How to Arrange Furniture Around Rugs of Every Shape
Don't let your furniture arrangement fail your rug or vice versa. Follow these simple rules for a layout that works with any shape rug
Brendan Guy
13 July 2015
Houzz Australia Contributor. Residential interior designer based in Sydney, Australia
Houzz Australia Contributor. Residential interior designer based in Sydney, Australia... More
A rug is a perfect way to define a space, add warmth and tie a colour scheme together. However, there are some important questions that all designers ask themselves when planning to place furniture on a rug. Do you arrange the furniture around the rug to frame it? Or ensure all pieces are placed within its boundaries? Here are some simple rules that are worth remembering no matter what shape the rug.
Furniture arrangement for round rugs
Round rugs are great fun! They are an effective way to add interest to boxy rooms and to break up straight lines. In the bedroom, a round rug can either slide under part of the bed or act as a focus independent of any furniture at all. Depending on the size of the room, there are a few different ways you can incorporate a round rug. If you have the floor space, place the rugs randomly on the floor (or allow them to ‘float’). This will help visually balance the mass of the bed. A few smaller round rugs can also act as stepping stones on which to cross the room to the bed, as seen here.
Round rugs are great fun! They are an effective way to add interest to boxy rooms and to break up straight lines. In the bedroom, a round rug can either slide under part of the bed or act as a focus independent of any furniture at all. Depending on the size of the room, there are a few different ways you can incorporate a round rug. If you have the floor space, place the rugs randomly on the floor (or allow them to ‘float’). This will help visually balance the mass of the bed. A few smaller round rugs can also act as stepping stones on which to cross the room to the bed, as seen here.
In bedrooms with less space, I always find that placing a large round rug under the bed works if the rug is a little off-centre (but do make sure there is some rug available to step out onto when getting out of bed). It’s best to tuck as little as possible of the rug under the bed, but if there appears to be too much of the rug showing, simply creep some of it under the bed until the room feels visually balanced.
It’s always best to place a dining setting in the centre of a round rug whether or not the table is round, oval, square or rectangular. You’ll need a rug much larger than the whole setting to ensure that the chairs don’t ‘fall off’ the rug’s edge as they are pushed in or pulled out to sit on.
In a small living room, tuck the rug under the middle of the sofa to anchor it to the room, or if it’s a large space, let the rug ‘float’ in a central space between sofas and armchairs, anchoring it with a coffee table to ensure visual harmony and connection.
How to decorate with rugs
How to decorate with rugs
Furniture arrangement for rectangular or square rugs
By far the most common shape of rug is the rectangle or square, for the obvious reason that they fit the shape of most rooms. Before arranging your furniture on these rugs, it’s important to get the right size rug for the room. A very small rug in a large room will look lost while an overly large rug will poorly imitate wall-to-wall carpet.
By far the most common shape of rug is the rectangle or square, for the obvious reason that they fit the shape of most rooms. Before arranging your furniture on these rugs, it’s important to get the right size rug for the room. A very small rug in a large room will look lost while an overly large rug will poorly imitate wall-to-wall carpet.
When placing furniture on rectangular or square rugs, there is a simple rule that designers follow to ensure the furniture feels well located and anchored to the rug and space. It is the ‘four-two-none’ rule. Either you have four legs on the rug, two legs, or none. Never put three legs on the carpet, and never one – as it can look as if the piece of furniture is ‘falling’ off the rug.
This room has successfully employed the ‘none’ rule. Although the rug is a good size, the furniture sits around its border, not touching it. Consequently, the rug does not feel lost in the room but looks artfully framed.
This room has successfully employed the ‘none’ rule. Although the rug is a good size, the furniture sits around its border, not touching it. Consequently, the rug does not feel lost in the room but looks artfully framed.
Following the ‘four’ rule, all of the furniture is on the rug in this living room. The rug helps to define the lounge area, and by having the furniture fully on the rug, it also creates a zone within the living room, thereby separating it from other areas.
In this room, the arrangement of furniture follows the ‘two’ rule –the rug has only two legs of the sofa on the rug to anchor it in the room. The success of this look is achieved by how the scale of the sofa complements the size of the rug. Visually, both pieces are balanced, which is important to consider when attempting the ‘two’ rule, for if you place two legs of an over-scaled sofa on a smaller rug, the sofa will appear to be ‘eating’ the rug.
Furniture arrangement for irregular-shaped rugs
Probably the greatest challenge of arranging furniture on rugs comes when you have an irregular-shaped rug, such as an animal hide, in a room. As they typically don’t have a natural centre point to work with, it’s best to avoid placing any furniture on them at all. However, owing to their irregular shape, they do tend to look great placed at a jaunty or diagonal angle to most furniture.
Probably the greatest challenge of arranging furniture on rugs comes when you have an irregular-shaped rug, such as an animal hide, in a room. As they typically don’t have a natural centre point to work with, it’s best to avoid placing any furniture on them at all. However, owing to their irregular shape, they do tend to look great placed at a jaunty or diagonal angle to most furniture.
A combination of different shaped rugs that are layered, such as the three in this room, can create confusion when trying to arrange furniture around or on top of them. Smaller pieces of furniture should be placed in the centre of individual rugs – i.e. the ‘four’ rule – and larger pieces such as a sofa can follow the ‘two’ rule. Such layered rugs are perfect for rooms where the furniture setting can be less formal, such as in a TV room or kids’ play room.
Furniture arrangement for geometric rugs
Moving away from the traditional square, round or even animal hide rugs, geometric-shaped rugs are an excellent way to add a touch of the unexpected to a room or space. In order to see the unusual shape of the rug, keep furniture some distance away from its edge, leaving a narrow border.
See geometric patterned rugs
Moving away from the traditional square, round or even animal hide rugs, geometric-shaped rugs are an excellent way to add a touch of the unexpected to a room or space. In order to see the unusual shape of the rug, keep furniture some distance away from its edge, leaving a narrow border.
See geometric patterned rugs
TELL US
What shape rug do you think looks best in a living room? Tell us about it in the Comments section.
MORE
11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them
Finding the Right Size Rug for Any Room in the House
How to Arrange Furniture So it Works for You
What shape rug do you think looks best in a living room? Tell us about it in the Comments section.
MORE
11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them
Finding the Right Size Rug for Any Room in the House
How to Arrange Furniture So it Works for You
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What type of rug for a round room with normal shaped furniture?
For me rugs are one of the hardest things to find in any interiors scheme. I would say ignore all those rules about should the sofa, furniture be on, off, to the
side of the rug. If you like the rug, be brave, buy it and make it work!
Thank you for communicating some guidelines on this tricky matter. particularly round rugs!