Everyone Loves a Thick Shag Rug
When it comes to decorating your home without breaking the bank there are few things as economical and versatile as shag rugs. Just picture a nice leather shag rug in front of the fireplace or a round shag rug on a hardwood floor. Shag area rugs come in almost any color and shape. You can buy a shag area rug to match any room in the house.
The nice thing about a shag rug when compared to other home improvements is that you can take it with you when you go. Nothing else is as portable as cheap shag rugs are. You can even take a small rug with you on vacation to warm your feet and your heart while you are away from home.
The thickness of the rug shag can vary by as much as several inches. You can mix and match several different shag pile rugs in one room or have a variety of different styles to swap in and out as the mood strikes. (Try doing that with paint!) You could have a black shag rug for late night entertainment, a blue shag rug for Sundays, a brown shag rug for the kids to play on, a green shag rug for spring, an orange shag rug for fall, a white shag rug for winter, and a red shag rug for parties for example.
You can purchase a shag rug in almost any shape or size. You may need an oval rug for an entry way, a runner for a hall, or a square rug for an entire room. You may want a tiny area rug to cover a portion of a floor with a stain or other blemish on it. Whatever size you are looking for is available and inexpensive compared to any other style of flooring you can buy.
As for installation, an area rug can be installed in about as long as it takes to get the plastic wrap off the rug and lay it out. Compare that to installing a hardwood floor, tile, or linoleum. Those can take days to install and require removing all of the furniture from the room first. Save yourself the hassle of finding a place to store your furniture for three days while you tear up the old floor and just buy some nice leather shag rugs instead.
Cleaning is easy but necessary for a shag rug to maintain its original beauty. Small and medium sized rugs can be taken outside and shaken, then draped over a clothesline and beat to clean them. Vacuum your rugs often to make sure the pile does not accumulate a large amount of dirt which would make it difficult to clean. Twice a week is a good rule of thumb for rugs that get used every day.
Sweep your rugs with a bristle broom on a regular basis to loosen up the dirt and keep the pile pliable. Once or twice a year you should rent a commercial rug shampoo machine and shampoo your shag rug to maintain the pile and keep it looking like new. It is important to maintain your rug regularly to avoid noticable wear and tear from setting in and reducing the value of your rug.
If you don't feel like doing this much cleaning there are people you can hire to help. Take a look in the local Yellow Pages or go online to search for carpet cleaning services. There are people everywhere that offer this as a business and have special equipment to make it easy and fast. They will clean your shag rug professionally and leave it looking just like new.
There is something special about a wool shag rug in the winter time. Just the thought of sinking your bare feet into one will warm you up. A soft, luxurious rug under your feet feels great at any time and makes a huge improvement to any other flooring, especially the cold, hard kind. You can even save money on your heating bill by having nice warm rugs in every room, because they feel so much warmer you can turn the thermostat down a few degrees and not even notice the difference.
A great place for an orange shag rug or a pink shag rug is the bathroom. Getting out of the shower and stepping onto cold tiles with your bare feet really takes the fun out of the hot shower. Sinking your feet into a warm fuzzy rug makes it seem like you are walking on a cloud. Standing in front of the mirror will be fun again and you won't have to wear wool socks because your feet got cold while you were getting dressed.
Nothing says welcome quite like a nice shag rug in the entry way of your home. It will be a nice greeting for guests and family alike if you have them take off their shoes when they come inside and they walk right onto a nice warm rug. They will be looking forward to their next visit when they step off the rug and say goodbye.
Getting up in the morning is hard enough without having to step onto a cold floor while you are getting dressed. There is probably no better place for a nice thick rug than right beside your bed. Keep those warm, fuzzy feelings going all day long by starting your day out right instead of starting with cold feet when you first get out of bed.
Another great spot to place a thick pile rug is under any desk or at any work station where you may sit or stand for hours on end. Not only will it keep your feet warmer, it is also proven that having a soft surface to work on is easier on your back than standing on hard tile or other hard surfaces for long periods of time.
One other factor to consider when deciding to purchase a shag rug is the fact that it can actually increase the value of your home when you are getting ready to sell, or increase the rent for an apartment if you are the landlord and trying to rent a vacant space out. In fact a nice rug may just give you the best return on investment of any home improvement.