Living Room Rug: size decides, not pattern

The most common furnishing mistake in European homes, explained in centimetres

There is one mistake found in almost every home that weakens even the best furniture: a rug that is too small. It lies like a postage stamp in front of the sofa, the seats stand beside it, and the room falls into pieces although every item is good in itself.

The cause is rarely taste, it is habit: 160 by 230 centimetres is the best selling format in the trade, while most living rooms need 200 by 300. This page gives the measurements for seating group, dining table and bed, plus material and care. The whole room is covered under the luxury living room.

The front leg rule

There is one rule that solves almost every situation: every seat stands on the rug with at least its front legs. Once that is true, the eye reads sofa, armchairs and table as one group. If even one armchair stands beside it, the group falls apart.

There are three permissible arrangements, and all of them work:

The measurements for the seating group

As a check: the rug covers at least two thirds of the width the seating group occupies and keeps around twenty to forty centimetres clear of the wall all round. A rug butting against the wall looks like badly laid flooring.

Under the dining table

Here the calculation is especially simple and yet rarely followed: about seventy centimetres are added to the table area on each side. A table of 180 by 90 centimetres therefore needs a rug of roughly 320 by 230 centimetres. Only then do the chairs still stand fully on it when pushed back.

If those measurements do not fit, it is better to leave the rug out from under the dining table. A rug that is too small, with chair legs tipping over its edge, is more of a nuisance in daily use than none at all. The other measurements around the table are under the luxury dining room.

In the bedroom

In the bedroom the rug has a different task: it is what you step onto in the morning. It therefore lies under the bed and projects around sixty centimetres on both sides and at the foot. For a bed of 180 by 200 centimetres that gives roughly 300 by 250 centimetres.

If a rug that size is out of the question, two narrow runners left and right of the bed are the second best solution. A small mat at the foot does not do the job. The whole room is covered under the luxury bedroom.

Material: what the difference is in daily use

• New wool is the classic: elastic, dirt repellent thanks to the natural lanolin, pleasant underfoot and long lasting. It absorbs moisture and evens out the room climate.
• Wool with silk shows two depths of colour depending on the viewing direction. That shimmer is why such rugs look alive in a room while synthetic fibre stays flat.
• Pure silk is the finest and also the most delicate quality. It belongs in rooms with little traffic, not under the dining table.
• Viscose resembles silk and costs far less, but reacts badly to water. A spill often leaves a rim.
• Low pile and flatweave belong under dining tables and desk chairs, because chairs glide on them and they can be vacuumed.

Colour and pattern

A simple rule of thumb: the busier the furniture, the calmer the rug, and the other way round. Carved or gilded furniture calls for a plain or very restrained rug. With plain upholstery the rug may carry the pattern.

For colour, two things are worth looking at: the floor tone, from which the rug should set itself apart, and the largest textile area in the room, usually the sofa. A rug one shade darker than the floor grounds the room. A very pale rug on a pale floor disappears.

In rooms with classical furniture, muted tones work better than strong ones: sand, taupe, anthracite, muted blue or a broken green. They let baroque furniture work without competing with it.

Laying, care and durability

• An anti slip underlay beneath every rug not fully weighted by furniture. It protects the floor and damps sound as well.
• Vacuum regularly, on wool without a beater bar or with the brush switched off, so the pile is not torn.
• Blot spills immediately, dab rather than rub, then work over with clear water. Wool forgives a lot as long as nothing is rubbed in.
• Turn the rug twice a year, so light and traffic wear the pile evenly.
• Dents from furniture feet lift with an ice cube left to melt in the pile, followed by brushing up.

What Casa Padrino carries in rugs

The range includes rugs in wool and wool with silk, classically patterned and modern in design, in the formats that suit the seating groups in the house. Dimensions, material and pile height are given for every rug.

Because sofas, armchairs, coffee tables and rugs come from one source, the colour can be matched to the upholstery instead of guessed. For an overview see luxury furniture and the home page.

Read on

Frequently asked questions about rugs