7 Interior Design Tips Using Cowhide Rugs and Accessories

Cowhide furnishings are so versatile and make great characteristics to set your home décor apart! However, interior design can be hard to master, and one of the most difficult parts is where to begin.

If you've been hoping to use cowhide rugs in your living, dining, or sitting area but aren't sure about the best way to maximize their use, look no further! In this article, we'll give you 7 tips and ideas for decorating with cowhide rugs, and you'll get your creative wheels turning!

1. Matching Colors With Your Room

One of the greatest benefits a cowhide accessory has to offer is how interesting it looks compared to other, more regular types of rugs. One of the ways they offer this pleasing irregularity is the fact that cowhide rugs come in a diverse array of color.

However, "matching" colors doesn't always mean that you should buy a cowhide piece that is similar in tone and hue to all of your room's current furniture.

If you've done any kind of designing before, chances are you understand that not every color looks good in combination.

For example, if you've got a room full of dark mahogany furniture, having a chocolate cowhide rug could wind up making the place look gloomy and depressing. All of that darkness thrown together is a design disaster!

Instead, consider going by the rule of contrast: if you have lots of blank or white furniture in the room, try a patterned cowhide rug. Or, vice-versa, if you do have plenty of dark design elements, go with a white cowhide rug, like the one featured on Cowhides Direct!

2. Measuring Your Area

Once you've found a cowhide rug that is the perfect cut and color, you may be tempted to put the cart before the horse and buy it right away, only to discover that the rug won't fit in the planned room!

Measuring the area you want your cowhide piece in is essential to being satisfied with the product. Cowhides are measured from the two widest points and the two tallest points. This means that you should definitely decorate with a cowhide rug that is a little larger than you initially plan for, since the overall area that the rug covers will be smaller than the measurement listed.

If you're hoping to arrange your furniture on just a corner of the rug, you'll need to consider the distance between that piece of furniture and any you don't want touching the rug.

Alternatively, even if you decide to purchase a cowhide pillow or throw, you wouldn't want that piece to be too large or look ridiculously small on the couch or chair it will be decorating. Measuring may be a hassle, but it is better than being disappointed in the size of your product when it comes time to place it!

3. Combining Cowhides and Furniture

If you're stumped on what kind of cowhide product would work best in your space, consider combining cowhides with furniture. A cowhide accentuates the overall look of a room, but this is done particularly well when furniture is placed on top of cowhides!

For example, placing a product like the California Swivel Glider Chair on top of a cowhide rug can compliment the rug’s pattern and color while adding dimension to the space.

An ottoman, like the Mountain Modern Cowhide ottoman or a Cowhide Small Roll Top Ottoman, can offset a cowhide rug’s more irregular shape with something more uniform, as well as matching nicely with the overall style that a cowhide represents.

Additionally, putting a dining room table on top of a cowhide rug can add texture and a feeling of warmth to the dining room. It gives the space where families and friends gather to eat a homey, cozy feeling.

4. Accessorizing With Pillows

Sometimes, if your living room or bedroom has a cowhide rug and furniture but still seems to lack cohesiveness, an accessory or two can help tie everything together!

It's all about design symmetry. For example, if you have a brown and white cowhide rug and several seats made of a solid color, this means that your patterned rug may stick out a bit like a sore thumb among all those pieces that are monochromatic.

In this case, finding brown and white cowhide pillows that actually match the rug can "spread" the pattern to the edges of the room, giving the illusion that the furniture belongs together with your rug!

On the other hand, if it isn't cohesiveness that your interior design lacks, cowhide pillows are still a great element to use for their own sake. They are not only stylish, coming in a variety of patterns from brindle, to beige, to speckled, to tricolor; they are also practical.

Additionally, sheepskin pillows can be a great way to mix up the design of your room. They carry the same soft, warm vibe that cowhide rugs do without matching too closely, adding a new level of texture to the overall feeling of the room.

Remember, pillows can be transferred to different rooms a lot more easily than whole pieces of furniture, if you ever feel like mixing your house's key patterns up now and again!

5. Accessorizing With Sheepskins

In the same way that pillows can be a great way to create a matching feeling, tying your room together, throws are another excellent option! Instead of cowhide, consider the super soft, luxurious sheepskins as another option.

The thicker texture of a sheepskin not only feels wonderful, but can add character to a room that is otherwise looking a little flat or simple. For example, try throwing a sheepskin over an Albuquerque Turquoise Western Leather Sofa to add a lighter color to the piece.

Sheepskin throws can instantly transform a living room from a stiff, formal place to a warm, cozy hangout that feels like home. It also combines well as a contrast to the smoother aesthetic of cowhide and leather products.

This same principle of contrast is especially true when using sheepskins as a throw for dining rooms, which traditionally include more straight-edged, streamline furniture that could use the softness a sheepskin provides!

Sheepskins can not only be used as throws. They also work as dimensional rugs for smaller rooms, including bathrooms or foyers. Sectioning the more limited floorspace with sheepskins can add a level of depth to the space.

6. Consider Calf Hides and Goatskin Rugs

Goatskin rugs and calf hides can be used similarly to cowhide rugs, but help to differentiate smaller spaces better. Instead of placing a large piece of furniture like a sofa on one of these, try placing smaller products near it.

For example, settling a Hill Country Desk Chair, with it’s white accents, over a pale variant of the Goatskin Hides as a rug can not only make a study space feel self-contained, but stylish!

7. Layer More Than One Rug

Finally, whether you can't decide between your favorite cowhide rugs, or need to add some depth to the interior design of the room, try layering more than one rug.

This can be done either with jute rugs, or more than one cowhide product. In fact, according to Decoist.com, "the cowhide adds character to the plain rug and gives the entire space a fresh look!"

Jute rugs are made from jute plant fibers. This rug made from natural materials are not just eco-friendly, but great in practical use for collecting debris and dust that would be harder to remove from cowhide rugs alone.

One of the best ways to use a jute rug is to lay it down as the solid color base or foundation for the room's visual style. Then, place a goatskin or cowhide rug on top for depth. Sometimes this works best when the jute rug is the color of the cowhide's spots, but sometimes contrasting light and dark patterns between the two looks better depending on the furniture nearby.

If you decide to place more than one cowhide rug together, keep that same rule of contrasts in mind! It can look cluttered to have two cowhides that are almost, but not quite, the same color stacked on top of one another.

In any case, layering rugs, whether they are jute or of the same kind, can accentuate a specific spot on the floor and create a sense of dimensions in a space.

In Conclusion

In the first tip, we covered how important it is to contrast colors instead of matching them when decorating with cowhide rugs. In the second we remember how important it is not only to measure your room and furniture, but to understand the measurements of cowhide rugs.

In the remaining tips, we went over how important it was to juxtapose your cowhide rugs with other products that fit well with the space, such as leather furniture on top of the rugs or sheepskins used as accents!

Remember that calf hides and goatskins can add dimension to smaller space, too, and layering rugs on top of one another, especially with jutes, can further this goal.

In summary, cowhide rugs are useful in decorating a room because of one main design principle: contrast! Whether you’re building off a foundation of pre-established furniture or purchasing a cowhide couch, ottoman, or leather desk chair, these products are versatile enough to add warmth to an interior design.