Select the Right Size Rug for Your Space

A perfect fit

Rugs not only protect your floors, they can also add depth and a stylistic element to your rooms that you can’t get from furniture or décor alone. Enlarging smaller areas and grounding larger spaces, they’re able to add so much visual interest to your home while pulling rooms together and unifing all the furnishings in the space. Importantly, they also add warmth to every room, even when used in addition to carpeting, creating a sumptuous and more luxurious surface to walk across in your home. A good rug will do all of this and even more, lasting for years to come. Our easy guide to help you select the right rug for your space.

Selecting a rug for every room

Living room

Area rugs in the living room add warmth, delineate space and create a wonderful area for entertaining. They also absorb noise, which is helpful in high-traffic rooms where lots of people gather. To select the right rug for your space, consider the following in regard to size:

(A) Small. Some people prefer to use smaller rugs with all peripheral furniture (sofa, chairs and side tables) surrounding it. The rug works as a centrepiece and soft walkway. With smaller and medium rugs, you have the freedom to layer up to create different colours, patterns and textures, which is a beautiful look in relaxed, coastal and bohemian spaces.

(B) Medium. For medium rugs, the surface area should be large enough that the front legs of the major pieces of furniture can be placed on top of it. Having the front legs of the biggest pieces of furniture on the one rug pulls those pieces together and draws the eye to the centre of the room to create balance and unity. This approach is the most common in interior design.

(C) Large. When all the legs of the furniture in your room are entirely on the area rug, the space feels unified and cohesive, which can be achieve with large rugs. If you like this look, go for the largest size rug you can afford as it gives the comforting effect of full carpeting yet with the opulence of a rug.

Smaller rugs can work as a centrepiece for a room. Alternatively, layering different coloured, patterned and textured rugs is a beautiful look in relaxed, coastal and bohemian spaces.

Hallway

The perfect rug for a hallway is a runner. Find one that will run the length of the area to make the hallway appear longer.

Rug size will vary based on the width and length of your hallway, but it should be 10 centimetres or so less than the width of the space. Leave even amounts of space at both ends of the runner and each side.

You can attach grip pads or mats to each corner to stop the rug moving around with foot traffic, if this is an issue in your home.

Dining room

In the dining room, the rug rule is simple — the table and chairs should fit completely on the rug and the rug should be at least 50 centimetres larger than the table on all sides. Diners should be able to slide their chairs all the way out without catching the edge of the rug.

In the dining room, the rug rule is simple — the table and chairs should fit completely on the rug and the rug should be at least 50 centimetres larger than the table on all sides.

Bedroom

Rugs in the bedroom create a calm and cosy feel, especially when you step out of bed in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning with bare feet. Even in carpeted rooms, they add an extra layer of snuggle-factor in the room that loves it the most.

For king, queen or double beds, place a rug underneath your bedroom setting to create a soft path around your bed. Large rugs can be positioned under all of your furniture and medium rugs can run from just after your bedsides to a metre or so beyond the toe of your bed.

In single bedrooms, you could use a large rug to fill the room and have all the furniture positioned on top of it. Or you could use a small area rug or runner alongside the bed, which is a little more affordable in a child’s room, yet still offers softness underfoot when you get up at night and in the morning.

Rugs in the bedroom create a calm and cosy feel, especially when you step out of bed in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning with bare feet.

Get the look

Visit us in-store or online to select the right rug for your space. We’ve also got a guide to picking the perfect rug for your home, taking into account colour, texture and zoning.