Size & Placement
Most rugs that disappoint are the right design at the wrong size. This page sets out how much rug each room needs, and why.
Before you measure
Three measurements settle most of it. Take them before you look at designs.
The size you need will narrow the field faster than anything else will.
Measure the space
Measure the full floor area, wall to wall, including the parts you do not intend to cover. What you are deciding is the relationship between rug and floor.
Measure the furniture
Measure the footprint of the whole setting, not the individual pieces. For dining, measure the table with the chairs pushed out.
Choose the layout
Each room below offers two or three layouts. They are not stylistic preferences. They produce different sizes.
Living Room
The living room gives you the most latitude and the most opportunity to get it wrong. In open plan spaces the rug is doing structural work. It tells the eye where the room begins and ends. Without enough of it the seating reads as furniture pushed against walls rather than a room within a room.
Three layouts are open to you. Each one produces a different size, and each one suits a different space.
All furniture on
Every leg sits on the rug. Defines an open plan space and asks for the most floor.
Two legs on
Front legs on, back legs off. Holds the setting together where the floor is tighter.
Furniture surrounding
The rug sits clear as a centrepiece. Nothing covers the design, and it needs the least floor.
Dining Room
Dining is the least forgiving room in the house. A rug that stops short of the pushed out chairs will catch every time someone stands, and it will wear at that edge long before the rest of it shows anything.
The measurement is fixed. Match the rug shape to the table shape, and choose a material that will take spills. See Materials and Construction for what suits.
Rectangular
For rectangular and square tables. The most common of the three and the easiest to place.
Oval
For oval tables. Follows the line of the table rather than fighting it.
Round
For round tables. The shape does the framing, so nothing else has to.
Bedroom
The bedroom rug is judged with bare feet, first thing, before anything else has happened. It needs to be underfoot when you step out of bed, on both sides and at the foot.
The second consideration is stability. A side table with two legs on the rug and two off will rock. Put the tables fully on, or leave them fully off and bring the rug forward.
Bed and side tables on
Everything sits on the rug. The most generous option, and the only one where the side tables stay level.
Bed on the rug
The rug starts in front of the side tables. Underfoot where it matters, with less rug overall.
Runners either side
Two runners rather than one rug. Underfoot on both sides for the least outlay.
Foyer & Entryway
The entry is the only room where the rug is the whole statement. Nothing sits on it, so the design is read in full by everyone who walks in. It is also the hardest working floor in the house, and the only one most people cross in shoes.
Set the rug to the space, not to the furniture. Leave floor showing on every side so it reads as placed rather than fitted, and keep it clear of the front door before anything else. Entries take more grit than any other room, so construction matters as much as size. See Materials and Construction for what suits.
Rectangular
For a defined entry with a console or bench. Set clear of the door swing and clear of the furniture face.
Round
For a formal foyer. Centred on the light fitting and held clear of the bottom step.
Hallway
Hallways are decided by what is already fixed. Doors swing. Skirtings and architraves take width you thought you had. Measure to the narrowest point, not the widest.
Leave floor on both sides so the runner is framed rather than wedged, and be as generous as the width allows. A narrow runner is awkward to walk on and it reads as an afterthought.
Running between cabinets
Equal floor either side. The runner is framed by the floor rather than filling it.
Allowing for the door swing
Set back from the arc of the door. Clearance first, then centre what is left.
If the size you need does not exist
Standard sizes are made to suit most rooms. They are not made to suit yours. Any design in our collection can be made to your dimensions. Our design studio has worked this way for twenty-five years, from a measurement, a floor plan, or the room itself.