Top 8 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Nursery or Children's Throw Rug

When designing a child's room or nursery, the throw or area rug is the one piece of decor that brings the whole room together. Bringing color and attention to the walls is an easy job; there are infinite options for shelves, frames, wall appliques, baby wall letters - the list is just endless. But the lonely floor has only one option - the throw rug - and yet these days even that one option can offer near limitless possibilities.

When selecting your child's area rug, the list of attributes below should be taken into careful consideration. Don't just buy the first cute rug you see. Your choices are many, and it's easy to find something later on that you wish you'd bought. The benefits of a little pre-shopping homework may end up saving you a lot of money in the long run, and will keep you on track to designing that perfect dream room or nursery.

i) Color. Of course this is the first and most obvious consideration. Whether you choose standard blues and pinks for boys and girls, or even a neutral green, try to choose a color that carefully matches your child's wall paint. Or better yet, choose the rug first - and then buy the paint. You'll be extremely glad you did, because having wall color that's a few shades off from the flooring color is something that cannot later be fixed without big changes.

ii) Patterns. Decide early on whether your kids room or nursery is going to incorporate any type of pattern. Rugs will come in striped, checked, crosshatched, paisley, polka-dot, and just about any other pattern you can think of. Coordinate any kids wall art or special frames with the pattern of the rug you want. Don't go overboard. When adding patterns haphazardly, your child's room can quickly get swamped with pieces of decor that clash with one another. The area rug will be central, and should bind everything else together - don't make it too complicated.

iii) Themed rugs. The cutest and most unique kids rugs will coordinate along the lines of popular children's theme decor. Boys can be cowboys, astronauts, sports heroes, sea captains, airplane pilots - the list goes on and on. Girls themed rugs include ballerinas, bunnies, teddy bears, butterflies, ladybugs, and of course the always popular princess rugs. A well-placed child's throw rug decorated with one of these themes can set the stage for the rest of the room or nursery decor.

iv) Floral and lace. Softer and more feminine patterns of floral and lace can offset solid pinks and lavenders without the disruption of a more definitive pattern. Lattice rugs and scolled border throws can be found to match most any little girl's bedding, or even crib bedding if the rug is to be used in a nursery. If you're looking for soft and comfy, this is definitely the way to go.

v) Play rugs. Especially great for a baby nursery or smaller child's room, these rugs come with interactive designs that were meant for play. Checkerboard and other game patterns like hopscotch and tic-tac-toe are available as play room rugs. Even more interesting are rugs designed to look like small colorful little towns, where your little boy or girl will love pushing toy cars or walking dolls along the detailed streets. These rugs are often bright and overpowering, so make sure you have strong pieces of matching children's decor in order to pull this off.

vi) Shaped rugs. Many companies now make rugs in just about every conceivable shape or form. Frogs, flowers, butterflies, even surfboard-shaped rugs for tropical or beach-themed rooms are all available in every color of the rainbow. These irregularly shaped and scalloped rugs bring a unique quality to your child or baby's room, and can often fit in places that other more rectangular rugs can't go. Many shaped children's rugs come with raised or sunken sections, adding tactile as well as visual decoration.

vii) Chenilles. From the cool pastels of springtime to the solid blues and pinks of uniform color, chenille rugs are often a favorite for kids rooms. They bring a rustic country warmth to any room, and are offered in a wide variety of sizes - from small throws to large area rugs designed for living rooms and dens. Never out of style, these rugs wear well and withstand the test of time.

viii) Shag and pile. Depending upon the size of the rug, you may want to choose a kids rug with a deeper or shaggy pile. They add additional plush softness, but moreover they can hide the dirt that comes with everyday wear and tear. These rugs will generally hold up longer than patterned or themed rugs, as the uniform quality makes it harder to spot blemishes. Many children's rugs in cotton or wool piles will come treated with Scotchmaster or StainGuard, making them spill-resistant and even easier to clean when accidents do happen.

No matter which rug you choose for your child's room, make it a good choice for the both of you. Remember that the floor is a very common play for your child to play, so you're going to want something both decorative and functional. Examine all your options, chose the direction you want your decor to go, and above all have fun!