When choosing a new rug, there are a lot of places you can start. Some people start thinking about styles or designs, while others start with a budget in mind. While those are important to consider, we recommend you start by figuring out what size rug you need.  Read on to learn everything you need to know about the most common area rug sizes, how to choose them, and the best ways to display them in your home.

How to find the right rug size

While the rules for individual rooms will vary slightly (check out our room guide for specifics), there are a few general rules that will hold true throughout your home. First, you should buy a rug that fills as much of the available space as possible while leaving an 18- to 20-inch border around the perimeter.

Room Size	Rug Size	Examples
4’ x 5’	2’ x 3’	Entryways, bathrooms
7’ x 10’	5’ x 8’	Living rooms, bedrooms
10’ x 12’	8’ x 10’	Living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms
11’ x 14’	9’ x 12’	Living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms

Don’t just center the rug in the room. Instead, consider how your furniture is arranged. For example, living room rugs should be placed based on your seating arrangement, and bedroom rugs will often be placed under the bed. Before you buy, you can make sure you’re getting the right size by first outlining where the rug will go in painter’s tape or masking tape.

2’ x 3’ Area Rugs

Small rugs may not fill a room, but they are still extremely versatile. 2’ x 3’ rugs are best used in small spaces or places where the functionality of a rug is more important than its visual impact. Entryways, bathrooms, kitchens, and even walk-in closets can benefit from a small rug.

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5’ x 8’ Area Rugs

Medium-sized rugs are great for small living rooms, offices, or under the foot of a queen-sized bed. It’s usually recommended to place furniture so that either all the legs are on the rug or at least the front legs are. With too small a rug, this layout might feel cramped, but placing the furniture further out might make your rug look like a postage stamp in the middle of the room. A great way to avoid all this is to layer your smaller rug on top of a large and inexpensive natural fiber rug. That way, you get the flair of your patterned rug and can still fill the space without breaking the bank.

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8’ x 10’ Area Rugs

8’ x 10’ is one of the most popular sizes for area rugs. They are perfect for filling small- to medium-sized living rooms and underneath most kitchen tables.

They can even be placed fully under a queen-sized bed with room to spare for nightstands on either side.

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9’ x 12’ Area Rugs

Large rugs, 9’ x 12’ and up, are great in living rooms and formal dining rooms with a large table. At this size, it becomes much easier to place your furniture fully on the rug which will provide a border around the arrangement.

The effect is especially dramatic in open floor plans, where a large rug creates a visually distinct space without the need for walls.

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Runner Rugs

While runners are typically thought of as hallway rugs, they’re far more versatile than that. Runners are perfect for any awkwardly shaped space in your home that could use a bit more comfort. In kitchens, they can lay alongside counters to provide some cushion while you work. Similarly, runners can work well in larger bathrooms to keep your feet warm and prevent slipping on wet tile floors. It’s also very popular to use runners on either side of a bed to give you something soft to step on in the morning.

Of course, runners are still great in their traditional entryways and hallways where they help unify the style of the whole home and protect the floor in these high-traffic areas.

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The Options Are Endless

Now that you have a better idea of where different size rugs fit and how to place them, it’s time to weigh your options! Rugs.com has thousands of rugs in every size and style available online. No matter what you’re looking for, we’ll have a rug that fits your space and your needs.