A few months ago, we layered a really gorgeous vintage rug (from here) on top of our FLOR tiles in our entry. While we loved the character it added, and the extra layer of dirt camouflage, we struggled with it constantly bunching and moving around on top of the FLOR carpet squares. Often resulting in a look more like this:
I ended up rolling it up for our big Halloween party so it didn’t become a hazard, but I was determined to keep it in place without excessive straightening every afternoon. Whether you’re layering area rugs, or putting an area rug over wall-to-wall carpet, or just laying an area rug over hard flooring, here are the top 5 tips and methods for keeping them exactly where you want them.
1. Rug pad
The most obvious is a rug pad. We have them under every area rug in our home to help them last longer and stay put. This gorilla grip one is great (and cheap!) for area rugs directly on hard flooring, but we opted to use this amazing rug pad (with so many great reviews) for keeping these two rugs together since the FLOR tiles don’t slip themselves. The pad’s fibers are especially grippy–they’ll even stick to your fingerprints) and the rugs have been smooth ever since.
2. Strips of silicone-based caulking or hot glue.
If you’re wanting a more DIY route, Martha Stewart made adding strips of caulking on the back of an area rug a thing back in 2002 (!!), although the process has mixed reviews. The “fails” I read all used latex caulking which soon rubbed off, so that could be a factor.
Along the same lines, Gimme Some Oven used hot glue on the back of her rug with great results. Just make sure it’s fully cured before flipping it over!Â
3. VelcroÂ
Here’s an example of a blogger that used velcro on the back of an area rug to keep it in place. Of course, you’d have to be okay with attaching the other half of the hook and loop to your flooring.
4. Double-sided Tape.
This double sided indoor carpet tape promises it will stick to any kind of flooring, including carpet without leaving behind any sticky residue when you want to pull it up–which sounds pretty great.
5. Stop Curling corners.
Lastly, sometimes your area rug, even if you have managed to keep it from slipping around, still has stubborn corners that won’t quit curling. I see it all the time on Instagram. This NeverCurl product is our favorite solution for that. No more curling corners, ever!
This is a great subject that need solving, thank you!! I came across the idea to use hot glue a few months ago, I thought it was a genius idea!! For my situation it did not work at all and I also did not think twice about putting the rug in the dryer until it was too late!! Sure was obvious then!!
This is so cute, All the rugs are so beautiful share more interesting blog like this
Its a really nice website. Thanks for giving full information about rugs. You can also check at rugsuk.
can you tell me how not to trip over an area rug with padding? thank you
Hmm, maybe your pad is a little too thick?
Hi – does anyone know where I can find the off-white herringbone looking rug that is underneath the vintage rug in the cover photo for this article?
The herringbone ‘rug’ is made of FLOR squares. Linked in the article above.