Wooden flooring is a practical, hygienic solution to your flooring dilemmas when considering how to decorate downstairs rooms, particularly in areas that people will be eating in. It can be swept clean and washed easily. But the very advantages it confers can also be a down side. Wooden flooring can feel sterile and unwelcoming – cold even and a bit too uniform if it is in a large room. Many people knock through their downstairs rooms for more space and in design terms they get it right by having the same flooring across the two rooms, to give a sense of unity and space. But the disadvantage of this is that you can be left with a large expanse of just one colour or texture. When rooms are being used for different purposes – a dining room just off a sitting room for example, this can be a problem. It`s good to break up large expanses of colour a little, whilst distinguishing between rooms used for different purposes.
Rugs are useful here. In a dining area it`s nice for a table to be centred on a rug, which can add to the impact of your eating area. You need to make sure that there is a coherent reason for your design choice. Is it a dark room? If your table is dark too, perhaps a splash of colour would lighten the feel of the room. Or maybe you like the dark and cosy feel. Bear in mind that dark furniture on a very dark rug may be a little too strong for any room to bear, tricking the eye into thinking there is just a huge dark space in the centre of the room. It can suck the life out of a room if it is too dark. Choose a complementary colour with a little contrast if you like the `dark` look. In this case a warm dark chocolate, purple or orange rug will give a real sense of luxury and comfort. Continue reading Rugs for your dining room
