As many of you know we are currently preparing our home for our launch celebration of Leslie Tyler Home Store! Spend Black Friday with Black House Seven and you will get a glimpse of the many collections featured, and more importantly get to meet and shake hands with the amazing creatives behind them.

In addition to the craziness of preparing for that event we are also planning our wedding for Thanksgiving Day! I know, I’m crazy. We’re planning a small intimate ceremony, followed by Thanksgiving Dinner at our home. In the midst of making our home that comfortably works for a family of three work for over sixty takes some ingenuity.

We relocated the rug in our dinning room to become the second rug in our living room and I initially planned on purchasing something new for our dining room.  I loved the two rugs in the living room so much I quickly realized it would never be going back! I figured leave our dining room sans rug until after the event since most of our food would be served in that room, and then my preconceived notion told me that I would inevitably need a replacement “anchor”.

Like most older homes we have hardwood floors and, living in the midwest, I had always believed that any room without a rug was missing something. Us midwesterners value warmth underfoot. It wasn’t until I took a beat to really live without one that I realized this assumption was not only foolish but I may have been limiting myself creatively. Without a rug our dining room didn’t feel like it was missing something, it didn’t feel wrong, and I was surprised that I was even considering tweaks to make this unexpected result work for our family in the long term.

The ability to make a room work without a rug, without the “anchor” of the room, takes consideration but can absolutely be just as warm and cozy, if done correctly. And my momma brain is rejoicing realizing that I won’t be scrubbing any spaghetti stains. I absolutely adore when good form is also functional. I’ve compiled a list of what you need to keep in mind to build a room not based by a rug.

Your Floor is Your Anchor

Celebrate your flooring! Whether it is hardwood, tile. cork, concrete, etc. your floor; tones, color, texture, and pattern should be considered in your design. Without covering the majority of the floor with a rug consider the floor a canvas, just like you would a wall.

Contrast & Balance

Currently our dining room has paneling, hardwoods, and a dining table that all have the same color and tone. It is all one note and tweaks would have to be made to make it work. We had already planned on painting our paneling a laquered… wait for it….black. And with a white tulip table perhaps, I know our existing dining room floors would be jaw dropping. Design in any space is about contrast and balance but with floors being exposed and without having a rug to break it up you have to keep that in mind even more. 

Confidence

Confidence is key! With design, and really anything creative, most of the time confidence in your decision is half the battle. If you choose to leave out a rug, go for it! Styling the room with the intention of leaving the rug out will come across. It wasn’t just removed like in our case or forgotten. This decision was intentional and meant to be.

Let us know if you’re “team rug” or “team no rug”. Do you have a rug in your dining room?