Choosing The Right Rug - Placement and Size

When it comes to interior design and decoration, we have found that rug sizing and placement is often a point of confusion for our clients so we thought we should give you some general rules to help guide you for your next rug purchase.

Living room rug standard rule of thumb

A rule of thumb for the living room is that the front legs of the sofa and armchairs should always be sitting on top of the rug. Ideally the rug should sit approximately halfway through the depth of the sofa so that the end of the rug is out of sight under the sofa. This also means that the rug needs to be longer than your sofa and deep enough to allow for your armchairs or second sofa. A REALLY large open living room

For very large open living rooms that have floating sofas/armchairs, we recommend that the scale of the rug be large enough for all of the furniture to fit on top of the rug. It's important to ground the space so that the furniture doesn't look like it's floating or 'lost'.

Dining room rugs

A rug under a dining table is a lovely addition to a big dining space. Ideally the rug should be big enough to be able to pull the chairs out whilst still remaining on top of the rug. This applies to both round, square, and rectangle designs.

Break-out areas and reading nooks

Instead of floating two armchairs and a side table together it's a good idea to group them by adding a rug. Depending on the shape of the space, a circular rug is a softer shape and allows for a little more flexibility. Just remember that the front legs of the chairs need to be on the rug!

A rug under the bed

We love a layered look of placing a rug under a bed. With this in mind - again, don't under-do the size of the rug. At a minimum, a rug under the bed should come up at least halfway (3/4 ideal) of the bed and be visible on each side and base of the bed by at least 300mm.

A rug to make an entrance

There are a couple of ways you can add rugs in your entryway for a plush layered look. In a large square entrance, a round rug floating in front of a console (or even sitting under one corner of a console - if you're playing on an asymmetrical look) is a great option. If you have a long hallway we recommend a runner, which you can have a standard 3000mm or custom sizing up to 6000mm+.