Before and After Decorating with Area Rugs

See how decorating with area rugs can change the look of even the most unexciting room with these before and after photos.

One of the often simple and inexpensive elements of a room update is decorating with area rugs. I wouldn’t say area rugs are cheap, but I would say they are affordable in comparison to a new couch or a whole new furniture set. Area rugs can be added to warm or brighten up a space, make a space more cohesive, or in some cases to cover outdated, worn, or ugly flooring.

Our home has kind of a combination of flooring issues and honestly, I’m not even going to judge it. I’m just grateful we have floors to walk on at all. But with that said ideally one day, I’d like to remove all the carpeting and ceramic tile and change it to wood or laminate. The main reason is that our home is small and I am thinking that one type of flooring throughout will make the space appear roomier. So that’s where we will eventually go with our floors, but in the meantime decorating with area rugs is sure helping.

I’ve put together several before and after shots of three spaces in our home that have been updated or are in the process of being updated with area rugs. I really think it has made a huge impact. Let me show you and you can decide.

Using an area rug to cover dark flooring

Our living room has a neutral carpet in a darker shade. Add that our couch, which is also in a darker neutral shade. Then I painted the walls a light neutral shade. So the bottom half of the room was drawing dark. The top half drawing light. It wasn’t working for me. The after shot shows the same couch, the same paint color on the walls. Added was a lighter colored area rug. I also painted the coffee table, changed up the pillows a bit, and added a corner table (aka sub-woofer cover.)

Note:  I’m still not satisfied with the new look thus far. The color scheme is still totally off (and the lighting in this photo doesn’t help), so I have been making quite a few additional changes. But as far as I’m concerned the area rug is spot on and has made quite an improvement, so that will stay as is.

Ps: yes, that’s my cat in photo one.

Hiding a worn-out floor with an area rug

Last year we update our entryway stairwell. We have cement stairs that lead down to a cement floor in our basement. We were not at the point of doing anything with the basement, and still aren’t, but. I think I was able to fool the eye for the time being by adding an area rug to the bottom of the basement stairs.

The stairs and basement floor were painted in gray, and pretty dirty when we bought the house.

I cleaned and repainted the stairs with a faux stair runner. I took the paint line just past the start of the basement walls at the bottom of the stairs.

Next, I added an area rug and a few baskets with blankets. As you look at the before and after, you might agree, it looks a lot more welcoming and a lot less scary.

You can see the entire stairwell makeover completed for $100, here.

Warming up a cold tile floor with an area rug

The last and most recent area rug addition is in our sun porch. This room is currently getting a makeover with paint, new blinds, and re-painted furniture. The tile flooring in our porch area is in good shape and pretty neutral, so I really can’t complain, however, the tile does give off a cold feeling in my book. Adding this jute rug from Natural Area Rugs makes the room so much warmer looking. Once I add the new window shades, framed photos, and furniture I think it’s going to be a cozy spot to sit and read, have coffee in the morning, and so on.

Related: How to Successfully Stay Motivated to DIY Your Home

See the sun porch update transform in these posts:

• Black and White Mood board Plan for the Sun Porch
• Spray painted wicker chairs from green to black
• Sun Porch Sitting Area Reveal
• Boho Style Wallpapered Coffee Table Bench

Since it’s going to be a while before we can change the flooring, I’m really glad that I’ve been able to use area rugs to give our house a more homey feeling.

So what do you think? While my style may not be your style, do you think the area rugs have made an improvement?

Do you use area rugs in your home? If not do you have a space you’d like to add one too?