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What size rug do I need?
The room and the piece it goes under — the sofa, the bed or the table — and it names the standard size that fits, with the reason in numbers, so you can argue with it.
Nearly every rug that looks wrong is one size too small. The rules are simple; people just buy before they measure.
Which room
The room
The sofa
How the rug sits
Get a
8 × 10 ft
240 × 300 cm — or 9 × 12 ft for a more generous look
Front legs on: the rug must run 15 cm past each end of a 210 cm sofa (240 cm across), and reach about 200 cm forward to take the coffee table and the walkway beyond it.
The walls: leaving 30 cm of floor showing at each wall, the biggest rug this room takes is 340 × 440 cm.
The rules it uses, in numbers
Living room: the legs decide. Front legs of every seat on the rug is the standard; the rug runs 15 cm past each end of the sofa and about 150 cm forward to hold the coffee table. All legs on the rug needs about 240 cm of depth and is how a large room stops looking like a furniture showroom.
Bedroom: 45 to 60 cm showing past the bed. Laid across the bed under its lower two-thirds, so your feet land on rug in the morning and the bedside tables stay on the floor. That geometry is why a queen wants an 8 × 10 and a king a 9 × 12.
Dining: the chair test. Pull a chair out to sit down. If its back legs drop off the rug, the rug is too small, and it will do it at every meal. That needs 60 to 75 cm beyond the table on every side.
Every room: floor at the walls. 30 to 45 cm of bare floor round the edge. The calculator caps its answer so the room keeps that margin, and tells you when the room, not the furniture, is what set the size.
Questions people ask before they buy a rug
- What size rug goes under a queen bed?
- An 8 × 10 ft rug (240 × 300 cm) laid across the bed, under the lower two-thirds, so about 70 cm shows on each side and at the foot. A 6 × 9 is the minimum and looks mean beside a queen; a 9 × 12 is generous and needs a room over 4 m wide to leave floor at the walls.
- What size rug for a king bed?
- A 9 × 12 ft rug (270 × 360 cm) across the bed is the comfortable answer; an 8 × 10 works if the rug sits under the lower two-thirds and you accept about 50 cm showing each side. Two runners, one each side of the bed, are the small-room alternative.
- How big should a living room rug be?
- Big enough that the front legs of every seat sit on it, it runs at least 15 cm past each end of the sofa, and it reaches about 200 cm forward to take the coffee table. For a standard 210 cm three-seater that means 8 × 10 ft; all legs on the rug, with chairs opposite, means 9 × 12. A 5 × 8 in front of a three-seater reads as a bath mat.
- What size rug for a dining table?
- The table plus 60 to 75 cm on every side, so a chair pulled out to sit down stays on the rug. A 180 × 90 cm six-seater needs at least 300 × 210 cm — an 8 × 10. A 120 cm round table needs a 240 cm round rug, so an 8 ft round.
- How much floor should show around a rug?
- Between 30 and 45 cm at each wall in most rooms, up to 60 cm in a large one. Less than that and the rug reads as fitted carpet that shrank in the wash; more and it floats in the middle of the room with the furniture off its edges. The calculator caps the answer so the room keeps its 30 cm.
Next
The size is arithmetic. The rug is not.
Upload a photo of the room and the rug you are looking at, and see it in place with a straight buy-or-skip on size, colour and style — or redesign the whole room free and see what belongs on that floor.