Calculator + chartEnter your measurements below and it works the answer out.
An 8 × 10 ft rug suits most living rooms, and a 9 × 12 suits a large one — but what decides it is the sofa, not the floor area. Enter both below for the size and the placement that works.
| Room | Front legs on | All legs on | Coffee table only |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft | 5 × 8 ft | 6 × 9 ft | 4 × 6 ft |
| 10 × 12 ft | 6 × 9 ft | 8 × 10 ft | 4 × 6 ft |
| 12 × 12 ft | 8 × 10 ft | 8 × 10 ft | 5 × 8 ft |
| 12 × 15 ft | 8 × 10 ft | 9 × 12 ft | 5 × 8 ft |
| 14 × 16 ft | 9 × 12 ft | 10 × 14 ft | 6 × 9 ft |
| 15 × 20 ft | 9 × 12 ft | 12 × 15 ft | 6 × 9 ft |
| 18 × 24 ft or open plan | 10 × 14 ft | 12 × 15 ft | 8 × 10 ft |
Sized to leave 8 to 24 inches of floor between the rug and the walls, and to be wider than a standard 84 in sofa. A sectional, or a room with two seating groups, changes this — use the calculator with your own sofa length.
There are three placements, and they need three different rugs. Pick the placement first; the size follows from it.
Front legs on. The front legs of the sofa and every chair stand on the rug, the back legs are on the floor. This is what most rooms get, because it ties the seating together without needing a rug that reaches the walls. The rug should still be wider than the sofa by six inches or more each end.
All legs on. Every piece of furniture sits entirely on the rug, with rug still showing outside it. It is the most generous version and the most expensive — in a 12 × 15 room it means a 9 × 12. It is also the only version that works if the floor underneath is in poor condition.
Coffee table only. The rug sits inside the seating group under the coffee table and nothing else stands on it. It is the cheapest and the weakest: a rug that touches no furniture reads as an island and makes the room look smaller. Worth it in a small room or a rental, not otherwise.
Then the two limits. Wider than the sofa, by six inches or more at each end — a rug narrower than the sofa makes the seating look like it is standing on a mat. And 8 to 24 inches of bare floor to the walls: closer than that and it reads as fitted carpet.
When in doubt, go up a size. Almost every living room that looks wrong has a rug one size too small. There is no arrangement that makes an undersized rug look deliberate.
An 8 × 10 in most rooms, a 9 × 12 in a large one, and a 5 × 8 or 6 × 9 in a small one. What settles it is whether the rug is wider than your sofa and still leaves floor showing at the walls.
It is the most generous version and it looks best, but it needs a rug most rooms cannot take. Front legs on is the normal compromise and is a real placement, not a fallback.
Wider than the sofa by at least six inches at each end, and stopping 8 to 24 inches short of the walls. Those two limits usually leave you with one stock size to choose from.
Yes. Once it comes within about six inches of the walls it reads as fitted carpet rather than a rug, and it catches the door. That is the upper limit; almost nobody hits it, because the common error is going too small.
An 8 × 10 for front-legs-on or all-legs-on placement. That leaves two feet of floor on two sides and one on the others. A 9 × 12 would run nearly wall to wall.
Wider than it, yes — by six inches or more at each end. A rug narrower than the sofa is the single most common living room mistake and no amount of arranging fixes it.
Measure the longest leg of the sectional and treat that as the sofa length. Sectionals usually push you a size up, and often to all-legs-on, because the corner piece has nowhere sensible to half-stand.