Picture this: you’ve recently moved into an apartment and your parents are excited to see your newly furnished living room for the first time. Consider which piece of furniture you think would make the greatest impression on them? Perhaps it’s the sports-themed couch pillows you got for your birthday, or possibly the elegant wooden coffee table you bought from IKEA, or maybe it will be that classic style movie poster you chose to put on the wall. How surprised would you be if the customized optical illusion rug you bought online would end up being the standout aspect of the living room? Since your fascinating new rug appears to make the carpet warp beneath the ground, it quickly dominates the conversation as your parents ask where you bought it from and consider whether they should get something similar for their house.

Carpet rugs may initially seem about as insignificant as a fancy banner hung up on the ceiling, but when chosen with care you may find they can add a lot to a room’s intended atmosphere. A typical pattern rug is a great way to strike a level of balance in a cluttered living room and make the space feel more relaxing to guests. If your apartment has a hardwood or ceramic tile floor, the rug may even provide a layer of protection and added warmth. Rugs are also easy to deploy and move around at a moment’s notice, making them a convenient decoration for birthday parties or holiday celebrations. Many of your neighbors probably have their own unique doormat rugs in front of their home which they swap out depending on the season or holiday.

But while most rugs are designed with generic patterns or expressions that amount to nothing more than bland, functional wallpaper, the custom-made rug can also serve as an extension of one’s own tastes and preferences. Let’s say you decided to style your bathroom around the Star Wars franchise and began purchasing any merchandise you could find. You’ve managed to obtain a shower curtain, a soap dispenser, and some towels and are now looking for some carpet rugs to match the theme. One of the carpet rugs you see online is shaped like the Death Star from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and you decide to purchase it, believing it completes the design.

Soon after this, you plan to add separate themes to your kitchen and bedroom, both of which will include matching customized rugs. For the kitchen, you’ve settled on a Minecraft theme and are having trouble finding a rug that fits while still preserving the desired style. It’s only when you come across a website which allows you to customize the image included on the rug that you believe you’ve found a practical solution. There are options to upload your preferred image onto the rug and choose the proper size and material. You select a square velvet rug featuring a pixelated sunset graphic that you licensed online and submit the order through the website. Once the rug is delivered, you find it matches perfectly with the other items and fits well within the kitchen space. You repeat this process for your bedroom and most of the other rooms in your home—refurbishing the area and ordering custom-built rugs as needed—content with the fact that you can personalize your house exactly to your liking.

Of course, the need for personalized rugs extends far beyond one’s residence. When it comes to arranging your office or studio workspace, the carpeting is just as important as the design of the posters or the layout of the desks. It is crucial for the rugs to be positioned appropriately and with consideration for the room’s ultimate purpose. A colorful pattern can add some much-needed contrast to a dull office break room but might be more of a distraction in a serious conference room. Many businesses may also elect to commission a doormat rug with their brand logo along with their personal motto or founding date so new visitors have a solid first impression of the company’s identity. Restaurants, cafés, bars, hotels, and gyms are just a few examples of locales who are likely to include distinctive welcome mats at the entrance of their establishment.

It's clear that custom-built rugs are needed for a wide range of different work environments. The rooms in a children’s daycare often require a rug that will help complement the playful aesthetic and would ideally include vibrant patterns so children are encouraged to play on top of them. The rugs seen in a kindergarten or preschool classroom are often chosen to enhance the educational setting and might consist of a labeled diagram with basic shapes, letters, or numbers. A therapist room or a hospital waiting room might seem a bit too confined without a gorgeous landscape carpet rug strategically positioned to soothe incoming patients. If a visual artist is looking for a custom carpeting piece to add to their studio, that person would most likely request a rug that is tailor-made with their own artwork and signature.

Customized rugs are a necessary part of many businesses and homes. They are much easier to clean and maintain than extensive carpet flooring and are a cheaper investment overall. If you own any pets, they will probably want to sleep on your rug regularly, so consider buying a custom one just for them. Your family may find the unique rugs you own to be a fascinating design choice that also makes your home feel more inviting. If you are part of a larger company, you may want a custom-made rug to accompany your brand image, so you can appear more influential to customers. And lastly, you may just want a personal rug that represents who you are as a person or reminds you of what you do in your daily life.

By: Robert Joyce