Dining Room Rug Design Tips: How To Place A Rug In A Dining Room

Imagine transforming your dining room into a warm, inviting space where every meal feels like a special occasion. This is the magic a well-chosen wool rug can bring to your dining area. Woollen Dining room rugs not only have aesthetic value but also serve a practical purpose by protecting your floors from the hustle and bustle of family meals and gatherings. They are durable, naturally stain resistant and easy to clean, so getting rid of crumbs and spills is no problem.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about how to place a rug in a dining room while answering common questions about sizing and colours. So, at the end of this blog, you can confidently shop for the dining room rug of your dreams.

Here's what we cover:

 

5 Reasons Why You Should Have A Wool Rug In Your Dining Room

Investing in a wool rug for your dining room can be one of the best decisions you make in your home décor journey. Here's why:

1. Wool is a proven high-performance fibre that can handle a lot of foot traffic.
2. It's a fantastic thermal insulator that will keep your dining room warm in winter and cool in summer - it can save you 8-13% on heating and cooling costs*!
*MCNEIL (2016). The Thermal Properties Of Wool Carpets.
Agresearch Technical Bulletin.
3. Wool is easy to clean because it's naturally stain and soil resistant - just see how simple it is to clean with our Complete Guide On How To Clean A Wool Rug.

Cleaning food spills, even baby food spills, which are notoriously difficult to clean, is easy with a Bremworth wool rug.

4. It helps make busy large open spaces like dining areas quieter and more comfortable. Doesn’t that sound nice?
5. Wool rugs are great at absorbing nasty odours from the air, making them fantastic in open-plan kitchens and dining areas.

Convinced that a wool rug is the way to go for your dining room? Great. Now let's talk size…

 

Dining Room Rug Sizes: How Large Should A Rug Be?

Whether your table is round, rectangle or square, ensure the rug you place underneath has 90cm of space around, enough to cover the space for your chairs.

So, basing the size of your rug on the size of your dining table and chairs is the key to creating a well-balanced and inviting space. You can also use these most common rug sizes in New Zealand to find the right rug for your space.

  • Small rugs: 160cm x 230cm
  • Medium-sized rugs: 250cm x 350cm
  • Large rugs: 300 x 400cm

If you don't want to stick to the standard sizes, you can always opt for a custom-made wool rug specially designed for you by Bremworth. You can build your own rug by choosing the size as well as the style, colour, shape & edging that's best suited to your interior.

Customise a designer wool rug for your dining room.

 

Should you have a rug in a small dining room?

Yes, you can have a rug in any size setting, so a small dining room is fine. Whatever sized dining area you have, maintain 90cm of space around the table always. Avoid going for a smaller rug just for the sake of fitting it into a small space, as it can cause your dining chairs to trip over when pushed back.

 

How To Place A Rug Under A Dining Table - 2 Stylish And Practical Placements

The key to arranging an area rug in a dining room is to make sure that it comfortably accommodates both the table and chairs - even when they're pulled away from the table.

Here are three dining room rug placement tips:

#1 Choose a rug that extends at least 90cm beyond all sides of your table – big enough so when chairs are pushed back, they stay on the rug. This also helps protect hard flooring and minimises trip hazards.

#2 Opt for a round dining room rug if your table is round - choose a round rug to create cohesion and echo similar shapes in your dining area.

Want to know more about round rugs? Check out this ultimate round rug guide.

#3 If you have an extendable dining table, choose a size that will still fit beneath your table when fully extended.

Here's a visual guide to help you out:

Whether your dining table is round, square or rectangular, ensure that the rug you place underneath has 90cm of space around, enough to cover the space for your chairs.

 

Do you put a rug on the carpet in the dining room?

According to Bremworth's product consultant and designer Lily Ng this "depends on the look you are after. It is best recommended from a design standpoint to place on a hard floor, but then again, a rug on carpet can be pulled off if done tastefully".

For inspiration on rug placement, see our Dining Room Rug Ideas here.

 

Dining Room Rug Colours: What Colour Rug Can Make A Dining Area Look Bigger?

Light-coloured rugs have the power to make a space look bigger, as you can see in this example of our Untouched rug in the shade 'Calm'.

According to Bremworth designer Lily Ng, "Darker colours can make a room appear smaller, whereas when you use lighter-toned colours, it creates a sense of spaciousness and the appearance of a bigger room. So, go for more lighter tones such as grey, cream, beige and white".

That's it for everything you need to know about dining room rug placement! In brief:

  • The best way to place a rug in your dining room is to ensure that there is at least 90cm around all sides of your table.
  • Standard dining room rug sizes range from small rugs (160cm x 230cm), medium-sized rugs (250cm x 350cm), and large rugs (300 x 400cm). But if you want something custom-made – you can always create your own designer wool rug with Bremworth.
  • The best dining room rug colours are grey, cream, beige and white.

If you still have questions, why not book a complimentary rug consultation with one of our designers, who'll help you pick the right-sized rug for your dining room and give more advice on how to fit it in your space?

Ready to start looking at rugs? Explore our dining room rug collection here.