How To Choose a Rug for Your Home ?

Choosing an area rug may seem simple at first glance—surely you can just eyeball it, right? Wrong. There is much more than meets the eye when it comes to choosing a rug size that will fit your space and furniture perfectly. Yes, it’s a science that interior designers have perfected for decades, but it’s actually easy to follow, and it follows one simple rule: Measure twice. 

Interior designers often warn that the biggest decorating mistake they notice is area rugs that are too small for the space. “I’m a firm believer that the rug is a unifying element that pulls a room together and should anchor the furniture pieces,” interior designer Stefani Stein told MyDomaine. “Sometimes finding the perfect rug in the perfect size can be tricky, and going custom isn’t always an option. So if the rug of your dreams isn’t quite the right scale, try layering. Just be careful to avoid textural overload.”

In most rooms, the rules are simple: Leave at least six inches between the end of the rug and the walls (or counters in the case of kitchens)  leave all furniture legs off rugs in busy thoroughfares like entryways and hallways, and let the space dictate your choice of rug size. But in other rooms—the bedroom, the living room, and the dining room—the rules are a little trickier. Ahead, we break down everything you need to know for choosing an area rug.

When choosing a rug for your bedroom, you have the option to follow three main rules, all focusing around the bed as the focal point.

The first option is to have all legs of the bed and surrounding furniture—like nightstands and a bench at the foot of the bed—on the rug. With this option, you should leave 18 to 24 inches of space around the outer edges of the furniture. As a general rule, for a king or queen bed, a 9-by-12-foot rug is ideal if you have a bench at the foot of the bed. If you don’t, an 8-by-10-foot rug should suffice. For a twin or full-size bed, aim for a 6-by-9-foot rug or bigger.

The second option is to have two-thirds of the bed on the rug—meaning the rug should start just slightly in front of your nightstands. Here, the rug should extend 18 to 24 inches on each side of the bed (including the foot of the bed). For this layout, consider an 8-by-10-foot rug for a queen bed and a 9-by-12-foot rug for a king. This layout can also work if you have a deeper piece of furniture at the foot of your bed, like a small sofa or settee.

Lastly, you can opt to simply have runners on each side of the bed, which is a great option if other larger rugs don’t fit in your room or if your layout is asymmetrical. Look for runners that won’t extend beyond the bed itself but that are slightly wider than the nightstands.