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Rug Size Guides

How to Place a Rug in a Living Room

Since living rooms are such an essential part of everyday life, striking balance is crucial in creating a comfortable space. How you position your living room rug has a big impact on the room’s style and balance, which is why we’ve created a guide to help you determine the best way to place your living room rug.

How to Place a Rug in a Smaller Living Room

The size of your rug should scale to the size of the furniture it is set up with in order to avoid choosing a rug that is too small or too large. The length of your rug will likely be as long as your main sofa if not a bit longer, and to tie the space together, there may be some overlap with the furniture. Setting the front legs of the sofa/chairs on the rug is one option, but having a coffee table atop the rug can also ground the space. The most popular rug size for small living rooms is a 5x7, since it balances well with the average sofa and seating area of small living rooms.

How to Place a Rug in a Mid-Sized Living Room

In medium sized living rooms, you will likely have the furniture overlap with the rug a bit more. The rug can rest just under the front legs of the seats or go about a third beneath the sofa. This setup will enable you to balance the furniture, the rug, and the size of the room so that each accent can shine in the space you have. Rugs that sit too far in front of the seats or too far under them will feel imbalanced as the rug is either too hidden or too large in comparison to the furnishings. 6x9 and 8x10 rugs are the most popular options for medium sized living rooms.

How to Place a Rug in a Larger Living Room

Larger rugs are appropriate to balance bigger sofas and sectionals in large living rooms. In these situations, it is best to have some overlap with the furniture. Rugs can sit under the front legs of the seat if the room is extremely large or is situated in an open-concept layout. In other cases, you may slide the rug halfway beneath the seats or have it all the way under them to strike the proper balance between the rug, furniture, and room size. Rugs that are too small or too hidden will make the room feel larger but emptier, which does not strike the proper tone. 9x12, 10x14, and 12x15 rugs are the three most popular options for large living rooms.

How to Position a Rug in the Living Room

All Sofa Legs off the Rug

This setup is ideal in smaller living rooms and works well with 5x7 rugs. In these cases, the rug can tie into the space by overlapping with a nearby accent like a pouf, plant, or other small accent if you prefer not to have your sofa legs on the rug.

Front Sofa Legs on the Rug

This layout works in both mid-sized living rooms and larger spaces. In medium living rooms, you will likely have just the front legs on the rug and have the rug’s edge right at the feet. However, if your room ranges from medium to large, you can slide the rug further under the seat while having just the front legs on the rug. 8x10 rugs work well in this scenario.

All Sofa Legs on the Rug

All the sofa legs sitting on the rug works best in large living rooms or living spaces in open concept homes. In these cases, you can have the rug’s back edge line up with the back of the sofa/sectional or you can have the rug extend a bit past the seats if the furniture is smaller. Large rugs like 9x12, 10x14, and 12x15 are ideal for this layout.

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How to Style a Rug in the Living Room

Color

The exact colors, their shades, and color combinations of your rug heavily impact the room’s tone and style. Your rug’s color palette can also tie back to other colors of wall art, accents, furniture, curtains, and wall color to round out your room’s color scheme.

Pattern

The rug’s pattern can create a tone that is welcoming and homey, traditional and classic, or another tone entirely. When choosing a rug pattern, look at your existing decor for shapes, imagery, or motifs that can tie into a rug pattern. This simple connection will help you create a cohesive style in your living room.

Style

The style of the rug determines whether the rug is fitting for modern, traditional, coastal, or other styled homes. Your rug should reinforce the room’s overarching style, so study your existing furniture and decor to see what sort of interior design style they fall into before choosing your rug’s style. Some rug styles and patterns work in a variety of styles, so don’t feel limited to the patterns specifically labeled for a certain style like traditional or modern.

How to Style a Rug in the Living Room (Continued)

Shape

Rectangular rugs are the most popular for living room settings, but square and round rugs also can work in establishing your main seating area. Consider the size of your living room, the layout of your seats, and how much you would like the furniture to overlap with the rug when you choose the rug shape.

Material

Material determines the rug’s durability, ease of maintenance, and comfort level. Living rooms regularly use wool, cotton, jute, or synthetic rugs to stand up to heavy usage and stains. Each material has its own set of pros and cons, so be sure to carefully consider what material will suit your space best.

Living Room Rug Size FAQ

How far should a rug go under a couch?

The larger the living room, the farther the rug can go beneath the couch. The key in placing a rug with the sofa is to maintain visual balance between the size of the room, the size of the rug, and the size of the furniture in its immediate vicinity.

Does an area rug need to be centered in the room?

Centering a rug in the middle of the room can establish a neat aesthetic, but it certainly isn’t necessary. More often than not, living room area rugs are centered within the main seating area, not the exact middle of the living room.

Are rugs supposed to go under furniture?

Some overlap is ideal for connecting your space thematically and making sure the rug physically ties into the space. This layering can work with a coffee table, console tables, and/or your main sofa depending on the size of the room. We recommend referring back to living room sizes to see specific recommendations with rug placement.

The layout of your living room and the use of a living room rug can help facilitate the kind of life you want to live in that crucial space. With the proper rug size, placement, and style, you can optimize the space to reflect your aesthetic and create your perfect living room. Designing and creating your best living room is attainable, so with the knowledge of how to place a living room rug for the best balance, go create your ideal living room.

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