Rug Rules 101
Ok, after many (many many) requests for a primer in rugs, here it is! Rugs can cozy up a space or ground a seating area while drowning out sound and adding pattern and texture. They’re must-haves when it comes to design, and the right rug in the right room can really finish the space and add style to spare. So without further ado, a room by room breakdown with size specifications and general rug rules to live by when picking out the perfect floor covering:
In your dining room, the rug under your table should be big enough for all of the chairs to be pulled out with all chair legs remaining on the rug (this usually calls for an 8×10). Something with a border or a pattern is a great way to add interest and texture to a space that usually has a whole lot of wood (it’s always nice to break that up with a stylish area rug, especially if your floors are also wood).
In your bedroom if you’d like a rug to cozy up your bed (and save your feet from a cold hardwood or tile floor) you should grab something at least 5×8 (maybe 8×10 if you have a queen or a king sized bed) and lay it horizontally under your bed. By laying it sideways you’ll have about two feet of overhang on each side of the bed and you’ll want to pull the rug down to match the overhang on the bottom (so there’s also 2 feet of overhang at the bottom of the bed as well). Picking a material that’s cushy will add to the soothing, restful feeling, and selecting a smaller scale or more subtle pattern (even a solid colored rug) might make the most sense when setting a serene scene.
In the kitchen you’ll want a durable rug. Natural fibers like jute and sisal work well because they can be shaken out and easily vacuumed cleaned while an indoor/outdoor rug is also a fabulous and hardworking idea. You can opt for a small doormat sized rug in front of the sink or a larger rug to cozy up the entire cooking area. We like cheerful stripes or colors in a kitchen, so feel free to have a little fun in this space (especially since 3x5s and 4x6s are super affordable and easy to switch out- you can even do this seasonally if you’d like).
When it comes to your bathroom you can have a little fun. Since rugs are smaller you can splurge on something a little more special, and while there are many lush and plush bathmats out there, we’ve heard time and time again that regular rugs (like a gorgeous oriental carpet) can really stand up to wet feet just as well as a rug intended for the bathroom. Try hitting up a place like Marshalls or TJ Maxx for something ornate that’s not an actual antique. You can also bring in a bold colored rug to spice up a bland white or neutral room to inject a bit of sizzle for next to nothing (it’s a whole lot cheaper than replacing the tile floor!).
In the living room you’ll want your rug to cozy up and ground the seating area so it should be at least as long as your sofa (many of which are around 80 inches, so you’ll want a 5×8 or even an 8×10 if you have a larger seating area). Even if your living room has wall to wall carpet, a nice area rug can add pattern, interest, color, style, and of course define the seating area like nothing else. So we highly recommend bringing in a gorgeous rug no matter the current flooring in your living room to add comfort and maybe even define your color palette for you (find a gorgeous multi-colored rug and pull pillow and curtain colors straight from your new area rug to make the whole space cohesive and inviting). Then remember to keep at least the front legs of your sofa, your loveseat and all the accent chairs on the rug (while the back legs can remain on or off depending on the size of your rug).
Your sunroom or screened-in porch is where you can really bring the outside in. We love a nice jute or seagrass rug to add some texture and a dash of that island vacay feel. And you can either go wall to wall with a natural fiber rug or just settle on another area rug to define the seating area (in our case we have a nice 5×8 from Pier 1 which is wider than the daybed to ground the area and add cozy-factor to our hard cement floors).
And on a personal note, we just scored a cheerful new rug for the living room (at a major discount thanks to the DIY shoot) so here’s a little teaser shot:
Stay tuned for a pic of the whole rug (and the rest of the room). Until then, happy rug hunting!
Images courtesy of PointClickHome (except for the pooch pic at the end)
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Comments
Do you have any tips for choosing the right rug pattern for a room? I want something fairly bright and geometric for my otherwise neutral living room, but since I’m shopping online and return shipping isn’t so cheap, I can’t test out a lot of options. Any guidance on the right pattern? For example, will a large-scale pattern make the room feel bigger or smaller than a small-scale pattern? I really appreciate the help!
Hey Stef,
The key is to find the right pattern to work with whatever else you have going on in the room. So if you have a big bold pattern on the sofa, pillows, curtains, etc- you’ll want to keep the rug more subdued and less busy so it doesn’t compete. Here’s a post all about mixing and matching patterns and prints: http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/02/pillow-talk/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thanks for the help. Sorry for asking another question, but I’ve come to trust your judgment. What is your opinion on synthetic rugs? Would you buy a rug for your home that’s made of synthetic materials, or do you stick to wool, jute, and other natural fibers (and why)? Thanks again!
Hey Stef,
That’s totally personal preference! We stick to wool, cotton, and jute/natural fiber rugs for the most part (just because we like that they don’t smell chemically or pill like synthetics can)- but it’s really your call!
xo,
s
Hi! I’ve been trying to find a picture that shows what kind of rug you have in your striped bathroom. Am I missing it? If there’s not one, would you mind describing what you have in there? I have a bathroom with similar colors…
There’s no rug in there since there’s no shower (it’s just a half bath). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi Sherry! I love your blog and am really inspired by the passionate, joyful way you’ve both chosen to live life. Kudos!
Here’s my rug question: our living room is about 10×17, with a fireplace/TV/couch seating area at one end (takes about 2/3rd of the room) and the other end has bookshelves and will (eventually) be home to a chaise or small desk.
Do you think it’s weird to do an 8×10 rug under the main seating area and then leave the other end of the room bare? I don’t want to do a custom-sized rug. Thanks in advance!
Hey (again)! I think I answered my own question by revisiting your pictures of your living room and den…. :)
Also, what do you think about an indoor/outdoor rug for the living room? I love the pattern of one of the indoor/outdoor rugs by Dash and Albert but I’m worried that it won’t give enough coziness?
Hey Shannon,
As demonstrated in our den and living/dining room, we’re all about using a rug to define a specific area (like a dining zone or a sitting area) so it’s totally fine to use a rug in one area of a room to ground those furnishings and delineate that zone. And when it comes to an indoor/outdoor rug we’ve heard that they can be durable and awesome, the only complaint that has come up a bunch is that because they’re synthetic some of them tend to offgas (stink to high heaven) for so long that people are driven to return them or dump them in the garage. One quick attempt tot cure this can be laying them out in the sun on a few hot days. The heat causes things to offgas faster thereby hopefully getting rid of that plastic smell. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This is one of those cases where there’s really not one right answer. It could look amazing or feel a little repetitive/unbalanced. We would definitely say to go for it and see how it feels, especially since you have a backup plan for the 5×8 rug. Good luck!
xo,
s