Anyone who’s tried to decorate a child’s room will know how different it is from the rest of the home. Other rooms are mostly about your personal tastes, but when it comes to kids’ rooms, you have to take other factors into account: comfort, safety, child-friendly patterns and color schemes. And since kids can be really fickle, you never know what they really want. It’s no wonder that many parents save the kids’ rooms for last. Fortunately, there’s one thing you can both agree on: area rugs.

Carpet has been the top choice in children’s flooring for the longest time. But as they proved high-maintenance over time, designers eventually shifted to rugs, which were less permanent and easier to move around. area rugs have come a long way from the old Oriental and tropical designs we’re all used to. These days, you can find area rugs for country, Victorian, Asian, and contemporary homes, and for pretty much any area—including children’s rooms. Read on for a few ideas on choosing the perfect rug for your child.

Bright colors

Kids’ rooms tend to be colorful because kids are highly attracted to color. Bright shades like red, yellow, blue and green have been shown to increase their energy and imagination. And since a room’s color is mostly concentrated on the floor, a bright-colored area rug will make the perfect complement to a children’s theme. Red area rugs, for example, can set a vibrant mood during the day and get more toned down in the evenings, so your kid has time to wind down at the end of the day.

Be careful not to go overboard with bright colors, as they can end up looking cheap and tacky. If you’re using a bright area rug, balance it out with more neutral walls and surfaces. You can also use patterns to dilute the color without losing its appeal. Instead of a solid blue area rug, you can get a striped or floral one using different shades of blue. Try to keep it even throughout the room so you don’t get patches of light and dark on every side.

For girls’ rooms

When you think of girls’ rooms, the first thing that comes to mind is probably pink. It’s easily the most popular choice in girls’ décor. Needless to say, you can find pink rugs in just about any store and in any size, shade, and design. But would you really want your girl’s room to look like everyone else’s? If she insists on pink, try to make it different by choosing interesting shapes and patterns. Besides the usual squares and rectangles, you can also find round, oval, heart, and flower shaped rugs.

The main advantage of shaped rugs is that they add an interesting dimension to the room. Since most rooms have straight, angular walls, the soft curves provide a subtle contrast that makes it more visually interesting. flower shaped rugs make an interesting centerpiece for a large room, while a heart shaped rug would look great under a desk or beside the bed.

For boys’ rooms

There’s not a big market for boys’ rugs, but you can find a few good pieces if you know where to look. Start with a color that you both agree on and that looks good with the rest of his room. You can even use it to set the room’s color scheme. You can’t go wrong with a blue or green rug, but if you want something more neutral, you can also find brown, black, or beige rugs for boys. Try to avoid light colors if your child’s the active type—those mud and dirt tracks would be a lot more visible. Dark colors and patterns, on the other hand, can help conceal them.

Most boys’ rugs feature some sort of theme, such as cars, sports, books, or animals. It all depends on what your child is interested in. Boys tend to change interests over time, so it may be more practical to go for smaller, cheaper rugs in case you’ll have to change. Polypropylene rugs are quite affordable but very sturdy for their price, so you can get two or three different designs to alternate.

Animal rugs

If there’s one thing that both boys and girls would agree on, it’s their love for all things cute and cuddly. A girl may like birds and butterflies, while boys may be more into dogs, horses and wildlife. One thing’s for sure: you can’t go wrong with animal area rugs. Whether it’s a simple animal print or a real animal-shaped rug, it’s sure to become an interesting focal point for the room. If you’re building the room from scratch, you can even use it to set a safari theme—just add some creative wall art and you’ve got the perfect room for the animal lover!

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