The use of area rugs as an enhancer and enabler for interior decor is a tried and tested method of improving or altering the theme of a living space. There are more uses for a well placed and well chosen rug than immediately meets the eye.

Decorating your home is one of the best outlets for your creativity. But sometimes you may find the decorating can be a bit less fun than you imagined when you get "shift shock" just by walking from one room in your home to the next. Shift shock is what you get the styles in your home vary considerably from room to room, especially when the rooms are attached, like a dining room and kitchen, or in some cases, living room and dining room.

My mother is one of the best examples of someone who has learned, through trial and error of course, to avoid shift shock in all the rooms in her house. She wanted her kitchen to look different than her dining room, but the open wall between the two caused infinite problems in the design process. Of course, she wanted her kitchen to be green and her dining room to be country red. Her solution: both rooms now have a country theme, the dining room in red and the kitchen in green. And from there, the living room that is not too far away, utilizes both red and green elements in a combination with the blue overtones of the living room.

Of course, not everyone can be a decorating whiz like my mother and automatically know just how to fix the styles and designs so they don't cause shift shock. One of the best ways to avoid this problem is to create a shared element. But you're asking yourself, "How in the world do I do that?" The answer is simple: use area rugs.

A well placed rug can change the dynamics of a space, and create a completely new perception of the boundaries of its environment. Take for example a split room, with a large double doorway as a dividing partition, something akin to a dining room attached to a living room. Even if these doors are left permanently open, there will still be an overwhelming sense of separation between these two rooms, in order for them to achieve some sort of unity, we need to find a way to blur this boundary and remove the visual effect created by the dividing wall and doors. Using a rug, placed on the floor between the double doors, we are smudging that line, making the rooms seem as if they are one large room with a divide, instead of two rooms with a set of connecting doors.

Most people find straight lines and angularity unappealing at a subconscious level, so blending room boundaries makes things look a lot more visually appealing.

Take for example the simple welcome or door mat, there is a reason these are considered an almost essential part of any hallway. These simple area rugs, usually quite small, help to break up the straight lines made by the doorway itself, people feel more comfortable walking through the door, there is less of a feeling of change, things become softer. It may come as a surprise to find that something as simple as a doormat has such a strong psychological effect, but it is a simple fact, very few people are comfortable, at a subconscious level, with crossing boundaries, it goes back to our past, when we would need to leave the warm safety of our caves and hunt in the dangerous world outside.

If you consider this fact, and take a good look around your living space, you can probably find quite a few boundary lines, usually divisions between separate rooms or areas of your home that could be softened by using a strategically placed rug. You do not necessarily need to place the rug upon the boundary line, you can use it in close proximity, but allow it to attract the eye and draw attention away from the divider between rooms. Rugs used in the manner need to be vibrant and colorful, attracting attention and focusing it away from the boundary crossing.

Remember, it isn't enough to simply engage in amazing interior decorating in each individual room in your home. While every room is separate, each individual space comes together to create a home and your interior decorating should never lose balance as you move from room to room.

The benefit in using rugs in the fashion, is that you will soften your entire home, making the transition from room to room a much more gradual thing, and making your living experience much more comfortable at the subconscious level. Why not give it a try? Small rugs can be inexpensive and you will be surprised by the results achieved by this simple technique.