How to Pick The Right Size Rug for Your Bedroom

Mark and I were sitting in our living room the other day and a magical moment happened. Despite rolling his eyes and protesting each time I went on a crazy Craigslist hunt for a new piece of furniture or detail- he looked around and said to me “The living room feels really nice. It’s really pulled together – you did a good job.”

HOLD. THE. PHONE.

Can I get that on tape?

Naturally, I took this as a sign to immediately start designing our bedroom which has long been neglected due to financial constraints and the previously mentioned rolling eyes {you have to wait for the right moment, you know?}

You guys, it’s really bad. Our bedroom currently looks like a frat house. All the furniture is mismatched. You have definitely never seen a bedroom pic on my Instagram.

Our dresser and armoire are a lovely shade of 90’s pine – hand me downs from my sister-in-law {Great bones though- I’m about to stain them and will share it with you guys!}
Our nightstands are technically side tables, also left by my sister-in-law
We have no bed frame. Just a metal rack.
Our walls are WHITE. BRIGHT WHITE. IT YELLS AT YOU WHEN YOU WAKE UP. LIKE THIS.
And our rug… it is our old living room rug from our previous apartment. Stained, shredded to death by that fluffy Bitch, and way too small.

So, as I dove into the wonderful world of rugs I wondered…what IS the right sized rug for our room/bed? Does it even exist for a single gal in New York City? {Sorry just having a Carrie Bradshaw moment}

I’ve done the internet crawling so you don’t have to. That’s what friends are for.

Julianne Hough's rustic glam California cool bedroom style

Feminine glam traditional bedroom with gold canopy bed

How to Pick the right Sized Rug for Your Bedroom

First things first- you have to decide where you’re going to put the rug. Most of the time, the rug is placed under the bed and either holds just the lower 2/3 of the bed itself, or the bed and nightstands. Since I’m working with a very small space, this is basically the only option for me, but if you have more space you could place it at the foot of the bed or even next to the bed on the sides. Ahhh #dreams. Enough space to have a foot of the bed moment lol.

Rug Size Do’s and Don’ts

Before we get into the general measurement nitty gritty here are some general area rug Do’s and Don’ts

DO pick a rug that feels good on your feet. This is sort of personal preference, but the way we start our days is SO important, the last thing you want is to wake up on the right side of the bed only to put your feet onto an itchy or stiff rug.
DON’T Go too small. I think people tend to err on the side of caution with rugs and opt for smaller than larger, especially if it is a small space. A larger area rug can actually make the room feel BIGGER- and you want to be sure you aren’t leaving anything hanging off haphazardly {with some exceptions}
DON’T touch the walls with your rug or have it butt up against pieces of furniture. A general guideline is to leave 8″-20″ inches between the rug and the wall, depending on the room size. And it should either go under the furniture or leave a few {2-5″} inches of floor space showing in between rug and furniture pieces such as nightstands, dresser etc.
DO be sure the rug you pick suits your lifestyle. For instance, I love the look of slightly shaggy rugs, and per tip 1 that sounds great on my feet! BUT I know with that fluffy Bitch’s fur a shag rug would be a nightmare to clean. So I’ll be passing.
DO be sure if you have any doors that need to open over the rug that the rug isn’t too high a pile for those areas!

Bedroom Area Rug Sizing Guidelines

Area Rug Sizing for King or Queen Beds

Rug should extend AT LEAST 18″ from the sides and foot of the bed. {This sounds like a lot, but take a measuring tape and measure it out, it may surprise you as it doesn’t look that far out.}
VERY GENERAL SIZING: 8′ x 10′ for Queen bed, 9′ x 12′ for King bed. More detail…
9′ x 12′ rug to hold the entire bed, nightstands, and a bench/chairs at the foot of the bed {must be nice! lol}
8′ x 10′ rug to hold the entire bed, the nightstands, but no bench/chairs.
8′ x 10′ rug to hold the bottom two-thirds of the bed and a bench/chairs.
6′ x 9′ rug to hold the bottom two-thirds of the bed with no bench.

Dreamy Parisian inspired bedroom with a bee of bed rug

Again, these are just general guidelines. For instance, we have a King bed but I am currently leaning toward and 8′ x 10′ rug vs 9′ x 12′ as our bedroom isn’t that big. However, I’ll be doing the following tip to be sure:

TIP: If you’re still unsure of your space or what you want- measure out different options and mark where the rug will go with painters tape so you can visualize before making a $$$$ purchase.

This rug in Kourtney Kardashian's guest bedroom is breaking a major design rule but looks good doing it. — Breaking the rug-to-wall space rule, which goes to show design “rules” are just guidelines. {However, I honestly feel bringing this rug down below the nightstands would look better anyway}

Area Rugs for the Side or Base of Beds

If you have gorgeous flooring you want to show off or a smaller budget, runners on either side of your bed or the foot of the bed are a great option. For this, if you have the space, I recommend a runner the same length as your bed {while still allowing space between the bed/furniture and rug / walls and rug} Some standard sizes would be 2’6″ x 8‘ , 2′ x 3′ or 3′ x 5′

Parisian Inspired Bedroom with sheepskin rug at side of bed

TIP: Have odd room sizing or can’t pick a style? Try layering rugs- you can get different sizes to compensate for an oddly shaped or sized space and can mix colors/textures/patterns for a luxe, lived-in look. The room below is one of my favs and uses this style!

Layered Rugs in a Luxe Casual Bedroom