Rug Size Guide
Proportion is the quiet architecture of a room. Long before color or pattern, it is scale that decides whether a space feels composed or merely furnished. A rug is the ground on which that composition rests — the line that gathers the furniture, settles the floor, and gives a room its measure. Chosen well, it is felt before it is seen.
What follows is our guide to that decision: the proportions we recommend, room by room, and the principles beneath them. Because every Aritza rug is made to order, you are never asked to round to the nearest standard — the size that suits your room is the size we weave.
The First Principle — Leave a Margin
A rug should anchor your furniture, not meet your walls. We recommend a border of bare floor — roughly eight to eighteen inches — framing the rug on every side. In a larger room the margin grows; in a smaller one it narrows, but it should never disappear. That visible edge of floor is what allows a room to breathe.
As a rule, the more furniture a rug gathers, the more resolved the room will feel. A rug broad enough to hold the legs of your seating composes a single, intentional space; a rug too small leaves the furniture adrift.
The Living Room
Here the rug defines the seating, drawing sofa, chairs, and table into one conversation. Center it on the arrangement rather than the room, and choose one of three approaches: every leg resting on the rug (the most generous), the front legs alone (a graceful compromise), or the rug floating beneath a central table (only for the smallest spaces).
| The room | A considered size |
|---|---|
| Intimate seating | 5 × 8 or 6 × 9 |
| A standard room | 8 × 10 |
| Generous or sectional | 9 × 12 |
| Grand or open-plan | 10 × 14 or 12 × 15 |
- Let the rug extend at least twelve to eighteen inches beyond a sectional.
- At the very least, the front legs of every seating piece should rest upon it.
- Center the rug on the furniture, never on the four walls.
The Dining Room
A dining rug must hold not only the table but the chairs in motion. Allow it to extend at least twenty-four to thirty-six inches beyond the table on every side, so a chair may be drawn out without leaving the rug. And let the rug echo the table — a rectangle beneath a rectangle, a round beneath a round.
| The table | A considered size |
|---|---|
| Seats four | 8 × 10, or a round |
| Seats six | 9 × 12 |
| Seats eight | 10 × 14 |
| Seats ten or more | 12 × 15 |
The Bedroom
In the bedroom the rug is the first thing underfoot in the morning and the last at night. Set it beneath the lower two-thirds of the bed, aligned to the bed rather than the room, and let it reach a generous eighteen to twenty-four inches past each visible side.
| The bed | A considered size |
|---|---|
| King | 9 × 12 or 10 × 14 |
| Queen | 8 × 10 |
| Full or Twin | 5 × 8 or 6 × 9 |
For a quieter gesture, set aside the single rug and lay a runner along each side of the bed — a soft landing that frames the bed without grounding it. A pair of 2.5 × 6 runners suits most.
The Entry & the Hall
Few things set the tone of a home like the runner that receives you. In a hallway, choose a runner that leaves a few inches of floor along each side and four to eighteen inches at each end — never wall to wall. Ours are woven in two widths, 2.5 and 3 feet, and in lengths from 6 to 20 feet, so the proportion may be drawn precisely to your corridor.
For an entry or foyer, a round is often the more gracious welcome — a soft circle to turn upon as you arrive. A 4- to 6-foot round suits most.
The Study
Beneath a desk, a rug should hold both the desk and the chair through its full range of movement, so the chair never catches at the edge. A 5 × 7 or 6 × 9 grounds a single working desk; a full study asks for an 8 × 10 or larger.
On Round Rugs
A round is a soft punctuation — beneath a circular table, in a reading corner, at the heart of an entry. For a round dining table, choose a rug roughly four to five feet greater than the table's diameter, so some two feet of rug surround it on every side. Ours are made from 3 to 16 feet across.
| The use | A considered diameter |
|---|---|
| Reading nook or accent | 4 – 6 ft |
| Round table, four seats | 8 ft |
| Round table, six seats | 9 – 10 ft |
The Measure of Your Room
To find your size, measure the footprint you wish the rug to define — the seating, the table with its chairs drawn out, the bed with its margins — then add the borders described above. Mark the dimensions on the floor with tape before you decide; a room is always more forgiving in the imagination than underfoot.
Made to Your Measure
Should no standard proportion suit, we will weave to yours. Every Aritza rug is made to order at a single, honest rate, and its organic silhouette is drawn in proportion to the dimensions you choose — so the rug is composed for your room, and no other. Write to us at info@aritzastudio.com to begin a bespoke size.