with renovation projects. For example, a bathroom renovation may require the removal of drywall, reinforcement of flooring to accommodate a new bathtub or shower enclosure and the installation of new plumbing and wiring behind walls. So such a renovation is far more detailed than simply replacing faucets.

Not establishing a budget

Homeowners must develop a project budget to ensure their projects do not drain their finances. If your budget is so inflexible that you can’t afford the materials you prefer, you may want to postpone the project and save more money so you can eventually afford to do it right.

Without a budget in place, it is easy to overspend, and that can put you in financial peril down the line. Worrying about coming up with money to pay for materials and labor also can induce stress. Avoid the anxiety by setting a firm budget.

Making trendy or over personal improvements

Homeowners who plan to stay in their homes for the long run have more free reign when it comes to renovating their homes. Such homeowners can create a billiards room or paint a room hot pink if they so prefer. However, if the goal is to make improvements in order to sell a property, overly personal touches may make a property less appealing to prospective buyers. Trends come and go, and improvements can be expensive. If your ultimate goal is to sell your home, opt for renovations that will look beautiful through the ages and avoid bold choices that may only appeal to a select few buyers.

Expecting everything to go as planned

Optimism is great, but you also should be a realist. Knowing what potentially could go wrong puts you in a better position to handle any problems should they arise. The project might go off without a hitch, but plan for a few hiccups along the way.

Overestimating DIY abilities

Overzealous homeowners may see a renovation project in a magazine or on television and immediately think they can do the work themselves. Unless you have the tools and the skills necessary to do the work, tackling too much can be problematic. In the long run, leaving the work to a professional may save you money.

Home improvements can be stressful, but homeowners can lessen that stress by avoiding common renovation mistakes.

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For more information Call 832-299-6432

4711 Louetta Road, Suite 120, Spring, TX 77388