Although area rugs are usually sought after for their appearance, they do offer functional benefits that we often don’t realize. They absorb sound and prevent an echo from hard surfaces in the space, such as you would hear in a commercial setting. By absorbing the impact of your footsteps, they take the pressure off your feet. They are a great way to create cozy, intimate zones within your home; partly because rugs are made from a softer material than a hard floor covering, but also because they help ground and tie various pieces of furniture to feel like a grouping.

In my experience, people tend to picks rugs that are too small for their spaces. There is a common misconception that we should keep the seating off the rug so that we can see the entire rug. While it makes sense that we want to show off all of the rug, it actually works better if you think of the rug as a canvas and the furniture as art.

Picking the right size is no easy task given that rugs come in standard sizes, whereas living room sizes are atypical. Custom sized rugs are definitely an option, but come at a premium. Sometimes we have to make do with a rug size that doesn’t quite check all the ‘perfect-fit’ boxes, but below are some guidelines to determining the size that works best for your space.

Living Room

The goal of the rug in the living room is to visually frame your seating area. The scale of the rug should be proportional to the seating area; typically the rug runs the length of the sofa. A simple rule of thumb is that you want at least the front legs of your furniture to rest on the rug. You also want the rug to extend past the sides of the sofa by at the least 6” but ideally 8”.

All the furniture does not have to literally sit on the rug, but there are cases where this might work. If you have a really large living room, you can pull the area rug about 18” off the wall to create a focal point and in this case you might have your furniture grouping rest on the rug. What you don’t (never) want is to have your rug fully in front of your furniture! Remember, your rug is not framing just your coffee table; it is framing your conversation zone!

Dining Room

In the dining room, you should be able to pull your chair back from the table and slide it in without snagging on the edges of the rug. This is usually about 2 feet of space around the dining table.

Bedroom

In a bedroom, bigger the better :o). If you have the room for it, pick a rug that that will completely frame your bed and nightstands. Functionally, you want to be able to land your feet on the rug when you get out of bed. Aesthetically, since the bed covers so much of the rug, its nice to see more of it at the sides and about 8” - 12” past the foot of the bed. Typically in a smaller room, you would locate the rug starting in front of the nightstands, i.e. the head of the bed will not be on the rug, but there will be ample rug on both sides of the bed.

Designer tip: Invest in a premium rug pad. Not only does it keep your rug from slipping and creeping but it also prolongs the life of the rug by reducing friction between the rug fibers and a hard floor.

If you’re overwhelmed with rug options or need help envisioning a functional layout for your space, give me a call, I would love to help!