Rug Size Calculator

The short answer

A rug should suit the furniture on it and leave a border of bare floor around it. Leave about 18 in of floor between the rug and the walls, down to 8 in in a small room. In the living room, a rug with the sofa’s front legs on it starts at 8 × 10 ft; under a bed, the rug should show about 24 in past the sides and foot; under a dining table, it should reach at least 24 in past every edge.

The calculator applies those guidelines to your measurements and checks every standard size, so you see the one that fits and the sizes on either side.

How to measure

1. Living room: measure the room wall to wall at floor level, both ways. Then measure the sofa from the outside of one arm to the other. For a sectional, use its longest side.
2. Bedroom: you only need the bed size. If the bed frame is much wider than the mattress, look at the next size up.
3. Dining room: measure the tabletop, not the legs. If the table has a leaf you use often, measure it extended.
4. Mark it out. Painter’s tape on the floor at the size the calculator gives you shows how the rug will sit before you buy.

How to use the calculator

1. Choose where the rug goes: the living room, under a bed or under a dining table.
2. Enter your measurements, or pick the bed size. In the living room, choose whether the sofa’s front legs go on the rug or the rug sits in front of the sofa.
3. Read the result. You get the size to buy and the sizes on either side, each labeled Fits, Tight or Doesn’t fit with the reason.
4. Save or share it. Copy link keeps your numbers in the address. Switch to metric with the toggle at the top.

How we calculate

The rug is sized to the furniture first: the sofa, the bed or the table. In the living room, the walls then set how large it can go.

• Living room, front legs on the rug: at least 8 × 10 ft, and at least 6 in wider than the sofa on each end, so the rug never looks narrower than the seating.
• Living room, rug in front of the sofa: at least 5 × 8 ft, and about as long as the sofa is wide.
• Floor at the walls: a size that suits the sofa Fits when it leaves at least 18 in of bare floor on every side, and is Tight with 8 in to 18 in. Less than that and it Doesn’t fit the room.
• Bed: the rug sits under the lower two-thirds of the bed (or the whole bed) and Fits when it shows at least 24 in at the sides and foot; with 18 in to 24 in it’s Tight. Mattress sizes are the standard US dimensions.
• Dining table: the rug Fits when it reaches at least 24 in past every edge of the table. Round tables get round rugs: the table’s diameter plus about 48 in.
• Which size we pick: the smallest size that fits. Bigger sizes that still fit are listed with it, because a bigger rug is often the better-looking choice when the room allows it.

Worked examples

Worked example

An 84 in sofa in a 12 × 15 ft living room

What we know

• Room: 12 ft by 15 ft
• Sofa: 84 in wide, front legs on the rug
• The sofa needs a rug at least 8 ft by 10 ft

How it works out

1. An 8 × 10 ft rug takes the sofa's front legs and leaves at least 24 in of bare floor at the walls.
2. 6 × 9 ft: doesn't fit, too small for the sofa.
3. 9 × 12 ft: also fits, 18 in of floor at the walls.
4. 10 × 14 ft: doesn't fit, too big for the room.

Choose an 8 × 10 ft rug.

Worked example

A king bed with the whole bed on the rug

What we know

• Bed: King mattress, 76 in by 80 in
• Rug under the whole bed

How it works out

1. A 9 × 12 ft rug under the whole bed shows at least 28 in of rug on both sides and at the foot.
2. 8 × 10 ft: doesn't fit, too little rug showing.
3. 10 × 14 ft: also fits, 40 in showing.

Choose a 9 × 12 ft rug.

Worked example

A 54 in round dining table

What we know

• Round table: 54 in across

How it works out

1. A 10 ft round rug reaches at least 33 in past every edge of the table, so chairs stay on it when you pull them out.
2. 8 ft round: doesn't fit, chairs slip off the edge.

Choose a 10 ft round rug.

Rug size by room size

Each standard size and the smallest room it suits with about 18 in of bare floor on every side. In a bigger room, the same rug works as a zone for a seating group.

Rug size by bed size

The rug that shows at least 24 in of rug past the sides and foot of each bed, under the lower two-thirds of the bed or under the whole bed.

A twin or full bed reaches the full 24 in with an 8 × 10 ft rug. A size smaller still shows 18 in or more, which the calculator marks as Tight, a fine choice in a small bedroom.

Before you buy

If two sizes fit, choose by how much floor you want to show: the bigger rug covers more of the room, the smaller one leaves more floor at the walls. Check the rug’s exact dimensions on the product page: the size a rug is sold as is a label, and the calculator works from those labels.

In an open-plan room, use the rug to mark out the seating area instead of the whole room: measure the space the sofa and chairs take up and enter that as the room. If the sofa isn’t chosen yet, the sofa size calculator finds the largest one your wall takes.

A hallway or an entry takes a runner instead, sized from the hall rather than the furniture: the entryway runner size calculator works out its width and length. On a patio, the dining table rule works for an outdoor rug too, and the patio umbrella size calculator sizes the shade over the same table.