---
title: "Rug Size Guide & Calculator for Every Room | Neat Drape"
description: "What size rug for your living room, dining table or bed? Enter the room and furniture to get the rug size, a standard size to buy and a to-scale plan."
url: https://neatdrape.cfd/rug-size-guide/
---

Rugs

# Rug size guide

Too small is the usual mistake. Tell us the room and the furniture the rug has to hold, and see the smallest rug that works, the largest the room allows, and a standard size to look for, drawn to scale.

## How the rug size is worked out

Measure the room wall to wall, then the furniture the rug has to hold. The **floor border** is the bare floor you want to see between rug and walls: designers quoted by Homes & Gardens leave 8 to 24 inches, and a Belgian rug retailer suggests 20 to 30 cm. The room minus that border on each side is the largest rug that fits.

**Living room:** the rug should be wider than the sofa. With *front legs on*, it starts about 20 cm (8 in) under the front of the sofa and runs to the far edge of the seating area. With *all on the rug*, it also runs behind the sofa, which suits sofas with a solid base.

**Dining:** leave at least 60 cm (24 in) of rug beyond the table on every side, so the back legs stay on the rug when a chair is pulled out.

**Bedroom:** rugs run across the bed. Allow at least 45–50 cm (18 in) beyond each side and the foot so you step onto rug, not floor. The lower two-thirds placement starts in front of the bedside tables; a whole-bed rug sits under them too.

The result lists the smallest standard size that covers the layout and still keeps your border, in feet or centimetres. **Example:** a 220 cm sofa with 170 cm of seating in front needs at least 250 × 190 cm; in a 5 × 4 m room the first standard size that works is 200 × 290 cm.

## Common rug sizes

| Feet (US) | Centimetres (Europe) |
| --- | --- |
| 2 × 3, 3 × 5, 4 × 6 | 120 × 180 |
| 5 × 7, 5 × 8 | 133 × 195, 140 × 200 |
| 6 × 9, 7 × 10 | 160 × 230, 170 × 240 |
| 8 × 10, 8 × 11 | 200 × 290, 200 × 300 |
| 9 × 12, 10 × 14 | 240 × 330, 250 × 350 |
| 12 × 15 | 300 × 400 |
| 6 ft and 8 ft round | 200 cm round |

Rows pair similar sizes; they are not exact conversions. Runners are sold in many lengths, often 80 cm wide in Europe.

## Sources

- Homes & Gardens, [The ultimate rug size guide](https://www.homesandgardens.com/interior-design/the-ultimate-rug-size-guide): at least 24 inches past the dining table (Sarah Thurston), 18 to 24 inches for chairs (Stacey Dobrovolny), 8 to 24 inches of floor border, front legs on the rug and plinth sofas fully on it, and 8 × 11 and 12 × 15 ft sizes.
- Bassett Furniture, [Rug size under a queen bed](https://www.bassettfurniture.com/blog/rug-size-under-queen-bed.html): at least 18 inches beyond the sides of the bed, rugs laid across the bed, and 5 × 8 and 7 × 10 ft sizes.
- Online Tapijten, [Rug size guide](https://onlinetapijten.be/en/blogs/news/rug-size-guide-find-the-right-rug-for-every-room): rug wider than the sofa, 20 to 30 cm to the walls, at least 50 cm around the bed, metric sizes from 140 × 200 to 300 × 400 cm, a 200 cm round and 80 cm wide runners.
- Ruggable, [Rug size guide](https://ruggable.com/pages/rug-sizes): US sizes from 2 × 3 to 10 × 14 ft and 6 and 8 ft rounds. IKEA, for example the [large and medium rugs range](https://www.ikea.com/nz/en/cat/large-medium-rugs-10692/): 120 × 180, 133 × 195, 160 × 230, 170 × 240 and 200 × 300 cm.

## Questions

**What size rug do I need for a living room?**

Big enough for at least the front legs of every seat and wider than the sofa. For a three-seat sofa with chairs opposite that usually means 8 × 10 ft or 200 × 290 cm and up; small rugs floating in front of the sofa make a room look smaller.

**How much bigger than the dining table should the rug be?**

At least 60 cm (24 inches) on every side. A 180 × 90 cm table therefore needs a rug of about 210 × 300 cm, and a 120 cm round table a round rug of about 240 cm, or a square one.

**What size rug goes under a queen or double bed?**

Laid across the lower part of the bed, a rug about 46 cm (18 in) wider than the bed on each side: 8 ft for a 60 inch US queen, about 2.5 m for a 160 cm bed. In feet that points to an 8 × 10; in a smaller room a 5 × 8 or 6 × 9 can sit in front of the bedside tables instead.

**Should the rug touch the walls?**

No, a loose rug looks best with a frame of floor around it, roughly 20 to 60 cm (8 to 24 inches) depending on the room. Wall-to-wall coverage is a fitted carpet or a custom-cut rug, which a rug company measures and binds to the room.