Almost every rug that gets returned or replaced was the wrong size, not the wrong pattern. A rug that is too small makes a room feel smaller and leaves the furniture looking unanchored. Here is how we size a room.
Living rooms
- The rug should be large enough that at least the front legs of every seat sit on it. That single rule fixes most rooms.
- Better still, all legs on the rug — this needs more floor, but it makes the seating read as one piece rather than furniture arranged around a mat.
- Leave roughly 18 inches of bare floor between the rug and the walls, less in a small room.
- In practice, most living rooms need at least 8 by 10, and large or open-plan rooms often need 9 by 12 or bigger.
Dining rooms
- Measure the table, then add at least 24 inches on every side. That is what lets a chair pull out without catching the edge — the test people forget until they live with it.
- A rectangular table wants a rectangular rug; a round table looks best on a round or square one.
- Low pile is worth choosing here. Chairs move more easily and crumbs come out.
Bedrooms
- The usual approach is one large rug under the bottom two-thirds of the bed, extending 18 to 24 inches past the sides so your feet land on wool.
- The alternative is runners on each side of the bed, which suits a room where a large rug would cover too much of a good floor.
Entries, halls and kitchens
- Runners should stop about 4 to 6 inches short of the walls at each end, and leave a few inches of floor on each side.
- For entries, choose something you are willing to have cleaned often. This is where the sand arrives.
Before you decide
- Tape it out. Painter's tape on the floor in the exact size of the rug tells you more in thirty seconds than any amount of measuring.
- Then take the rug home. Light, floor colour and furniture change a rug completely, which is why our in-home trials cost nothing and always have.