Nevertheless, if you run such an establishment, you don’t want to be hidebound. In many cases, the difference between a successful bar and a failing one is small and the décor can play a major role in encouraging people to walk through the door in the first place. If you need to make your place more appealing, you have to go for it.

Many bars in urban areas are rented premises and there’s only so much you can do when the space is not your own. The ambience can feel a little cold as a consequence with the generic nature of the underlying décor shining through. In this context, a rug or two wouldn’t go amiss.

Rugs are well-suited to such premises as they bring warmth and a splash of colour. They soften hard surfaces and bring life to your environment. Also, while carpet brings with it cleaning problems, rugs are far easier to maintain, meaning you can keep the place looking good with little effort.

Carpets can be particularly problematic. No matter how frequently you vacuum them, thicker ones seem to accumulate hairs over time. A far better solution is to have solid flooring and to soften the look with a rug.

While rugs are also liable to collect fur, they are much easier to clean. They have a smaller surface area for one thing, but they can also be lifted, which makes cleaning easier. Even so, it would be best to avoid the thicker pile rugs or sheepskin and the like. Rugs with short, dense pile are easier to look after and there are also many that are washable.

Pets bring a lot of joy to a home, so don’t let that joy be compromised by the amount of cleaning you have to do.

This is not uncommon. Decorating is a balancing act and if we err on the side of caution too much, we can end up with an insipid space, lacking vitality. The safe option is always to opt for beiges and creams and other neutral colours, but go too far and what are you left with?

If you finish decorating a room and find yourself in this position, don’t feel too dismayed. You may simply need to add a few accents to bring some life to the room. One thing you could think of adding would be a rug. Rugs come in a number of different styles, patterns and colours and can serve as a valuable focal point in a room. They can provide a dash of colour which will stand out beautifully against all those understated colours you have used elsewhere.

No matter what the wattage of our bulbs, natural light is a great deal more powerful than artificial light and it can mean we perceive colours in a slightly different way. What might in winter seem like perfect, complementary colours, could seem slightly off in summer.

If you find this has happened with regards to your rug, there’s no real problem. You don’t need to redecorate your entire room – you just need a new rug. There is no need to throw away the old one. Instead, you can have a summer rug and a winter rug and swap them round according to the time of year.

In winter we look for cosiness and warmth. Thick, plush rugs seem the order of the day and darker colours might also seem more attractive. In summer, your feelings might change and you might want a lighter rug – both in terms of the material and the colour.

Summer is a time of colour. Flowers bloom and the light is good. In this context, you might feel you can get away with a brighter colour than during the winter. Similarly, heavy materials might not feel so good underfoot at a time of year when you might be feeling overheated.

Bare floors aren’t visually appealing at any time of year, but different rugs suit different weather. Why not invest in a summer rug and a winter rug and switch between them according to the season?

There are a few general rules when dealing with colour. One of the basics is that you should try and match colours from the most significant pattern in the room. That could be the wallpaper, curtains or your sofa. It could even prove to be the rug, in which case look for understated background colours for other elements in the room which will help the rug remain the focal point.

Secondly, try and use complementary colours. There is a science behind this. You can find colour wheels online which will give you an idea what colours go with what. You can either use adjacent colours or opposing, contrasting ones.

Finally, stick with your own tastes. There is no point being too methodical about things. What do you like in a room? Choose your rug accordingly.

Shaggy rugs are particularly popular for the homely feel they engender. Why should this be? Why should a patch of fabric make you feel differently when everything else in the room is exactly the same?

It’s funny how the human brain works, but you don’t actually have to be in contact with something in order to feel it. Once you know that the rug in the middle of the room is thick and soft, you associate it with those physical feelings, so that eventually, you will feel warm and relaxed simply by looking at it.

A rug also softens the look of a room. Whether you have carpet or floorboards, a wide expanse of floor looks somewhat stark. A rug will break this up a little and if it brings softness and warmth in the process, so much the better.

Fortunately, this second scenario is easier to salvage than the first. All you need to do is bring a few elements into the room to set against the low-key backdrop. By creating a focal point, you will give the room structure and it will feel far less drab as a consequence.

If you don’t have a fireplace or a grand window then a lot can be achieved with the right choice of rug. Flooring is generally fairly plain, because it covers such a large area. However, rugs are different. Rugs don’t go all the way up to the walls. Instead, they offer a dash of colour and interest.

The options available to you are almost endless when it comes to rugs. You can create visual interest via the rug’s pattern, colour, shape or texture.

But which is the right way round to do things? Should you decorate your room and then look for a rug to fit it, or should you buy a rug and then work to complement it with your décor?

There is no right or wrong, really. It very much depends what is most important to you. If you’ve got your eye on a particular rug, why deny yourself? Get the rug, put it in place and then think about what colour to do the walls.

On the other hand, if you’re really keen to have the room a certain colour, you can paint first and then look for a rug that will fit with its surroundings. That said, perhaps a safer way of taking that approach would be to buy your rug based on the colour you intend to paint the room, but not buy the paint until the rug is in position. You might find you need a slightly different shade than you thought.

Gooch rugs
Gooch rugs tend to be of a more traditional design. You’re less likely to find brightly coloured geometric shapes and more likely to see subtle designs produced in high quality locally sourced materials, such as silk or wool.

Frans Molenaar rugs
Frans Molenaar is a Dutch designer who offers two distinct lines of rugs. The first is made in Holland from New Zealand wool using the ‘fusion bonded’ method. These are plain loop, premium pile rugs. The second line features hand-knotted Nepalese rugs made from wool and silk rayon. These feature traditional patterns and organic motifs.

Jeff Banks rugs
UK designer, Jeff Banks, is one of the best-known names in home furnishings. His Ports of Call rug collection is handmade in China and features contemporary styles. His rugs are generally more colourful and shaggy rugs also feature.