How Big Should a Rug be Relative to a Room?

What Size Rug Do I Need Relative To The Room Dimension?

A beautiful rug can be a wonderful addition to any space. But choosing area rugs that set the right mood for your rooms is a challenge for many. With the wide variety of rug styles, shapes, colors, and patterns that are available in rugs today, knowing which size rug is likely to be a good fit for your space is a great place to start. A rug size guide or chart can be a helpful with discovering the most standard sizes for rugs, but these charts can still leave you wondering how do you tell if a rug is too big for a room?

In this article we’ll explore some of the common recommendations for choosing the right rug size based on room size and how you can use this advice best to create a look that fits your style.

How Much Smaller Should a Rug Be than the Room?

There are two different ways to determine the size of a rug that works best in a room, depending on if you want the rug to cover the entire room or if you want one to define a specific area within a room.

First let’s discuss area rugs or carpets meant to fill an entire room. Generally, if you want a rug to give the feeling of filling a room, it is best to choose one that leaves 18-24 inches of floor exposed on all four sides of the room. This creates a visual frame for the rug and allows the beauty of the flooring underneath to be seen.

Vintage Persian Bidjar Rug 46734 by Nazmiyal Antique Rugs

Vintage Persian Bidjar Rug #46734 In A Room Setting

For example, if you are wondering what kind of area rug is best (as far as size) for a 15×15 room when you want to cover the entire area, this 10×13 foot vintage Persian rug works well. As you can see, the rug leaves several feet of beautiful hardwood floor visible on all sides, yet visually fills the space and adds warmth and interest to the room.

Living Room Layout With Front Legs of The Couch and Tables Positioned On The Rug - Nazmiyal

Living Room Layout With Front Legs of The Couch and Tables Positioned On The Rug

Now we can explore smaller rug options used to define a smaller area within a room. There are many cases where you might use a rug to delineate a particular portion of a room, such as a seating area, dining space, reading nook, or common pathway. Buying a rug that covers just that space within a room is a great way to visually separate different spaces.

Modern Geometric Swedish Inspired Rug 61078 by Nazmiyal Antique Rugs

Modern Geometric Swedish Inspired Rug #61078 In A Room Setting

For example, if you are thinking about a rug size calculator for a sectional sofa seating area, this modern rug placement can give you an idea of one layout option. In general, you want a rug used to define an area in this way to be large enough that at least the front legs of the furniture sit on top of the rug. The 6×9 foot size area rug in this example comfortably fits both the room and the furniture.

Rug Size Calculator for Bedroom

When placing area rugs in rooms, there are some rooms that can be trickier to choose a rug size for than others. The bedroom rug is one of them, since the bed is such a large piece of furniture that dominates the room in most cases. There are several different rug sizes that are popular in bedrooms, depending on how the rug is positioned compared to the bed.

Bedroom Layout With Rug Positioned Under The Entire Bed and Night Stands - Nazmiyal

Bedroom Layout With Rug Positioned Under The Entire Bed and Night Stands

Bedroom Rug Size Layout Options include:

  • Rug completely under the bed: Usually has all four bed legs on the rug, plus 18-24 inches beyond the bed on both sides for night stands and a walking path.
  • Rug partially under the bed: Usually the rug is under only the bottom two thirds of the bed, leaving the top of the bed without a rug underneath. Generally rugs extend 18-24 inches beyond the bed at the sides to define a walking path.
  • Runner rugs along the side of the bed: Usually several inches wider than the nightstands and not longer than the length of the bed.
Bedroom Layout With 2 Small Runner Rugs Positioned On Either Side Of The Bed - Nazmiyal

Bedroom Layout With 2 Small Runner Rugs Positioned On Either Side Of The Bed

Calculate Rug Size for Dining Table

Similarly to a bedroom, selecting the right rug to put under a dining table can present a challenge. The standard advice for calculating a rug size to place under a dining room table is to add two feet to each side where chairs are used.

Rectangular Dining Room Table Layout With Rug Positioned Under The Table - Nazmiyal

Rectangular Dining Room Table Layout With Rug Positioned Under The Table

This is so that chairs can be comfortably pulled out when in use, and still remain on the rug. For instance, if you have a 3×7 foot table with chairs on all four sides, you may want to select a rug that is at least 7×11 feet in size.

Round Dining Room Table Layout With A Round Rug Positioned Underneath - Nazmiyal

Round Dining Room Table Layout With A Round Rug Positioned Underneath

Ultimately, the most important thing about choosing the perfect rug for your space is that it speaks to you and your design aesthetic. These guidelines provide a good place to start, but each space will be different, and each person is unique. So the above mentioned size guidelines are not set in stone. You can browse the huge selection of high quality area rugs in the collection of Nazmiyal Rugs for inspiration, and use our rug visualizer tool to try out different rug sizes in your space.

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