Thursday, May 20, 2010

Determining a Rug Size for your Living Room

We get asked this question a lot:  How do I decide what is the correct rug size I need for my space?  Today we'll help you out!

Rugs are usually specified to help pull a furniture arrangement together.  Many times, without something visual to pull everything together, furniture can look like it is placed haphazardly around the room.  (Even if there is some organization to it.)  I find that when choosing a rug size you want one that will just cover the space underneath your furniture arrangement.  Don't worry about all of your furniture fitting on the rug, just make sure that the front of the sofa and chairs are on the rug and you'll be fine!  It's always better to go larger than smaller if you're unsure about the size.

Are you visual like me?  Here are some examples of some good sized rugs and not-so-good sized rugs:





Notice how in the two examples above the rug really helps to make the arrangement feel like one large, well-placed, arrangement.

See how in the bad example the rug is too small?  Instead of pulling the arrangement together you've added something else that just clutters up the visual space.  A well sized rug will help to provide a more cohesive look.

Good luck with your rug hunting!

5 comments:

Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife said...

This is SUCH great advice. Thanks for sharing it with us!!

Melody said...

Perfect! The visuals totally help. Thanks so much.

Traveling Mama said...

This is awesome! I just wish I had bought a bigger rug in Morocco... but then again my living room will probably be teeny tiny in Denmark so it won't matter!

Michelle N said...

Great advice. But can you put a rug on carpet? I would love too. Is is a design no no?

erin said...

No problem! I'm SO glad that this helped!

Michelle: Rugs can work well when placed on carpet. The only time that this might not work as well is if you have a super plush carpet.