There are not exactly “rules” for placing rugs. More like guidelines and opinions. Standards that usually work, and are a great place to start. And although there may be exceptions, it’s unlikely that your home is one of them.
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Angles and Lines
Maybe your rug has lines or stripes on it. That may be something worth looking at, but here we’re considering the positioning of your area rug. You want the rug to run parallel with the room or with the longest piece of furniture. You may have occasionally seen a rug that in layed out in a room like a diamond fit into a square of furniture. It might look good on Pinterest, but functionally this is a disaster. Edges will cross where people want to walk and put their feet so much that the space feels stressful to be in. Try to have the rug edges “go with the flow”.
It’s All About The Legs
All the front legs of stationary furniture should be on (or right up against) the area rug, and maybe even the back legs. But you don’t want all furniture legs off the rug unless it’s a hallway runner or has some purpose other than making the room comfortable and attractive. This is partially because an undersized rug can make a room look smaller and make the furnishings around it look uncoordinated or random.
For chairs that are pulled out as a course of use, like kitchen chairs, all 4 legs must be either on the rug or off the rug throughout the entire path the chair takes when in use. You never want moving chairs to have only 2 legs on a rug.
Mind Traffic Patterns When You Place An Area Rug
Don’t let the carpet wander into the walkway or natural traffic path through the room. Keep rugs out of walking paths OR have the carpet lead people exactly where the traffic pattern goes. But having rugs encroaching on or passing through traffic pattern is not only a tripping hazard, it’s also uncomfortable and awkward to watch.
An example of a traffic pattern not to break would be the U-shape around a bed. Place an area rug under the bed in a way that the entire U-shape next to the foot of the bed, the bottom corners, and the two sides is unobstructed nad there’s enough room for a person to stand completey on the rug on all sides.
Symmetry is important, although there is more than one kind of symmetry.
If you have two sofas then the rug needs to be evenly positioned between them – it should be an equal distance from each sofa. Likewise, if there are multiple chairs, they should each overlap the area rug about the same amount and be spaces fairly evenly.
But symmetry is actually a bit complicated. There’s radial symmetry, bilateral symmetry, etc. But there is also the literal, physical symmetry of where things are, and visual symmetry, which is about how symmetrical spaces look. Some items of furniture pull the eye much more than others, and so have more visual impact. This is where placing the rug becomes more of an art.
The key is to have the rug make the room feel and function better than before. If you need any flooring advice, or tips on how to place an area rug, never hesitate to call Dublin Carpet Flooring America.
