Joanna Gaines Has the Perfect Rule For What Size Your Area Rug Should Be

You already know award-winning textile company Loloi for its gorgeous (and affordable!) area rugs, but now you'll know it for something else: a collaboration with beloved, prolific designer Joanna Gaines, the tour de force behind the popular brand Magnolia Home and one-half of the HGTV smash Fixer Upper.'

The new collection of area rugs and throw pillows dropped last week (and is now available for purchase at a few of the best home decor brands), but we just got the chance to catch up with Joanna and ask her a few questions about how she likes to style such home decor mainstays. If you're in the market for a spring refresh, these could be just the collection — and how-to piece — for you. Each piece is neutral enough to fit in with most design schemes, elegant and luxurious enough to brag about, and affordable enough to invest in. Sounds like a trifecta if you ask us!

Joanna Gaines' Do's and Don'ts for Rug Placement and Styling

When it comes to rug styling, there is no better person to ask than the rug designer herself. So though this advice isn't collection-specific, Joanna did share with us a few of the guidelines she normally follows — and we'd bet that criteria applies in the case of these Loloi pieces, as well.

'I’m not one for rules, but I do like to begin the design of any space with the rug first, and then use that foundation to build on with furniture and decor,' she tells Livingetc. 'So really, it’s about choosing a rug that you love and then letting everything else fall into place once that color palette is established.'

Regarding sizing, 'it’s usually a safe bet to opt for the larger rug,' she continued. 'Counterintuitively, it can often make the room it’s in feel larger, too. The general rule of thumb is that at least the front legs of the piece of furniture, but ideally all four legs, should sit on the rug.'

Joanna Gaines Dos and Don'ts for Throw Pillow Styling

Of course, we had to pick Joanna's brain about her favorite throw pillow styling techniques, as well. The designer tells us she likes to 'start with the largest pillow first, which is usually the one in the back,' before she reaches for something 'textured and neutral that I can then build on with other colors and patterns.' Much like her approach to rugs, her approach to throw pillows involves starting with a 'beautiful textured neutral' then 'playing up color and pattern from there.'

Luckily though, Joanna doesn't believe there is a really a wrong way to do this. 'It's more about what speaks to you,' she says, 'as long as there's a unifying color or texture style that pulls it all together.'

Shop the full collaboration here and some of our favorite selects below.

Our Favorite Rugs From the Joanna Gaines x Loloi Collaboration

Our Favorite Throw Pillows from The Joanna Gaines x Loloi Collaboration