In its friendliest, most congenial presentation an area rug fits under the front and back legs of the furniture in its focal area. The rug should fit under the front legs of all the pieces in the area at the very least. If you have no choice but to use a small area rug within a large space then lay it at an angle to some furniture pieces to make it appear larger and more important. When an area rug is placed only under one piece of furniture, it gives power to that piece. This can be helpful when you want to call attention to an heirloom table in a hallway but not very gracious if you want equality within a conversation area. The area rug in a dining room should extend well beyond the table on all sides so that chairs remain on the rug when they are pulled out for seating. You don’t want people half on and half off the rug during dinner.
Don’t beat your rugs. People used to clean tugs by hanging them on a line and beating them, they even had special rug-beating tools. The great clouds of dust produced gave the impression that a lot of cleaning was going on when in fact beating a rug can tear it apart. Braided rugs are particularly vulnerable. At most, give a light-weight rug a good shaking to start the cleaning process. the best way to clean is to vacuum and shampoo.
