A nice lady named Mary wrote to me on my last post, ( Start with an Area Rug) wanting to know what size and shape of rug to buy for her dining room in relation to her table. So, I thought I’d answer her here and post some guidelines for sizing up area rugs in rooms.
The first thing to know about rugs is, there’s a wide range of sizes. Some are standard sizes, some are not. Manufactured and handmade area rugs come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, rectangles, squares, circles, ovals and runners. Let your room size and what you want sitting on the rug dictate the size and shape. A round table looks good on a round or square rug. A rectangle table on a rectangle rug. A furniture grouping works well on a rectangle rug. A square table or furniture group works with a square rug.
Here are some general guidelines that will help you choose an area rug size. (click on pictures to enlarge)
Living Areas:
As a general formula, for a room-size area rug, use an area rug that’s 3 feet smaller than the dimensions of the room (length and width). That would equal, 1/1/2’ feet of floor exposed on all sides. To get this size, you may have to customize the rug.
Another look, is to define and contain a grouping. If you want the entire furniture grouping to fit on the rug, (top illustration) measure the grouping while set in place on the floor, and purchase a rug with approximate outside measurements. Usually a 9’x 11’. or 11’ x 13’ rug would contain a sofa, 2 chairs and accompanying tables nicely.
With a smaller rug, it’s OK to arrange a grouping where the back legs of the furniture are off the rug (see illustration). As long as the front legs of all the pieces are set on. This anchors the furnishings to the rug and solidifies the grouping. Try a 7’x 9’ or 6’x 8’ rug for this look.
If you want to show off your floors more or layer an area rug over a low pile carpet, drop down a size and set your furniture grouping around the perimeter of the area rug on the floor or carpet, in close proximity to the rug. Use a 5’ x 7’ sized rug or one near that size. Anything smaller than that looks under-scaled or out of proportion for the grouping.
Dining Areas:
A general formula for a dining area, is to use an area rug that’s at least 30 inches larger, on all sides than the table surface itself, round, oval, square, or rectangle. This provides space for the chairs to sit and slide in and out without getting caught up on the edge of the rug. Example: A 9’ x 11’ size rug works well with a 42-46” wide 72-76” long table.
I like using patterned rugs in these areas because if food spills, spots and stains aren’t as noticeable.
Bedroom Areas:
In bedrooms, area rugs look best if they are large enough to fit all or partially under the bed and extend out onto the floor at least 30″ larger than 3 sides of the bed. A great look is to set the rug ½ to 3/4 of the way under the bed, leaving 30”or more of rug exposed on the end and sides of the bed.
You can also center a large area rug in the center of the room and arrange your bedroom furniture along the wall area. The bed will sit partially over the rug, but the rug will look centered in the room (in illustration).
You also can layer area rugs over low pile wall-to-wall carpeting.
More Rug References:
Can’t find a rug the right size? Have one made out of broadloom carpet in any size or shape. There are many patterns, colors and textures to choose from. You can add contrasting borders or insets, or keep it plain and simple. Most carpet stores can do this for you. Give them your dimensions and tell them you want a finished or “bound” edge. These rugs can be reasonably priced depending on materials.
Always use a rug pad under area rugs. This gives stability, substance, longer life, and protects flooring underneath.
Make your own size and shape rug with carpet tiles. They come in lots of patterns, solids and textures to mix and match. Purchase them separately and you become the designer.
Whew, that was a lot of rug ranting, I hope it was helpful. These are just guidelines and approximations to work with. There are no hard and fast rules, especially in design. Drop me a comment if you have any questions.
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1. Hi Cathy -
Thanks for the thorough information on rugs! Over the years I’ve run into lots of questions about the proper size/use of rugs so I know I’ll be sending this link out quite frequently!!
I quite often find what I call the postage stamp effect — a teeny, tiny area rug “stuck” under a coffee table. In two cases, the clients knew each other and thought I had something against oriental rugs because I had rolled up a rug in each home! LOL! It wasn’t that I didn’t like the rugs, in both cases it was that the placement just wasn’t complementary to the rug or the furniture placement!
Thanks again for sharing great information!
by Denise — 8/16/09 at 3:51 am #
2. Boy that answered alot of questions…thanks…..
by Julie — 8/16/09 at 7:35 pm #
3. This was a very informative post! Looks like my living room rug is too small, but I will probably wait until either the dog tears it up or my child spills something on it before I get a bigger one! This will be helpful though for our basement we are finishing, the illustrations are great!
by Rachel — 8/17/09 at 12:22 am #
4. Hello Denise,
You’re welcome! It sounds like you’re a designer. Your story rang true. Those “bath mats” just don’t cut it. lol. Most people error on the side of “too small” of a rug for the purpose intended. But price is a big factor for a larger rug. Save, until the right size can be purchased, then the grouping will look nicely balanced.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write. I enjoyed your comment.
by Cathy — 8/17/09 at 4:23 pm #
5. Hey Julie,
I’m glad some questions were answered. Rug size and shape is always a challenge for many. There are no exact rules and who wants to follow exact rules in design anyway. Then it would’nt be creative and innovative. Go by what looks balanced and proportioned and you should be OK.
Always enjoy your comments.
by Cathy — 8/17/09 at 4:33 pm #
6. Hi Rachel,
I like the way you think. Keep what you have for now or move it to a new location if you want a change. It sounds like you’re doing some great decorating in the basement. It amazing what you can do with a basement. Candace Olson on HGTV Devine Design transforms basements into beauties. It’s amazing what she can do. Check her out.
Have fun with the baby and the dog and write back soon.
LYC
by Cathy — 8/17/09 at 4:44 pm #
7. Hi Cathy,
Can you use a rug underneath of a cocktail table with wall to wall carpeting. Our couch is purle and wall to wall is purple. The table is a dark wood. Can you suggest a green accent color that would look good to pick up in the rug. As always thanks for help. I love reading your comments.
by nancy — 8/19/09 at 8:28 pm #
8. Hello Nancy,
Thanks so much. Your colors sound lovely together, especially the addition of a green to your purple color. It’s the complementary color and very harmonious together. Yes, you can add an area rug under your cocktail table on top of your carpeting. Just keep it in scale to your furniture grouping it accents. Don’t get it too small, or it will look like a bath mat. A 4′ x 7′ size may be as small as I might go, preferably a 5′ x 8′ or larger looks better.
As for green colors with your purple, beautiful, purple is a striking color, so I would suggest a yellow/green muted moss or olive green to accent it. It would look great in a patterned area rug, pillows and even draperies. Maybe add a small touch of orange…flowers, bowl of oranges, art for a punch of accent to the mix. This would be a triiadic color scheme, very sharp.
Much success with your area rug and decorating your lovely home, it sounds unique and exciting.
by Cathy — 8/21/09 at 1:08 pm #
9. In a living room with dining area at one end, should two area rugs be alike or can they have different patterns – one under coffee table and one under dining table and chairs? Floors are hardwood. Thank you.
by Iris — 8/26/09 at 1:31 pm #
10. Hello Iris,
Great question! No, both area rugs don’t have to match in the 2 areas in one room. But, they should relate to each other in some way. Be it color, or style. If you have a patterned rug in one area, pick up some of that color in the other. Keep styles similiar. If one rug is traditional, stay in that style for the other. If you can’t find two that work well together, have an area rug made with a solid color field and contrasting borders that have the same colors as the patterned rug. This will tie the two together with less pattern in the room.
Hope that answered your question. Enjoy your home.
by Cathy — 8/26/09 at 11:59 pm #
11. Hello Cathy,
I have a qustions, I live in a townhouse and need a rug for my den/ bump out room (11.5 x 11.5) off the kitchen. The room will have two chairs and a coffee table(oval shape). The chairs are busy ( Tan chair with robin egg blue and choc. brown circles all over them. I want to get a dark brown shag rug. Can you tell me what is better a 6′ round or a 5′7. The floor is hardwood.. Thanks for the help!
by Sonia — 9/16/09 at 9:20 am #
12. Hi there Sonia,
What a great “bump-out” room you have in your townhouse. It will make a nice sitting area with your lovely furnishings you mentioned. As for rug shape and size for the space, you can go a couple of ways. Since the room is square you could use a round rug or a square rug. The round one is interesting, because the upholstery fabric on your chairs has circles in it. Also the oval table is rounded. So the circle shape repeats itself in your elements. You could get by with a 6′ round. The back chair legs could sit off the rug and expose your nice hardwood floors more. Or go a little larger keeping all the furnishing pieces on the rug. Measure the grouping while in place on the floor to find the size you want.
A square rug would look good as well, since the room is square. Measure, the same as above to get the size of the square for the room. I would stay on the larger size for both so it’s more in scale with the room.
If you can’t find a ready-made shag rug in your size, most carpet dealers can cut and bind carpet to size for you.
It sound’s like a wonderful place to relax and be very stylish as well.
Enjoy!
by Cathy — 9/16/09 at 7:16 pm #
13. Hi, I have a problem … it turns out the area rug I just got is slightly too small for the dining table it’s under. It’s approximately 9′ x 6′ (width is slightly less than 6′ actually) and my rectangular dining table sits 4, and is 3ft wide. The chairs on the longer side of the table tend to ‘catch’ the rug when being pulled in or the two back legs of the chairs end up on the hardwood floors.
Is there a way to widen the rug or do something else? I really don’t have anywhere else to put the rug. Any suggestions will be helpful.
Thanks much, a!
by Amy — 11/8/09 at 8:53 pm #
14. Hello Amy,
First of all, you said you “just got” the rug. Would it be possible to return it and find a rug the next size up. Most stores will be happy to exchange it or take it back (within their policies) if you explain your problem. If that doesn’t work, (and this is off-the-wall), could you try to arrange the rug, turning it 90 degrees, so the long side of the rug keeps the side chairs completely on and the end chairs may be off the rug completely. This my be a little unorthadox, but worth a try. It might look really interesting and solve your problem in a creative way.
Other than those ideas, I’ll open it up to anyone who might have a solution.
Let me know if the repositioned rug works. Good luck’
by Cathy — 11/9/09 at 6:14 pm #
15. rug store…
Your post on HomeGoods Openhouse” Blog Archive ” Sizing Up Area Rugs I found to be a valuable read when I was searching for rug store info….
by rug store — 3/28/10 at 1:33 am #
16. I am thinking of getting a round area rug to put under our square dining table, is this Ok. our table is 4′ 1/2 feet and the area rug would be 8′
by jordanq — 6/16/10 at 11:28 am #
17. Hello Jordan,
Yes, a round area rug for a square table is fine and your dimensions look good as well. I would not use a round rug with a rectangle table, but square or round will be in scale and proportion to the larger round rug. It sounds great and should look nice. Add maybe something round on top of the table to repeat the shape again…large bowl, vase, or planter. It will look nice. Enjoy!!
by Cathy — 6/17/10 at 1:40 pm #
18. We just purchased a home and the dinette (where we will do our every-day eating) is plushly carpeted. Is it ok to place a large area rug under the dinette table and chairs to catch spills? If it is “proper,” what kind of rug should I look for? Thanks
by Stormie — 6/30/10 at 6:26 am #
19. Hello Stormie,
Thanks for your great question. Yes, It’s perfectly alright to place an area rug over carpet.
In your case you want to keep spills off the carpet. I would suggest an area rug that was a man-made fiber. Even an indoor-outdoor rug would function well for you. Many of the indoor/outdoor rugs look as good as any, and they are very durable. Most are made from polypropylene, Derclon, or other manmade fibers. These are made to resist stains, mold and mildew and many can be cleaned by hosing them off outside. So, look around to see all the great patterns and colors in these manmade rugs. You’ll love how they hold up under use and abuse and best of all how great they look.
Enjoy your new home!
by Cathy — 6/30/10 at 4:37 pm #
20. hello, i have a bay window in my dining room, with an oval table. The table measures 66×47
i dont know what shape of area rug i need,or what size.
by christine — 8/6/10 at 12:34 am #
21. Hello Christine,
Your room sounds beautiful with its bay window and oval table. Ideally, I like to put an oval table on a rectangle rug or a large oval with plenty of room to slide chairs in and out. An 8′ X 11′ size is ample, or somewhere in that range since rugs are not too uniform. But, with your bay window, I’m not sure how wide it is or how your table sits in the room. if the table sits more in the bay then the oval rug might work best within the curve of the bay, then the window limitations would dictate the size. If you can’t find a size and shape that works, you can always have a rug made to your specifications. There are many patterned broadloom materials that can be bordered and made in any shape and size. Or you can use solids and add borders to coordinate with your room colors.
I hope that gave you some ideas. Thanks for your good question.
by Cathy — 8/6/10 at 1:23 pm #