Area rug size and placement

5 years ago

I am getting new LVT flooring thorughout my home and want to get 3 area rugs.

My living room is 18 x 20, but I have not yet selected the seating, so that carpet will need to wait.

My office is 12 x 16 with a 5' x 1'6" credenza and a 5'x2'4" desk. My bedroom is also 12 x 16 with a queen size bed, a dresser, chest and 2 nightstands.

What is the right size area carpet and correct placement for the office and for the bedroom?

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JAN MOYER

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Rugs are best sized to the ROOM., not the furniture within. Failure to do that usually results in a too small rug, or cluttered look,

Am 18 x 20 living room needs a very generous rug, and not one you are likely to find ready to go. An excellent option is to look at quality broadloom, and have a custom rug. There are MANY wools that are loomed in 15 foot widths, and can be finished at whatever length you could want, to the inch. I'd want a 15' x 17' rug in the living room. Your eyes KNOW there is wood beneath, and trying to place rugs inside furniture groupings , not the best idea at all.

I'd want not less than 9 x 12 in the bedroom, Office.....same thing.

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Comments (7)

Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
Jan,

My 18x20 livingroom only sounds generous - there are two 5' walkways on either side of the 20' width, so the seating must float in the center of the room.

Here is a link to a discussion on that room:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/livingroom-furniture-selection-and-placement-dsvw-vd~5606469[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/livingroom-furniture-selection-and-placement-dsvw-vd~5606469)

From what other's said it looks like I will end up with a 10x10 seating area. Would love if you had other ideas.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years ago
I don’t agree about not thinking about the furniture placement I have a 25 x 15 LR with 2 seating areas but I only have a rug in one area and I do not find it cluttered or too small. I do like the looks of bare floors so did not want to cover them all up. In bedrooms I honestly don’t see the point in a rug that is 1/2 buried under a bed IMO the place you need a rug is beside the bed and sometimes just nice runner type rugs on eihter side of the bed is the answer. As for your office I never like a rug where I am working with a chaire that i like to move.

IMO there are many things that need to be considered when buying rugs.
Jennifer Hogan thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
I currently have wall to wall carpet in most of my home. My last home was tile with carpet in the livingroom and bedrooms. I loved the tile, but my joints did not love the tile. Going with LVT for both looks and ease of care.

I also moved from Southern California, where the tile helped keep the house cool to Pennsylvania. The wall to wall carpet is nice to walk on in the winter months, but isn't my style, it is old and worn and stained and has to be replaced.

I think the living room needs the luxury of a carpet in the seating area. My furniture is all very clean lines MCM teak and the home is MCM without adornment, so you have to work at bringing in some color and pattern and texture.
PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
Well. when you give half the info.........you get 1/2 the advice: ) A room that needs definition into three distinct areas, traffic from an outdoor entrance being one. ...is no longer an 18 x 20 room.

This is one reason NOT to start a new thread if you already have one going.
Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
Jan, my first thread was asking for advice on furniture placement for my livingroom.

This thread was about appropriate sizing and placement of area rugs for my bedroom and office. In fact I specifically stated that "My living room is 18 x 20, but I have not yet selected the seating, so that carpet will need to wait." and then attached pictures of the floorplan for the other 2 rooms.

Was I somehow expected to have people read my mind and know that I needed advice on area carpets for my office and master bedroom based on my request for assistance with furniture placement in my living room?

Even with the floorplan and furniture placement diagrams attached, your advice was the exact same for all 3 rooms. Just cover the entire room except a small border aroung the outside of the room.
Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
For my office I was really looking for something that would bring color into the room and provide something soft and warm under my feet as I spend about 10 hours a day sitting at my desk.

The other rooms in my home will either have color on the walls or through the furnishings and soft surfaces in the room. This room is bland. It will have the stone look LVT flooring and the taupe neutral wall color that I am using through the main area in the house. The furniture includes a teak desk and credenza.and a red papasan chair that my dog sleeps in while I work.

The foyer has red/purple/green slate tile and those same colors are being used in every other room.