Trampled Under Foot - Rugs Can Soften Stark, Open Spaces

Lock those who prefer wall-to-wall carpeting in a room with those who prefer hardwood, and the only thing you're likely to find on the floor when you open the door is blood.

So let's begin by saying that both have their appeal under the right circumstances. But with the urban boom in loft or loft-style apartment and condominiums - not to mention the huge urban supply of historic or rehab homes - that include hardwood, bare floors can be a special challenge, especially in the colder months.

Anyone who lives in such a place can tell you that on icy mornings when the thermostat has been sitting at 62 degrees all night, a wood floor that adds such warmth to a room's appearance can still feel like a cold marble slab under bare feet.

But the point isn't just the practicality of avoiding frostbite on your tender tootsies during that sprint to the shower. As decorative elements, rugs can serve a number of functions.

In wide-open areas, they help denote specific zones, such as those for dining, living or entry. For instance, not matter how artfully and purposefully arranged they are, a dining room table and chairs in an open space will look like little more than furniture sitting in the middle of the floor without a rug to, for lack of a better phrase, mark its territory. Well chosen and placed rugs serve as lines of demarcation for each "room" of a large, open area.

Rugs can also help coordinate colors and provide cohesion to a palate that might at first have seemed a bit disparate. A couch and chair that at first glance don't go together can be pulled together remarkably well with a carpet that effectively incorporates the colors of both. A great pattern can also make up for otherwise drab furnishings, adding a splash of personality where none was evident before.

Perhaps most important, though, is the way a rug can bring warmth - both visual and physical - to a room. Face it: As pretty as that random width pine floor might be, a whole room of it broken up only by furniture tends to look a little stark.

It's worth a viewing of "Lawrence of Arabia," the desert epic set among the nomadic Bedouin tribes, just to get a real feel for how important rugs are in breaking up the monotony. Outside of the sheik's tent? An eternal sea of sandy beige. Inside? A visual explosion of patterns, weaves and colors that allowed inhabitants and guests to comfortably recline in soft luxury.

Even if you'll be sitting in chairs and don't usually travel by camel, it's easy to appreciate why so much effort was put into the creation of rugs in Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan and Pakistan - what used to be called the Orient. You want every part of you that touches the floor, even if it's just your feet, to be comfortable. -