Area rugs are one of my favorite design elements to bring into a space. It's actually one of the first pieces I sourced and works great as a jumping off point for the design. Unfortunately, most do not even consider it. This is one of the most important pieces when designing a space. I use it to help define an area, which also gives it weight helping anchor the rest of the furniture rather than looking like its floating around. Plus, this gives you another opportunity to not only add art to the floor, but pattern and textures as well. There are so many assorted styles of rugs to choose from out there. So when it comes to picking there are some factors to think about, including: the design as a whole, the size of the room and space it's going into. With that said the size of rug you choose is paramount when making your selection. This is one of the most expensive pieces that you will bring into the space so you really need to choose your size very carefully. This is when having an interior designer will save you from making those costly mistakes. I can give you a basic design guide when choosing yours, which is exactly how we would design for a client. You will notice I will not be offering the “decorating” or “staging” version.

LIVING ROOM

PARTIAL:

At the very least, the front legs of all the pieces of furniture should be on the rug. The furniture should be spread out around the area rug and have an equal balance. As shown here. Of course, there is always an exception to the rule.

FULL:

The most elaborate way to bring in an area rug is to have all the furniture rest on top. If you do intend to fill the room, be at least 12” from the wall. I don’t recommend doing this if you have beautiful floors like herringbone.

LAYRED:

A fun way to bring in the non-traditional shape rugs, e.g., animal hide, is too have it layered on top of the area rug or carpet. Now there is no specific rule to this, most people lie it underneath the coffee table however, I would play with it and use it in a different way. Perhaps, off to the side of the coffee table or sofa

EXCEPTION:

I wanted to show you this room, because it is not always straight forward. However, this works because of the size of the room, windows and furniture pieces. They have only the coffee table and two accent ottoman stools on the area rug, yet still creates balance. Why though? This works because the rug is used as an extra art piece to a room with no other patterns. It's also within the same hues as the floor, so it's not drawing attention to itself except for the art form. The furniture is well balanced in the space, so therefore everything is working harmoniously.

DINING ROOM

My rule of thumb is to have the area rug extend at least 24" on all sides of the dining room table so the chair don't get caught on the rug when pulling in/out of the chair. If you fill the room again, try to be 12”-14” from the baseboard for larger rooms

BEDROOM

I like to have area rugs go past the night stand and depending on the size of the room you can go four to five feet past the bed on all three sides. Again, depending on the space each size of rug will vary. Here is a few inspiration on how to bring in an area rug to your bedroom.

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FOR TWIN BEDS:

You can always do a runner in between the twin beds however this designer opt to combine the beds visually than to seperate them.

Runners

You can also have a runner on each side of the bed if the room’s design calls for it.

As with everything in life: rules are meant to be broken. However, you should use those rules as a guide, which is what I do with all of my designs. Sometimes your space can be limiting and doesn't always allow for sizable rugs to fit, so every space will have a different need and size. In some cases you might need to go custom, because the standard width of a rug is 13’, however the references above should aid in finding the right size for your space! What style rug are you dying to add to your space? Comment below..

Sending Love, Light to you all!

INTERIOR DESIGN GUIDE – AREA RUGS