How to Place a Rug in a Living Room

Just like any room in your house, finding the perfect area rug has the potential to elevate your living room to the next level. Often acting as the core room in a home, your living room is most likely the place your family gathers every night as well as the place where you entertain guests. So, why wouldn’t you want to put your best foot forward when it comes to decorating this space? When it comes to buying the perfect rug size for your living room, here are a few tips to keep in mind in order to make the shopping experience easier!

Before You Buy Your Living Room Rug

Before buying a new living room rug, it’s important to understand a few key design rules. Much like choosing the right rug size for your bedroom, understanding the space you’re working with will help you choose an area rug that enhances your living room rather than feeling like it was just thrown in at the last minute.

1. First things first: when choosing the best rug size for your living room, consider how you want the area rug to look in the room. Do you want it to cover the entirety of your living room floor space, or just a small section? Maybe you want your living room rug to only accentuate one specific area of the living room. Whatever your preference may be, the amount of space your area rug takes up in the room itself will determine the best rug size for your living room.
2. Next, you’ll want to consider how your area rug will fit underneath your living room furniture. If you want your rug to fit completely underneath the entirety of your furniture, you’ll likely opt for a larger rug size. But, if you want your living room rug to fit only under one piece of furniture, or a portion of several pieces, you’ll choose a slightly smaller rug size. 
3. Once you’ve determined how the rug should look in the living room, you’ll want to invest in a living room rug that will give you the most bang for your buck. In our (slightly biased) opinion, we believe you can’t go rug with one of our spillproof and machine washable area rugs. Because your living room sees so much foot traffic on the daily — from hosting parties to daily family TV time — you’re going to want to choose a living room rug that can withstand any dirt and debris that may be tracked into your home. 

Okay, so now you know what to consider when choosing the best rug size for your living room, now it’s time to actually purchase one! Here are a few tips to make the rug purchasing process stress-free: 

• Measure your space accurately — Yes, that means do not simply rely on eyeball measurements. There’s nothing more upsetting than bringing a rug home only to realize it doesn’t fit quite how you want it to. Eliminate the risk of misjudging the size of your room by taking a couple extra minutes before purchasing your rug to confirm the room’s size with a tape measure. 
• Identify your design style — A living room rug should be both a statement piece and an anchor piece in your home. That means, it should cohesively blend with your living room’s current design style while still making a statement of its own. At Tumble, we offer an extensive selection of different rug designs, from Bohemian and Southwestern to Contemporary and Neutral and every design style in between. Make sure you have a clear picture of the type of design style you want to bring into your living room so that you can narrow down the options when shopping for a living room rug!
• Be open to creativity — While it’s crucial to have a general idea of what design style you’re bringing into your living room, it’s also important to maintain some level of openness to creativity! In some cases, you may not know which rug is best for your living room until you lay eyes on it. So, we recommend going into your rug purchasing process with an open mind.

Full Coverage

Shop 8x10 machine washable rugs

Large living rooms with 2-3 seater sofas or L-shaped sofas and accent chairs typically require an 8x10 rug size to cover the entirety of the floor space. As the most versatile and common rug size for living rooms, an 8x10 rug will fit perfectly underneath each piece of furniture with each edge of the rug pressing flush to the baseboards in the room. With a Tumble washable rug specifically, this means that the entirety of your living room’s floor space will be covered by an elegant spillproof and machine washable rug design as well as our cushioned rug pad. Not only is this living room rug size great for adding a beautiful design element into the space, but it’s also perfect for creating a soft area for bare feet to walk upon. 

Mid-sized

Shop 6x9 washable area rugs

For slightly smaller or mid-sized living rooms, a 6x9 rug size is great for creating the desired effect of covering the entirety of the floor space. However, you can also bring a 6x9 rug size into a larger living room if you’re looking for a living room rug that does not cover the entire floor. A 6x9 rug size will fit wonderfully underneath the front legs of your 2-3 seater or L-shaped sofas and will leave more of the floor around the perimeter of the room exposed. This option is great if you’re looking for a slightly less intense pop of design in your living room. 

Small Spaces

Shop 5x7 washable rugs

For even less coverage, a 5x7 rug size is great for those who want to use a living room rug to accentuate just a portion of the room. A 5x7 rug is the perfect rug size for a living room with a fireplace, offering a sense of welcoming warmth in the room that encourages guests to get comfortable near the roaring fire. This smaller rug size is also great underneath a coffee table, or placed just slightly underneath your sofa for a design effect that will leave the majority of the natural flooring exposed. 

Best Washable Area Rugs For Living Rooms

Shop all machine washable rugs

As previously mentioned, your living room is one of the most trafficked areas in the home. With traditional rug designs, it can be a hassle to keep your living room rugs clean and the looming presence of accidental spills and stains can make it hard to fully relax when hosting guests in your home. So, what better way to combat this stress than by eliminating the risk with a washable area rug instead? 

Our spillproof and machine washable rug designs are created with a two-step line of defense against spills and stains. The spillproof rug material of each Tumble rug causes liquids to bead up on top of the surface of the rug rather than being absorbed into the fabric. For days when your rug needs a bit of a deeper clean, the machine washable rug structure of each Tumble makes deep cleaning a breeze. Simply toss the washable area rug into the machine, wash in cold water on a delicate cycle, and tumble dry on low heat. It doesn’t get much easier than that!