Think of a room as having six walls

The obvious four walls, the ceiling, and the floor.

While we spend much time agonizing about the right color for the walls and ceilings, we should spend equal amounts of time thinking about the floor materials, color and finishes.

There’s so much to choose from: hardwoods, engineered hardwoods (distressed, wide-plank, etc.), natural stone, ceramic tile, stained concrete, wall-to-wall sea grass and so much more. Once the flooring is selected, we have another important decision to make – choosing the rug that is going to go on top of the floor!

I often use oriental rugs for the more formal rooms of clients’ homes but this isn’t always an option due to the project scope or budget.

I want to share some ideas for rugs that are wonderful and won’t cost an arm and a leg.

I’ve recently fallen in love with several rug companies, and I want to share them with you! They offer fun, colorful, updated looks at affordable prices (especially when compared to oriental rugs) and create an instant “look” in a room.

The good folks over at Company C (CompanyC.com) offer some fabulous rugs at great price points. I recently used the “Rise and Shine” rug in a client’s game room – isn’t it just great? It’s super plush and comfortable – a great rug for relaxing and stretching out on!

Also offering great-looking updated rugs is a company called Chandra (ChandraRugs.com). I recently used this Chandra rug designed by Thomas Paul in a teen’s room. So fun!

I’ve also become a big fan of sea grass. Sea grass is made from grass that has been harvested from the ocean. Sea grass is durable, stain-repellent (as opposed to sisal and jute), organic, elegant, neutral, goes with everything and is extremely affordable.

When sea grass is freshly-harvested, it has a greenish tint and wonderful “grassy” scent. As it ages, it turns a beautiful khaki/straw color. There are also many sea grass weave patterns to choose from.

The wonderful thing about having a custom rug made for your room is that you get the exact dimensions that the room requires rather than having to “make do” with a ready made rug that comes in a standard size, but never quite works in the space. When you order a custom rug, you can choose your sea grass weave design, your dimensions, and your border fabric – and you get a custom rug made exactly for your room at a fraction of the price of a handmade oriental rug!

Sea grass can be used as a custom rug with a fabric border or as a wall-to-wall carpet. Wall to wall sea grass is much cheaper than many carpets and is just classically beautiful. I also love sea grass on stairs instead of carpet or carpet runners.

Sea grass looks great on stairs!

See how modern and clean this sea grass runner looks!

Sea grass is wonderful for both casual as well as elegant rooms, with a timeless, classic look which mixes well with linen, velvet, chenille, antiques and modern furniture.