What Size Area Rug To Choose?
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What Rug Size Is Right For You?
With an endless array of rug sizes, some of which differ from the other by a mere fraction of an inch, deciding on the size of rug for a particular room can be fraught with frustration.
Smaller rugs are versatile; they can be placed just about anywhere and there is no one size that is perfect. If you are planning on using small rugs, you do not have to fret as much about the size of the rug. Large area rugs, however, can look rather odd if they are too small and can overpower a room if they are too large.
How Much Floor Space Should You Cover?
Take a look at the room and think about how much area you wish to cover. If you have just spent a fortunate renovating hardwood floors, you may want to include a small-sized area rug just to add warmth and to break up the starkness of the hardwood. Do not go out and buy a rug that fits exactly from wall-to-wall. If you wanted to cover the entire room, you might as well have left the floors alone.
Does The Rug Fit Under The Furniture?
If you intend placing a large area rug in your living room, for example, you will want to make sure that all of the furniture that you are using on the rug is completely on the rug. You do not want to have your sofa half on and half off the rug. The rug should be large enough to cover the entire area. If you do not have a rug large enough to cover the furniture area, then it is best not to put the furniture on the rug at all. Instead, place the rug in the center and arrange the furniture around its periphery.
The same goes for rugs placed under the kitchen table. Do not put a rug under your kitchen table and then have your chairs half on and half off the rug. Not only will it be a pain in the neck moving the chairs over the rug all of the time, it will also look decidedly un-tasteful.
Visualize Your Room
In stores, rugs are usually hung up so that potential customers can see their design. Unfortunately, most people cannot visualize how the rug will look in the room until they take them home. Is the rug too big? Is it too small? You may find a rug that you think looks just right for you, but when you get it home it overpowers the room.
- House Of Area Rugs
A great online source for all your area rugs. A great selection to choose from. - Using Rugs To Effect - Brighten Your Room
A great article about how to use rugs to best effect in your room. - Decorating With Red Rugs
A fun hub about the color red and using red rugs - a good read! - Choosing the Right Sized Rug
Some more information to ensure you buy the right sized rug.
Measure Your Room
In order to decide on rug size, the first thing you should do is measure the room. Many people do not even know the approximate dimensions of their rooms, never mind the exact size. Most people have never ever measured their rooms to find out.
Measure the area that you wish to cover with a tape measure. Which part of the floor you want to cover and how much you want to cover depends upon your personal preference. In a living room, most people cover that area that has the most traffic. If there is a coffee table, the rug could go under the coffee table and become the focal point of your room.
Measure the space that you wish to cover with a tape measure and bring those measurements to the store with you. Choose a rug that comes very close to these measurements. Chances are you may not find a rug that measures exactly what you are looking for, but that's ok; a slight variation in size can actually bring an exciting result.
Remember that there are no set rules when it comes to decorating your home with area rugs. Designers will however, advise you not to overpower a room with a rug that is much too big nor have a rug that is too small for the size of the room.
Taking the measurements of your room as well as the area of the floor space that you want covered are key to finding the right rug size for your room.
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Good information. I lived in a home with wall-to-wall carpeting most of my life until a few years ago. Now I have about 50% hardwood floors. I love the wood, but I miss the carpet as well. So, it can be tough (especially for a guy) to determine how much of an area rug to get while still maintaining the beauty of the wood floors. Thanks. This was a big help.
This is a great page on rugs. Never thought of installing it (due to hot weather in Singapore), but it is good to know more!
This is great information about Rugs...
Glad you all like my article. Rugs are just fantastic for a quick and economic home makeover.
Hardwoods with beautiful area rugs is such a great combination. Our living room is carpeted but we're currently enjoying a simple area rug from Target in our kitchen/hearth room. It really does break up the two areas and add some warm to the hearth area where we've set up a 19 " flat screen TV.
Is it ok to use any area rug if not placing a coffee table on it? We have a fairly small family room with L shaped sofas facing the fireplace and an occasional chair off the to right corner next to the fireplace. There isn't much room if you add a coffee table but the room could really use a bit of color as we decorate with all earth tones.
Hi Nancy
Your room sounds like the ideal space for a rug. And you certainly don't need to have a coffee table on top of it. Area rugs are a great way to add color.
My suggestion is to pick a rug you love and just go for it.
Take a look at www.HouseOfAreaRugs.com for a great range.
Regards
Aunty Sa
Thanks so much for the info and encouragement! I'll be going shopping very soon.
Nancy
No Problems - Rug shopping is so much fun! so many colors and options - the hardest part is just picking one.
I'm really struggling with this - I have a small area I'm turning into a TV watching room and am planning to use an area rug to add some color. I'm placing a small sectional - it's L shaped and approximately 7 feet in each direction - in a room approximately 13 x 16 feet. I'm thinking an 8 x 8 square rug would fit perfectly under the sectional - am I missing something? That way the furniture would be on the rug completely, which I think I want (no slipping and sliding on hardwood).
My living (18'x10') and dining (9'x5') areas are connected. Is a rug that is 7'6 x 9'6 too small to put in front of an 8 ft. theatre style couch with a coffee table? I'm also thinking of an 8'3x11 size.
Hi Del
It sounds like it should work ok.
One of the easiest and best ways is to get some sheets of newspaper - make a rug out of the sheets to the size of the rug and see what it looks like.
Regards
What great information. I use rugs all the time in every room of my home. So when I am deciding what size rug to use I just grab an old one and see if that size is going to work.
Love the hint about using newspaper for the sizing.
thanks for this great informaiton
A table cloth folded to size can also be good when trying to visualise how big the rug will look
I have a round table that has a leaf that we only put in for company. What size area rug should we purchase? Also should the chairs touch the hardwood floor when pulled out to use?
For those interested, I found some great pictures that tell you what size will have what affect in different situations on a rugstore website called World of Rugs & Furniture.
Take a look at: http://www.worldofrugs.com/shop/pc/Idea.asp
I think this is a great add-on to this article (it helped me out for sure!).
Ruglover...
If you're going to post a comment - at least follow the rules! Comments are NOT for promoting your sites.
All you are is a self-promoting spammer.
Nia,
I do not know where you get that idea from. It's a site I ran into and think it's a helpful page for others.
I do like rugs, but that's it. I do not work for them.
So if posting a link to a site with additional information to this article is called spamming, I guess 99% of all blogs are filled with spammers.
(just my 2 cents)
Thank you ruglover, your link is exactly the information and visuals I have been searching for!
I am new to everything and the net particularly but I just happened to run across this site when I was getting a tad confused about the size rugs to order and I always read almost every comment so I came across the one pointing me to a "visual" that actually helped me figure out what the various sizes meant and how to possibly use them. So, I say if it was spam it was the very best spam I've run across. Thank you, thank you .... those pictures with the sizes was excatly what I needed! Thank you to this site and particularly to ruglover.
Thanks you Abfabu and Bott, you make me blush ;o)
But all credit had to goto World of Rugs & Furniture.
They're the once who placed it on their website!
But I'm glad I ran into it and were able to help others, by pointing it out.
You are SHAMELESS Ruglover! But thank you for the useful information! Not so much a spammer as you are an oportunist!
Going to grab my tape measure!
Elle Joi
@ elle_jay_see
LMAO! You're too funny ;o)
Glad it was useful to you as well as it was to me and thank you for seeing me an oportunist... You just made my day a lot better!
We just instlled bamboo flooring and love it. The dining room has a short wall next to it, and if we put in an area rug it will protrude into the foyer area and cover a lot of the nice new floor. How about an area rug just under the dining table? The other choice is to skip it entirely and just put one under the coffee table in the living room opposite. Really need some input on this, thank you.
Hi Maryski,
Thanks for stopping by. A rug under the dining table is a great idea and always looks great. Just make sure that it is large enough that when the chairs are pulled out the rug is large enough that they still sit on top of it.
Why not get a matching set of rugs, one small for your coffee table and one for the dinning table, that way you will tie the two rooms together.
Did anyone answer Ginny Lovett? I also have an expandable dining table. It can seat 2, or 4 with one leaf in, or 6 with 2 leaves in. What size rug would be best? Should we get a rug big enough for the maximum seating set up, or for the usual daily set-up? I guess we have it set up for 4 people most of the time (but we could change that for looks). Thanks!
I guess what I'm asking is: Won't it look weird to have a small table and chairs on a large rug?
Rugs are very creative designs for a house. Any size will do as long as it goes along with the house's interior color and designs. Having a small table and chairs on a large rug doesn't pose a big problem. just make certain that the rug doesn't cover all the floor and the furnitures are arranged well and in an organized position.
To KH,
I think your decision regarding the size of what rug to put under your dr table would also be affected by how large an area you have. For example my table is in a pretty small dining area that has room for expanding the table but that is not only rare but affects a traffic pattern when it is extended. So for me to put a larger rug there for the rare times the table is huge wouldn't work, just because it would affect the traffic flow. My dining room rug is the size of the eating area with the table at the usual size, allowing for chairs to be pulled out and all. However if I had a super big dining area, I might do it differently and for that matter just keep all the leaves in the table since it looks cool!!! :)
Hi. Just wondering if you have any suggestions as to what the best type of rug is for underneath a dining table? ie. easiest to clean etc. as we have 3 small children (messy!!). Your help would be appreciated.
Rachael, I'm not an expert but I have found wool rugs to be extremely durable and are easy to spot clean quickly and without much effort. Also would suggest a multi colored designed rug like a Persian rug so when you do get spills, and you will with little ones, it is easy to clean up. If you do end up with a stain it will be less noticeable but my experience says with wool you more than likely will not end up with a stain after cleaning up the spill. Persian rugs come in all kinds of designs, big or small florals, geometic shapes, animals and even more modern styles too. I love to shop ebay (no I do not work for ebay)because they really do hold their sellers to a higher standard than they once did. And when it comes to Persian or hand knotted rugs don't be afraid to haggle over the price as it is the custom in the country of origin in which they come from. Just remember when you make an offer and they accept your offer that is the same as having made a bid and you are now obligated to follow through with the sale so do your homework before making a bid. If you think the persian rug cost more than you want to spend then check out the local discount stores like Target. They have rugs in current designs, colors and synthetic materials but expect to replace it often as they do not clean up well and the size you are talking about is too large to wash in the machine.
KH, I agree with cindybo’s thinking. Our dining room measures 13’7” x 11'11” The measurement we keep the table at is 5’10” x 3’6”, and will seat 6 people comfortably. The table will expand another 2’6" when the whole family is here to seat 10 people. I decided the ideal size of rug for this room was an 8' x 10'. In addition to the table we have a china cabinet on the longest wall that comes out 17” from the wall and a buffet that sits on the shorter wall that comes out 22”. This leaves ample room to walk around the table on the rug with the chairs pushed in while also leaving ample room to pull the chairs out from the table and seat yourself without the legs getting caught up on the edge of the rug. This also means we don’t have the heavy china cabinet or buffet sitting on the rug which allows us to rotate the rug periodically to prevent a wear pattern from developing without having to move these heavy pieces, and have a nice area of the wood floor exposed. We thought if we went with a 9’ x 12’ it would have made the room look cramped plus we would have had to place part of the china cabinet and buffet on the rug and part of it off the rug which we read you want to avoid. When we expand the length of the table we leave the two end chairs off the rug so there is not a problem for us to seat ourselves.
When you begin decorating your home there are some important factors to consider. Your floors will usually be the foundation for your design. You have to consider the size of the rug, the area in the room to be covered, color, durability, shape, furnishings, etc. Don't select a busy area rug if the room's color scheme and patterns are busy as well.
Future owners of rugs must not forget that many carpet stores can help you with choosing the right size for your space. Provide them with pictures, the dimensions of the space and a couple of pictures and they can help!
Is it considered okay to put the same rug (two of the same model) in an adjoining living room and dining room?
Hi Al,
There is no reason that you couldn't do that. The only time that it is not advisable is if the actual decor of each room is totally different and the same rug would cause a clash in either room. Having the same rug could actually tie a theme throughout the house and would look great.
I am trying to find a rug for my kitchen, which has warm colors and a slate floor that is gray/brown/orange tones. I think it would be best to just get a solid rug to not clash with the floor but am finding this is hard to find. Also with it being under the table do I have to stick to the persion type rugs that are pretty flat or could I do a more casual rug that might be shag? My house is very casual, nothing fancy so many of the kitchen rugs I see don't fit my taste. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!
businessmaninboot 3 years ago
Great information, We were talking about ripping up the carpet and going with rugs the other day. Thanks,