Pretty & Practical About Layering a Rug on Carpet

Be bold — if you want — with color. Rugs can add a hit of color to neutral rooms or tone down bold spaces. When layering a rug on carpet, consider the impact you’d like it to make on your room’s mood and color scheme. “We often use an area rug over carpet when we need to add color, texture and pattern to a room, as wall-to-wall carpet does not always provide these on its own,” interior designer Melanie Grant of Poss Architecture + Planning and Interior Design says.

Additionally, a layered area rug — especially one that contrasts with the carpet underneath — can help define a smaller activity zone within a room, such as a dining or seating area, as shown here.

Tip: If you don’t want your rug to stand out from the existing carpet at all, interior designer Sarah Finney suggests buying an extra piece of carpet and having its edges bound. This will create a rug that can protect the underlying carpet without drawing attention to itself.

Add more personality with patterns. Rugs offer a way to introduce more pattern to a room for added interest. To avoid choosing a patterned rug that will clash with your decor, pick one that complements or echoes the existing color scheme and either matches or contrasts with the scale of any patterns already in the room. Striped rugs, especially two-tone rugs, are considered one of the easiest ways to add pattern.

When layering an area rug on carpet, Finney says, it’s generally best to avoid using a patterned rug over a patterned carpet. “One or the other will work well,” she says.

Take care with texture. Rugs can bring textural interest to a room, but too much texture in an area rug on carpet can create a tripping hazard or make it hard for wheels to navigate. Rethink layering a highly textured rug, or any rug, over carpet if these are concerns.

Do you need a rug pad for carpet?Rug pads serve a variety of purposes, from keeping a rug in place to protecting both the rug and floor beneath it.“Rug pads are effective, and there are pads made specifically for rug-over-carpet scenarios, Fred Wee of Interiors & Textiles says. They come in a variety of thicknesses and ways they work. He recommends Safavieh carpet-to-carpet grid rug pads.

What about layering a rug on carpet tile? The designers we interviewed advised against layering carpet tiles on top of carpet, but they said layering a rug on carpet tile should work fine.