You want your open-concept home to flow effortlessly from zone to zone. Not feel choppy and disjointed.
Open floor plans have been trendy for years now. People love the spacious feel, abundant natural light, and ease of entertaining they offer.
But there’s a downside…
When every room just flows into the next, your space can quickly become overwhelming. The eye doesn’t have any visual anchors.
That’s where rugs come into play. More specifically, rug colours.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why Rug Colour is Important in Open Spaces
- Colour Psychology 101
- Techniques to Create Flow with Colour
- Open Floor Plan Rug Colour Tips for Each Zone
Why Rug Colour Is Important in Open Spaces
Homeowners have been knocking down walls and embracing open floor plans for decades. Now it’s the standard.
Open concept living is here to stay. Houzz’s 2024 Kitchen Trends Study reveals 43% of homeowners say their kitchen is being opened up to other interior spaces during their remodel or renovation.
Open concept might be popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to execute well.
Unlike a traditional home with clear boundaries between rooms, open floor plans lack visual cues.
There’s no physical wall separating the kitchen from the living room. There’s no gate demarking the dining room from the entryway.
Open floor plans rely on rugs to establish each living zone.
And because rugs are also responsible for setting the mood, the colours you choose are critical.
No pressure, right?
If you understand the psychology behind rug colors, you can use them to create a sense of flow in your open-concept home. You can make a 2,000-square-foot mansion feel cozy and intimate. Or you can make a cute one-bedroom apartment feel cold and sterile.
Rug colours are powerful.
Colour Psychology 101
You’ve probably heard of colour psychology before. But what is it exactly? And how does it apply to rug colours in open floor plans?
Colour psychology studies how different hues can trigger specific emotional responses in people. Colour can make us feel calmer or more energetic. Warmer colours tend to be stimulating. Cool colours are usually more calming.
“Research consistently reveals that violet and blue are ranked as the most comforting colors for interior spaces, while orange and red are ranked as the most stimulating.”
But did you know…
Different colours can also influence how we perceive the space around us? For example, lighter colours make a room feel more open and spacious. Darker colours cocoon an area and make it feel more intimate.
Warm colours tend to bring people together. Cool colours tend to encourage separation.
When you’re picking rugs for your open floor plan, remember that each colour you choose will affect how every other colour nearby is perceived.
Techniques to Create Flow with Colour
So how do you properly use colour to create flow in your space? The biggest rug colour mistake I see homeowners make is picking rugs randomly for each room.
Pro Tip: Think of your open-concept home as a blank canvas. You’re not decorating multiple rooms. You’re decorating one large space with different zones.
The rugs you place in these zones should have a colour relationship to each other. They don’t need to match exactly, but they should complement each other.
There are three main colour strategies that work well for open floor plans.
Monochromatic
Pick different shades of the same colour family to use throughout your open space. For example, maybe you use a deep blue rug in your living room area. Then in your dining space, you choose a lighter sky blue rug. In the kitchen, you use a blue-grey runner.
These colours would create a beautiful flow throughout your open floor plan. Each area has a rug that anchors the space, but because they’re all different shades of blue, they are clearly connected.
Complementary
Use colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. A nice terracotta rug in one living zone paired with a teal rug in the adjacent zone.
The juxtaposition of the warm and cool tones creates energy between the two spaces. They feel very different, but because you’re using a colour strategy, the spaces still feel intentional.
Analogous
Colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel flow together naturally. This can create the most organic feeling flow in your home.
You might use different greens throughout your living spaces that gradually become blue as they reach your kitchen. Or maybe your scheme moves from orange to yellow as it transitions through each zone.
Earthy tones continue to lead the way in both carpeted and non-carpeted rug trends according to Grand View Research.
Open Floor Plan Rug Colour Tips for Each Zone
Just because your home is open concept doesn’t mean it doesn’t have distinct areas that serve different purposes.
Your rug colours should account for the function of each living zone.
Living Areas
The living room is usually the area that entertains guests. It’s where you’ll sink into couch with your partner after a long day at work. It’s the heart of your home.
You want people to feel comfortable and relaxed in your living room.
That’s why warmer and more muted rug colours work best in living areas. Terracotta, beige, and dusty rust encourage conversation and relaxation.
Bold reds and fiery oranges are too stimulating for your living room. Save those for your dining room.
Dining Zones
You still want people to feel comfortable in your dining room, but you also don’t want them to rush through dinner.
Dining rug colours should be vibrant and energizing. Encourage guests to kick back and enjoy their meal.
Orange, yellow, and red tones are ideal here. Brighter blues and grays can make people feel less hungry.
Kitchen Transitions
If your kitchen is truly open to your other living spaces, it’s worth selecting a rug that ties into your overall colour story.
You’ll likely want something darker and more neutral here to hide spills and stains.
Work-From-Home Spaces
Like many of you, I work from home. So when I designed my own home office space, I paid special attention to the rug colour.
You want to boost productivity in a home office, but not at the expense of your mental health. Blues are incredibly calming and help you stay focused.
Green is another great option for home offices because it promotes creativity. It also reduces eye strain if you work on a computer all day.
Ruger Red is a big no for offices. Sure it’ll keep you stimulated, but at what cost? Increased anxiety?
Wrap-Up
The difference between good design and bad design comes down to attention to detail.
If you mix warm and cool toned rugs in your open floor plan, it will throw off the flow of your space.
You’ll never achieve that smooth progression from one area to the next if you aren’t consistent with your colour story.
That doesn’t mean you can’t use all three of these rug colour strategies in your home. One could be dominant while the other two act as accents.
Regardless of which strategy you choose, make sure all your rugs share a colour relationship.
With 33% of Millennials stating they’ll purchase rugs to decorate their homes, Rugs Direct is the perfect place to start your colour story.
There are tons of rug colours to choose from. Pick one and see where it takes you!
