Ideas for Simulated Area Rugs

Tile

• Tile floors lend themselves well to simulated rugs because you or your tile installer can easily lay out a rug-size pattern into the floor with tile. With tile there are so many options, from classic black-and-white checkers to bright, colorful stripes. Tile, whether ceramic, porcelain, stone, glass or linoleum, is available in many sizes, colors and shapes. Your options are limited only by your creativity.

Paint

• If your floors are wood or concrete, you can paint a "rug" directly onto the floor. Use painter's tape to create borders and stripes, or paint a solid-colored rug on the floor and freehand in delicate details such as birds, flowers, fruit or a paisley pattern and even fringe on the edges. Use stencils if you don't feel confident about your freehand painting.

Stain

• Wood and concrete floors also can be stained. The look is more subtle than paint but still delivers plenty of style and helps delineate the room. Use painter's tape to create geometric patterns such as checks, stripes and borders. You must use wood stain on wood floors and concrete stain on concrete floors.

Scored Concrete

• The top surface of a concrete floor can be scored to give it the look of a rug. Scoring is the act of cutting grooves into concrete, which basically draws lines on the floor to break large expanses of floor and add visual interest to the room. You can score the concrete to look like a rug with borders, diamonds, checks or other patterns or shapes. If you like, you can stain different parts of the scored floor or keep it all one color.