Using rugs as a wall hanging can be traced back to medieval times where hanging rugs were used as wall art and often told epic tales; perhaps the best known being the unique and beautiful Bayeux Tapestry woven using wool.
Can you hang a rug on the wall?
Even without an epic tale to tell, a wall hanging can set the tone and style of the vertical space it inhabits by filling it with texture, colour and warmth.
A modern home with its smooth surfaces can be bland, uninviting and one-dimensional. Hanging rugs add a sensory design element with their varying width, depth and composition and can warm up any white based or neutral color walls.
Hanging a rug in a vibrant color, with a unique design or from a past era can make a statement about your style and aesthetic. Mixing old, rustic or hand made items with the new and modern arouses curiosity and can provide coherence to your interior by echoing already existing elements. Consider this when you shop for your rug wall hanging.
What is the best place to hang a rug?
Treat your rug as a woven piece of wall art and you are sure to find the perfect site and space to hang it. Be it in the bedroom, the living room or dining room; your options are virtually limitless.
If your home has a grand entrance with high ceilings and bare walls, hanging a generous sized rug that spans the vertical space is an easy way to create a show stopping entrance way.
Hanging a rug on the wall above your couch in your living room adds texture to your decor. Just make sure you consider the relationship between the wall hanging rug and the other pieces in your room.
Amp up the style of the decor in your bedroom by using a wall hanging rug like a headboard; use it to set the color scheme or to inject a soupçon of sumptuousness, luxury or even decadence.
Whichever wall you choose to hang your rug on you need to ensure that it is not near a heat source or in direct sunlight. Hanging a rug above a radiator or fire will cause the fibres to become dry and brittle while sunlight will cause the beautiful dyes to fade. You also need to avoid dampness, so hanging rugs directly against the interior of the outside wall of your home is not recommended.
How do you hang a rug on the wall without damaging it?
Whether your wall hanging is big and bold or small and understated, it is essential that you hang your rug correctly with the correct loading.
The method that will give you the best results will be influenced by the wall loading and the size and sort of rug you are looking at hanging. Bear in mind, that not all rugs make ideal wall hangings. For example, hand tufted rugs work well as a wall hanging as they have a backing and so tend to hold their shape while hand knotted rugs, which do not have a backing, can stretch and droop over time as gravity takes its toll on your woven art.
If you use carpet clamps they tend to unevenly distribute the weight of the hanging rug leading to sagging and, therefore, should be avoided.
Carpet tack strips are also unsuitable as the sharp edges along the sides of each tack cut the fibres; they also eventually rust.
If your rug is a valuable heirloom, search for a qualified conservator who can provide you with information on the best method of hanging.
How do you hang a heavy rug on a plaster wall?
To hang a heavy rug on a plaster wall you need to drill where there is a stud and use a screw long enough to fasten into it. If no stud lines up with where you want to hang the rug install a toggle bolt or anchor. There are a number of anchors available, all rated by how much weight they can hold. Shop around to find one suited to your loading.
Using the hook and loop tape mount method is recommended for heavy rugs. It is not appropriate for thin or fragile textiles, like silk, or for textiles with heavy surface embellishments like beads.
The loop tape should be sewn onto the back of your rug, along the top edge. If your rug is of a high value it is suggested that you use a strip of plain, unbleached muslin, whose width is greater than the tape strip, to prevent any damage to the rug from contact with the tape or other materials.
The hook tape may be stapled to a straight, thin piece of wood that is the same width as your rug. This piece of wood is then mounted to the wall using brackets appropriate for the loading and the rug is attached by connecting the two tape strips.
If your rug is a particularly large size you might want to repeat this process so that there are three or four strips of wood stacked vertically to help support the weight of the rug and distribute the loading.
The second method of wall hanging your rug uses a curtain rod. A heavy cotton casing should be hand sewn onto the back of the rug to form a tube through which the curtain rod is inserted. This should be attached close to the top of the rug. The rod is then mounted on on the wall using brackets appropriate for the loading. The rod you use must be sturdy enough to support the weight of the rug.
For a design statement, extend the rod several centimetres beyond each edge of the rug, and cap with ornamental finials. Or, for a more modern look, you can hide the rod and brackets. The rod should be slightly narrower than the width of the rug, with the brackets aligned with the inside edges of the rug, so that the rug hangs in front.
How do you hang a rug on a wall without nails?
Hanging rugs directly on walls using nails is to be avoided. The loading is too great and your rug would pull itself apart. Instead follow the easy hook and loop or curtain rod methods previously outlined.
How do you hang a rug on a wall with dowels?
If your wall hanging rug is small and light weight it can be mounted on a wall with appropriate loading using an acrylic rod or a wooden dowel. The wooden dowel must be covered in an appropriate sealant and used together with a piece of washed, unbleached muslin. Make sure untreated never comes into direct contact with your rug.
Can rugs help with soundproofing?
A wall hanging rug or a carpet, particularly those made from wool, can significantly improve the acoustic performance of your space as they absorb sound and dampen any impact noise in a room from foot falls and dropped objects.
Did you know that wool carpet and rugs have been shown to produce 7-12 times less surface noise than bare tile floors? The unique porosity of the surface of wool carpet means that sound waves can penetrate into the pile, rather than being reflected back into the room as they would from a smooth or hard flooring surface. It has been demonstrated that as the wool pile density and height of a carpet or rug is increased the noise reduction coefficient and impact insulation also increase.
How do you soundproof a room with a rug?
If you want to lessen the impact noise in your living space but wall to wall carpet doesn't fit your design style then set a new trend with a wall hanging rug, ideally made from wool as it generally has higher weight and pile density than carpets made from synthetic fibres.
When you search through a shop looking for that perfect wall hanging rug with soundproofing qualities, avoid flat rugs as they don’t have the foundation for sound absorption.
Your rug wall will have the same sound absorbing effect in your room as a wool carpet on the floor, is easy to achieve, will give you the look you want without compromising your design, while doubling as a piece of art.
0 Comments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one to post one!