We started our blogs for April, also known as DecoratingMonth, with 7 Interior Design Tips To Follow For Any Room, and last week we discussed putting artwork on your walls with Tips For Hanging Art In An Eye-Pleasing & Decorative Way. Today we are focusing on bringing a type of artwork to your floor by offering a few tips for placing area rugs around your home. 

Adding an area rug to a room is an excellent way to tie all of your furniture pieces together. These home accents also provide comfort and cushion from a bare floor, plus add beauty and artistic flair to any interior design. John Elliott Interiors has a few basic tips to share that will help you to place your area rugs in the most eye-pleasing way, but please take these as guidelines rather than set rules. 

Interior design is an art, and the beauty of art is in the eye of the beholder. These tips will get you started, but in the end, do what looks the best to you. You're the one that gets to live with it and you should enjoy it.

In the Living Room
Depending on the size of the area rug and the size of the room you are placing it in, that will make a difference on which of the following guidelines that you follow. The area rug is meant to connect all of the pieces of furniture in the room. Generally, the front legs of couches and chairs should sit on the rug with the back legs off. In some cases, such as with accent chairs, it may work best to put all of the legs directly on the rug. Try it both ways to decide which flows best for the room you are decorating.


In the Bedroom
If you are choosing to use a large area rug in your bedroom that the bed will actually sit upon, it needs to be big enough so that 12-18 inches extend beyond the bed. It's okay for the rug to extend further, but any less and it will appear too small for the space. Another option is to place a smaller area rug at the foot of the bed instead.  

In the Dining Room
An area rug underneath the dining room table is a beautiful thing, but it can be awkward if the chairs do not fit on it completely while you are sitting in them. A rug that extends at least 24 inches around the table should allow all four legs of the chair to remain on it. 


Hallways & Entryways
High traffic areas should have an area rug both for safety and comfort. This also helps to minimize the wear and tear on your flooring. Since the rugs will be enduring that wear and tear, they will need to be high quality, but you may want to save your pricier area rugs for spots in your home that won't be used as roughly.        

General Tips
It is suggested that you have about 18 inches of bare floor between the edges of the rug and the walls in a room. For smaller rooms, such as a walk-in closet or small home office, you may need to reduce that amount to 8 inches. You want to make sure that there is an equal amount of floor space around all sides of the rug.

Also, don't be afraid to use multiple rugs together in large rooms. This looks especially nice and is very useful when there is more than one seating arrangement in the same space. Before you purchase your rug, always learn about the cleaning instructions so that you know how to best keep it looking like new.


Our home interiors store at the Lake of the Ozarks has all of the pieces you will need to elegantly outfit your home or office, and our talented interior designers are always available to offer advice when you need it. We love helping our customers to create luxurious living spaces, and that magnificent look begins with the furniture and home accents you will find at John Elliott Interiors.