STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

We just bought a rug for a room that is quite large. We have a large sectional to fill up the room.  See diagram. 

We tried positioning the rug every which way.  We put it part way in the square, part way out, all the way out, etc. etc. 


Our rug is 8x12.  We do not have it peeking out the back of the sectional, and we exteneded its reach outside the longest end of the sectional by about 18 inches.  It was a pain to slip the rug under the heavy couch 800 times.

Moral of the story is you may have to experiment with different sizes and orientations of rugs.  I think it usually looks best to either have it under the couch or not with an even border of bare floor around.

If the rug is under a piece of furniture (especially if it is centered), you won't need a pad.

Light brown is our sectional; dark brown is the rug.  At the end of the room is the tv.



-- Edited by pollyjean23 at 21:54, 2008-01-20

Ikea has some cute rugs too, and very reasonable prices, if you have one around.  They have some larger rugs for less than $100, but I'd plan to spend up to $300 or so to find a style or pattern you like.

I think the general rule of thumb is to make sure all the furniture in a particular grouping is at least touching the rug.  So if you had a couch, coffee table, and two chairs you'd want to put the couch right up to or slightly on the edge of the rug, and the chairs either right up to, slightly on, or all the way on the rug. 
Like these:

My guess is that if you have a smaller space and a small or medium size couch that a 5x8 will probably be enough.  You could always go larger though (and put the couch with all 4 feet sitting on one edge of the rug) and then when you get a bigger place you won't have to also get a bigger rug .....

-- Edited by Elle at 11:38, 2008-01-21

It depends on your style, but anthro's rugs are nice and usually go on super sale. I have three rugs (I think they're all 4x6. One may be 5x8) that I got for about $80 each.

I've had good luck buying rugs on eBay. Overstock also has some good deals. Homedecorators.com carries most of what's in retail stores.

Standard sixes are 5 x 8, about 8 x 10 or 11, 10 x 13 or thereabouts. I would mark the floor with masking tape to figure out the ideal size.

Natural fibers (silk and wool for tufted or flatweave rugs) will provide better lifespan and quality, but of course cost more. Some synthetics are nice looking and almost indistinguishable from the real thing, but they won't hold up as well. Cotton rugs tend to be really casual.

I don't use pads under most tufted rugs since they're already pretty thick. A flatweave rug should have a pad - it will extend the life of the rug especially if it gets a lot of foot traffic, and it helps keep it from slipping.

Prices are all over the map.

I love rug shopping, so tell me what you want the room to look like and I'll find some stuff!

Where area you going to place your area rugs, can you please tell.