Your Ultimate Living Room Rug Placement Guide

Woollen living room rugs placed the right way can anchor the space and add a touch of luxury, style, warmth and an extra bit of personality. In fact, the placement of a rug can make all the difference in your living room's look and feel. So, trying to crack the code of correct living room rug placement can be quite the challenge.

But, not to stress. We're here to make it easy for you. For over 60+ years, Bremworth has been crafting beautifully luxurious wool rugs that have been made with only the finest of NZ-grown wool - so it's safe to say we know more than a thing or two about rugs and their placement. Together with the insights from our Designer, Lily Ng, we have made this ultimate guide to living room rug placement. You'll discover: 

Let's get started!

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

Investing in a wool rug for your living 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 living 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.
 
4. It helps make busy large open spaces like living rooms 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.

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

The Standard Sizes Of Living Room Rugs - Is Bigger Always Better?

 
When it comes to choosing the right size rug for your living room, understanding standard rug sizes is essential for creating a well-balanced and visually appealing space. So, here are the most common living room rug sizes you'll find in New Zealand.
  • Small rugs: 160cm x 230cm
  • Medium-sized rugs: 250cm x 350cm
  • Large rugs: 300 x 400cm
Keep in mind that these are only standard sizes; if you want to go bigger or smaller, you can get a custom rug specially designed for you by Bremworth. All you have to do is go to our rug collection page and customise your rug in just four easy steps. The maximum width is 3.66m, and the maximum length is 6m.

Customise a designer wool rug for your living room.

How large should area rugs be in a living room?

Bremworth's in-house designer, Lily Ng, says that the living room rug should be "enough to fit under the couch, coffee table and to stop before the TV unit. It needs to be 20 cm away from the wall. So, an area rug would fit under most living room items".

Should you have a rug in a small living room?

An example of a half-on half-off rug placement featuring our Lisburn Rug in the shade Damask.
"It’s best to avoid opting for smaller rugs as this overall makes the room feel smaller," says Lily Ng, designer at Bremworth. "However, a half-on half-off approach is suitable as at least the front of your chairs or sofa would sit on top of the rug".

Here's Lily sharing her tips on how to place a circular rug in a living room. Click here for a detailed round rug guide.

How to place a rug in a living room correctly with visual guides!

The key to arranging an area rug in a living room is to make sure that the furniture either has to be on all of the rug or just touching it. The rug can also be in a space of its own, but that tends to make the living room look smaller. When the furniture is all on the rug, it helps to define the space in an open area.
Here are two of the best ways to arrange a rug in your living room. 

#1 Go Big And Place The Rug Under All Furniture

Create a dramatic look by placing a large rug in your living room. This rug placement allows your rug to encompass all your seating, so it anchors your living room and provides a space for connection.

Lay out all your main living furniture – then add at least 20cm beyond each piece for your rug to extend. Stop shy of the entertainment unit as this doesn’t need to sit on the rug.

#2 Place Your Rug Half On Half Off

As Lily mentioned above, avoid opting for smaller rugs, as they make your room appear smaller. This living room rug placement allows your furniture to be half-on, half-off the rug. So at least the front legs of your chairs or sofa sit on the rug.

How should a rug be placed under a couch?

Choose a rug that's big enough to allow about a 20cm gap between the wall and the couch. If you want a smaller rug, go for the half-on-half-off approach above. That way, at least the front legs of your sofa will be sitting on top of the rug.

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

This really depends on the look you are after. It's best recommended from a design standpoint to place a rug on a hard floor, but then again, a rug on a carpet can be pulled off if done tastefully by following the 'Half On Half Off' approach or by placing all the pieces of furniture on the rug.

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

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

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 living room rug placement! In brief:

  • The best way to place a rug in your living room is either by having all the furniture on it or just touching it.
  • Standard 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 living 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 living room and give more advice on how to fit it in your space?

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