Rug Size Calculator

A rug that’s too small floats in the middle of the floor with every piece of furniture off it, and the room looks smaller for it. Getting the size right is arithmetic: the room minus a border, checked against the furniture that sits on it.

The calculator above runs that check for every standard size and highlights the best one. Here are the rules it uses and where they come from.

The spacing rules we check

Room	Rule	Source
Any room	12–18″ of bare floor between rug and walls; about 8″ in a small room	Crate & Barrel, Wayfair, Houzz
Living room	Front legs of the sofa and chairs on the rug; rug at least 6″ past each end of the sofa	Crate & Barrel, Wayfair, Rugs USA
Bedroom	18–24″ of rug beside the bed and past the foot; 12″ at the least	Ruggable, Wayfair, Crate & Barrel
Dining	24–30″ past the table on every side, so pulled-out chairs stay on the rug	IKEA, Crate & Barrel, Lowe’s

The usual rug for each bed and table

Furniture	Usual rug	Why
Twin bed	5×7, or a runner on each side	Ruggable
Full bed	6×9 or 8×10	Ruggable
Queen bed	8×10	Ruggable, Wayfair
King bed	9×12	Ruggable, Wayfair, Lowe’s
36×60″ dining table	8×10	Adds 30″ on every side: (96 − 36) ÷ 2 and (120 − 60) ÷ 2
84″ sofa	8′ side or longer	84 + 6 + 6 = 96″: an 8′ rug edge is the shortest that works

Bedroom: lower two-thirds or the whole bed

The calculator offers two placements. Lower two-thirds starts the rug about a third of the way down the bed, just in front of the nightstands, so the nightstands stay on bare floor. Whole bed on it lines the rug up with the headboard and puts the nightstands on the rug.

Two-thirds needs less rug to show the same amount past the foot, but it pushes the rug toward the far wall. In a 10×12 bedroom with a queen on the 10′ wall, no standard rug passes in that placement: an 8×10 turned sideways touches both side walls, and lengthwise it runs 4″ past the far wall. Lined up with the headboard instead, the same 8×10 shows 16″ beside the bed and 36″ past the foot, with 12″ of floor at the sides. That’s a slim border, but it works.

The numbers we used

These are the numbers behind the calculator. Where they come from is listed under Sources at the end.

Questions people ask

What size rug goes under a queen bed?

An 8×10 is the usual choice. Turned sideways under a queen frame, it shows about 28″ of rug on each side. In a narrow room, check that it still leaves floor at the walls; the calculator does this for you.

Should the rug go under the sofa?

At least the front legs should sit on it. That ties the seating together; a rug that stops short of every piece looks like it’s floating.

How much floor should show around a rug?

Usually 12–18″ between the rug and the walls. In a small room it can drop to about 8″.

What size rug for a dining table?

Add at least 24″ on every side, so 48″ to both the length and the width. A 36×60″ table needs at least 84×108″, which an 8×10 covers.

Related: 10×12 bedroom layouts · Dining table in a small living room · Sectional in a small living room

Sources

• How to Choose a Rug (Crate & Barrel)
• How to Place a Rug in a Living Room (Wayfair)
• 11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them (Houzz)
• Living Room Rug Tips (Rugs USA)
• Rug Sizes (Ruggable)
• Bedroom and Bedside Rug Ideas (Ruggable)
• How to Position an Area Rug in a Bedroom (Wayfair)
• How to choose a rug for your dining table (IKEA)
• How to Choose an Area Rug (Lowe’s)