You probably always hear that you shouldn’t skimp on size with rugs. While this is true, there is a misconception that when you have big sofas and large open plan spaces, that the rug needs to be huge. Large rugs are spectacular but often, especially if they are custom made, the price ultimately puts them off the purchase and it becomes an “all or nothing”.

Even though we hand out our rug placement guide regularly, we also encourage you to lay out a sheet or mark the floor with chalk to help visualise the space. Often you may still be waiting for all of your furniture to be delivered and are looking at this huge space and wondering how it will ever look welcoming and conducive to conversation.

Munich Blue rug styled by Creating Style

Although our rug placement guide suggests that the ultimate proportion is best, as long as there is a connection with your rug and furniture, it will still create a conversation area and define the space. This is especially true of large modern L-shaped modular lounges.

People often make the mistake of measuring the length of the back of the couch and then deciding that the rug has to be significantly bigger to accommodate it. Considering the depth of your lounge, you can take at least 90cm off the width of the rug without compromising anything.

Custom round Munich rug by Design Hive Co.

This type of placement is actually very popular and works well even when the lounge isn’t on the rug! We refer to this as floating and it works when your rug is big enough to fill the space between your furniture without having the legs of your couch on it. This means you can consider other shapes like round rugs which not only softens up ‘squared’ rooms but might be perfect for your space.

Custom Whistler rug by Design Hive Co.

For the dining room, a rug with an additional 850mm around the table is recommended so that when you pull out the chairs, the legs will still be on the rug. You don’t want to go too big otherwise it will make your dining table look small and awkward.

Custom Claremont runner by Spacecrush

Similarly, at least 200mm off from the wall on either side for hallway runners should be considered for door swing and also act as a frame for your beautiful rug. It will start to look like wall-to-wall carpet if the rug is too big!

The perfect rug size will always vary from room to room but remember that choosing the biggest possible isn't always the best option.