Blog

How To Choose The Right Size Rugs For Different Rooms |

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SIZE RUG. The size of the rug is the first and the most fundamental choice you will make. If the rug is too small or large for the area, it looks like you already had something that you are trying to fit in the area, rather than having purchased it especially for the area. Also, there is no rule of thumb that allows you to determine the size just based on the size of the room, mainly because there are many ways to setup a room with one or more rugs. Also, your furniture and its placement will also affect the size you choose. SIZE RANGES:Handmade rugs come in odd sizes, so you are better off choosing a size range than an exact size; so instead of saying you need a 9’.6” x 12’.4” rug, you are better off figuring out the size as 8’.6” x 11’.8” minimum TO 9.10” x 13’ maximum. This flexibility will increase your chances of finding the right rug for your room. The standard sizes categories for your reference are; 2×3 – 3×5 – 4×6 – 5×8 – 6×9 – 8×10 – 9×12 – 10×14 – Oversize – Runners – Rounds. OVERSIZE rugs are usually between 11 x 15 to 15 x 35. Huge palace size rugs are also available, but those sizes are rare. RUNNERS usually come 2’.6” to 3’ wide and 6’ to 25’ long. There are runners as long as 40’, but these are rare sizes. ROUNDS range from 3’ to 12’ diameter; larger rounds are available but rare. Alyshaan Fine Rugs in Scottsdale Arizona has 3200 rugs in stock and view-able online, which is the largest and finest selection of handmade rugs in Arizona. FURNITURE. The furniture also dictates what size rug you need to use; if you have a small sofa with a couple of sofa chairs, you may be able to get away with a smaller rug than if you have a huge sectional. 

PLACEMENT FOR SPECIFIC ROOMS:

BEDROOMS: Bedrooms can be done in many configurations. If you wish to step on a rug when you get off the bed, then you need either a huge rug that will come to, or under, the bedside tables, and extend enough beyond the sides and front of the bed to show itself. In this case, for Queen of King bed sets, you will need a huge rug like 12×15. Or you can place a couple of small accent rugs on the sides of the bed, and then place the main rug in front of the bed, or under the front part of the bed with most of the rug extending beyond the bed. In this setting, it usually works better to place the rug horizontally in front of a vertically placed bed, making a T.

DINING / BREAKFAST ROOMS: These are the most size sensitive rooms of the house; you must have a rug large enough to not only look big enough under large pieces of furnishings on them. The size also helps in keeping the chairs on the rug even after they are pulled out for sitting. A common rule of thumb is to measure 2 feet beyond the back legs of the chairs to allow enough room to pull the chair out. This doesn’t always work because of the different sizes of chairs, so the best way is to pull all the chairs back to where you can sit comfortably, and then measure a few inches beyond the back legs of the chairs, and this is your ideal size. If you have a rectangular table, your choice is easy; use a rectangular rug. But if you have a square table, finding a square rug will be very difficult, unless you have one custom made. If you are not willing to go the custom route, then use a rectangular or round rug under the square table; if done right, this setup looks nice. For a round table, the first preference is a round rug, but you can get away with a rectangular or square rug under a round table also. In the dining and breakfast rooms, it is usually better to have a rug that maybe a little larger rather than a little smaller. These are the only two rooms where it may be an ok compromise to go close to the walls of the rooms if you have to, to get a large enough rug to accommodate the dining set and pulling back the chairs. EXTENSION LEAFS: Don’t worry about every possible size of your dining table, if it has an extra leaf or two. Just figure out the way you would like to have the table setup most of the time, with or without leafs, and decorate around that because trying to decorate for every possibility will usually not result in the best possible size of the rug.

LIVING / FAMILY ROOMS: These rooms are the most versatile when it comes to the rug sizes you can use. You can get away with a smaller rug under the coffee table, or go all the way past the furnishings. Usually, the best and most economical way is to have the rug cover the entire area between the couches and chairs etc., and come to the front legs of these furnishings or just slightly under the front legs. The Family room, living room, bedrooms, entry way and kitchen are all easier to work with than the hallways and dining rooms. Just make sure that there is a nice border around the rug of the floor that the rug is placed on, rather than having a rug go from wall to wall. The feet placement on the rug, while walking or sitting, should be “entirely on or off” the rug rather than partially on. In case of a rug near a couch or chair, the rug should either end more than a foot away so that the feet can be entirely off the rug, or the rug should come to the couch / chair or under them so that the feet are entirely on the rug.

GREAT-ROOMS: It is a common mistake to try and do one large rug in a great room, you will be much better off, decorating and functionality wise, to have two main areas, the sitting area and the dining area, and place two rugs like these are two different rooms. Another common mistake is to assume that both rugs have to be going in the same direction, vertical or horizontal; don’t worry about that. Place rugs in each setting without worrying about the rug’s direction in the other setting. If you wish to do one large rug, which is the more expensive and difficult way to go, you can still make it look magnificent by ensuring that you use a rug that is big enough to comfortably hold both dining and family room settings easily. Most important in this setting is to use a overall design, one with no center medallion. You should NEVER use a center medallion rug in this application because it will always look weird, no matter what you do.

HALLWAYS: After the dining rooms, these are the second most size sensitive areas of the house. A runner even a couple feet too small or large will look odd. So try and leave at least a 6” border on each side length wise, and at least 3 to 4 inches width wise. If the rug is in a walkway, and this can be in a hall, or any walkway in any room, you would rather place the rug to where you would walk entirely on the rug, or totally off the rug, and never one foot on and one off, or partial foot on. The width is very important also; most runners come in a 2’.6” to 2’.10” width which is great for normal size halls that are around 4 feet wide. But for hallways that are much wider, you would need to get a much wider runner, which will take some searching because wide runners are far fewer than the standard size. As a rule, if you have 6” to 8” on each side of the runner in a normal hall around 4’ wide, it will look fine. But if your hall is 5 or 6 feet wide, then you can have a 12” to 15” border on each side and it will still look nice.

ENTRY / FOYER: The most common sizes for entry ways / Foyers are 4’x6 to 6’x9’, but it depends on the size of the room of course, and the furnishings you have placed. It is common for people to ignore entryways, which is a mistake. This is the first impression of the house and should receive special attention. Entryway is also the area where the thickness of the rug comes into play; where ever a door is opening over a rug, make sure the door has enough clearance.

KITCHENS: People are afraid of putting rugs in the kitchen due to the chance of spills, but if you are using hand knotted rugs made of wool, they clean very easily and last for generations. So you may not want to put the more expensive rugs in the kitchen, but it’s definitely ok to place rugs there.

Usually, the kitchen is done by either placing a couple of small rugs like 3’x5’ in front of the couple main areas, or if the setup allows, a couple of runners. Always choose wool rugs for the kitchen, as it is the most easily cleanable material; avoid silks and synthetic materials.

BATHROOMS: These are also rooms that people get scared of placing rugs and this fear is absolutely unfounded. Hand-knotted wool rugs handle moisture very well and they feel great under bare feet. Usually the bathrooms can be done with rug(s) in from of the sink(s), or one larger rug in the center of the room.

STUDY / LIBRARY / OFFICE: Never place a rug in a way that your chair is half on or half off; this will drive you nuts. Make sure the rug is totally away from the chair, or totally under its entire movement area. Also avoid very thick pile rugs under the chairs because they make it harder to roll the chair around. Usually these rooms can be done either with a large rug that covers most of the room and allows the desk and chair to be totally on the rug or you can place a smaller rug in front of the desk area.

At Alyshaan Fine Rugs in Scottsdale Arizona we have over 4000 hundred rugs in stock and view-able online. As a third generation, award winning dealer, we provide excellent consultation through our expert staff to assist you in choosing the right size and style of rugs for each area of your home. Just call us at (480) 607-4955 for impeccable service.

Get the ultimate area rug buying guide in the world at alyshaan.com

By Saeed Aslam

Related Posts

Leave a Reply