With so many different varieties of area rugs available these days, how do you determine which will work best in your home? Follow these helpful tips when choosing an area rug for your home.

1. Before anything else, you need to look at the location you’re looking to place your rug in and how much traffic it gets. In high-traffic areas, rugs tend to get worn down much more quickly. Thus you may want to invest in a higher-quality rug that’s more durable for this location. For those low-traffic areas, however, go more with style and don’t worry so much about quality and make.

2. Decide if you want the area rug to be your room’s focal point. Rugs intended as a focus for a room should have a design or pattern on them in order to draw the eye to the rug. A plainer rug or one with a very simple design on it will work better for those rugs you want to be in the background of the room.

3. When choosing a rug, you may want to take into consideration whether you have pets or children. A pet can potentially do great damage to an area rug, especially if it decides to make that rug its home. If you have children or pets in your home, you may want to consider buying a rug that’s stain resistant.

4. Always first determine your budget before shopping for an area rug. The price range of area rugs these days is rather broad, and you don’t want to overspend. Some rugs won’t cost you more than $50, while others of higher quality will set you back at least a few thousand dollars.

5. If your budget is limited, you can’t go wrong with a synthetic area rug. You can tell that a rug is synthetic if when you look at the back of the rug, the fibers aren’t hand-knotted but instead simply punched through, like a carpet. Although much less expensive, synthetic rugs won’t last as long as true wool rugs. Even though you may have to replace it every other year, a synthetic option will give you a new style rug for not a lot of money.

6. When you are figuring out how big of a rug you’ll need, be sure you are leaving space between the rug and the walls. The area rug shouldn’t jut right up against the walls in the room. Instead, the border between the rug and the wall should be even on both sides. For a rug that’s going under your dining room table, be sure to measure an additional 4 to 5 inches out from the table on each side. That way you’ll have enough room for the chairs to fit on the rug while keeping an even border around the walls of the room.

An area rug can make a great addition to any room in your home. As long as you know what to look for, you’ll be able to find the perfect fit for any décor.