Place the rug under the furniture.
Area rugs under couch or not.
This room makes great use of smaller furniture pieces with a smaller rug.
The rug sets the ground for what rests on it.
In small spaces anchor your furniture using a 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 rug in the center of the area.
Do extend rugs under furniture.
Sometimes finding the perfect rug in the perfect size can be tricky and going custom isn t always.
Interior designers often warn that the biggest decorating mistake they notice is area rugs that are too small for the space.
For smaller living rooms you have two options.
Your furniture should be arranged around the rug not placed on top of it to create a feeling of openness.
The best rule of thumb is to tuck at least 8 to 10 inches of the rug under the largest furniture piece in a room.
A smaller rug in a larger room may look a bit lost and a large rug in a smaller room may overwhelm the space but there are ways to make things work.
Whether you want your rug slightly under your furniture or all the way the concept should apply to at least 2 of your main pieces of furniture the odd arrangement can accommodate otherwise but just assume that yours doesn t capiche.
Lower furniture such as a this sectional sofa above look fine with a rug tucked 8 12 under the edge of the sofa but for the beautiful side chairs the rug should sit completely underneath all four legs.
In slightly larger spaces like my family room place the front legs of your furniture on top of the area rug.
We have some different examples below.
You can then either place.
If your furniture has delicate legs keep all legs on the rug.
Area rug guidelines and general rules.
In a living room for instance all of the furniture should be on top of the rug if this isn t possible it s okay to have the front legs of major upholstered pieces on the rug and the back legs off.
The number one mistake for most people is getting a rug that is too small.
We like to say any rug size can work but some rugs are just too small.
Area rug tip 1 2 pieces should sit the same distance on the rug.
Depending upon the size of the room there can be more rug extension around the bed as seen in this room by lauren nelson design but not less.
For an area rug to look balanced under a bed it should be large enough to extend beyond the sides of the bed at least 18 inches for a king or queen bed and at least 12 inches for a full or twin bed.
Rugs that exceed the edges of the furniture can make a room appear larger.
Asymmetrical placement of an area rug below a small sectional.
Given the dizzying number of common area rug sizes it might seem like decorating with area rugs would have a long list of do s and don ts but that s not true.
A small rug makes everything else look out of scale.