What is the best rug size for a living room?

The visual impact of rug sizes on your room

We often wonder what the ideal rules are for choosing the right size of rugs for living rooms. Some people may find this difficult, although there are a number of popular rules, such as the size of the rug being suitable for placing the front feet of the sofa on it. However, some people prefer larger sizes so that they can place the entire sofa on the rug. So, what is the best choice?

All of these rules are points of view, and the most appropriate among them is the one that achieves the visual effect that suits your room. Here are examples of the popular ones and their visual effect on your room:

1. Place the front legs of the sofa on the rug, so that the rug ties the furniture together while leaving the rest of the rug extended to define the rest of the space in proportion to the size of the room. This works well if the color of the rug is very close to the color of the floor, to hide its borders and show the floor as a single unit.
2. Diversify the style by placing the front legs of the main sofa on the carpet, and placing the single seats around it with their four legs on the carpet. This style is suitable for small spaces and if the carpet color is significantly different from the floor.
3. Place the sofa with all its feet on the rug. The rug then becomes the general delineator of the space and works to harmonize the furniture together as a single unit. For example, a beautiful rug with artistic patterns will work as a wonderful flooring on which to gather neutral-colored furniture pieces.
4. Place the rug in the middle of the space so that none of the sofa feet rest on it. If you want a small rug with a distinctive effect and eye-catching artistic design, it will look great, even if your room is not large.
5. In closed rooms, it is common to leave 18 inches between the edge of the carpet and the surrounding walls, and if the room is very small, the preferred distance is only 8 inches.
6. If your living room is spacious and the sofas are arranged in more than one way, it is a good idea to use more than one matching rug that suits both separate and integrated seating areas.
7. It’s a good idea to leave the rug extending about 24 inches around the edge of your dining table.
8. Use rugs to mark the entrance and main walkways in your home. This is both safer and more aesthetically pleasing, but make sure to center them so that no one walks with one foot on the rug and the other on the floor. That’s not a good feeling.
9. You can break all these rules and choose what works best for you. For example, if your rug is randomly shaped or animal skin-like, you can place the sofas in a random, regular pattern that suits this look. This will give a wonderful, spontaneous impression.