Chaney Widmer, the founder of Mix & Match Design Company, shares her favorite options for styling bedroom rugs.
Rugs are one of my favorite ways to up the cozy factor and give a room a finished look. I love how they have the ability to “ground” your furniture and define a space, but it’s not always obvious how to pick the right one and know exactly how to place your furniture on it! Questions surrounding that topic come up a lot when I’m talking with clients, and today I want to share some of my best tips for how to position your furniture on a rug so that it enhances the overall look and feel of your space.
Specifically, we’ll be thinking through rug placement in bedrooms since I recently gave the guest bedroom in our home a makeover, and adding a rug was key in polishing off the design. It was amazing how much of a difference it made! I partnered with Mohawk to bring a custom carpet bound SmartStrand rug into this little bedroom, and I’ll be sharing that space as one example of how to position a rug under a bed.
Before I dive into those tips though, I want to mention a few fun facts about the rug I chose for our guest space. It’s made out of their SmartStrand material—the fibers of which offer unbeatable spill protection and permanent stain resistance, and it’s virtually indestructible. It’s also ridiculously soft underfoot! I have a feeling this is a rug we’ll have for a good, long time.
Mohawk has a really wide selection of colors and styles too. I chose Enduring Qualities in Bay Blue to complement the blue hues in other pieces in the room. The grid pattern adds really nice texture and structure, and it complements the busy (in a good way!) floral wallpaper that’s behind it.
Now let’s talk about rug placement!
When it comes to figuring out how to position a rug in your bedroom, you have several options:
- Place a larger area rug under the bottom two-thirds of the bed and have it extend out from the sides and bottom
- Place a runner down on either side of the bed or at the foot of the bed
- Place a smaller rug at the foot of the bed
I generally opt for option one or two from the list above, but it all depends on the size or shape of the space, as well as your own personal preferences! Let’s dive a little deeper into each of those.
Option 1
As you can see in my guest bedroom, I decided to go with option one—placing a rug under the bottom two-thirds of the bed. When you go with this look, you want to make sure you choose a rug that’s large enough (ideally) to extend to the far edges of your nightstands on either side and at least 18 inches out from the end of the bed. Don’t make the mistake of getting one that only comes out a few inches on the sides! It will have the effect of making your bedroom look out of proportion. You want to have enough space on either side for your feet to land comfortably on the rug. Also, be sure to keep some “breathing room” between your rug and the walls—6-12 inches is a good rule of thumb.
On a side note, I do want to mention that you can also place the rug so that it sits under your nightstands. If you do that though, be sure that your rug is still large enough to peek out a good bit from under the foot of the bed.
Option 2
Option two—using runners—is another one of my favorites. If you have beautiful floors you want to show off or have a smaller space, this may be a good look. When you put them on both sides of your bed, place your runner rugs so that they start just below the front of your nightstands and extend to the foot of the bed or slightly beyond. If you go with a single runner along the foot of your bed, make sure it runs edge to edge or slightly beyond. Longer is usually better than shorter.
Option 3
The third option is one that I would recommend if you have a seating area at the end of your bed. Whether that’s a bench, settee, or a pair of chairs, it can be nice to define that space with its own rug. Place it so that it sits under either the front legs of your piece of furniture or under all four. If you have a larger bedroom, choose a larger rug. If it’s smaller, you can go with a smaller one, but not so small so that it looks like a postage stamp!
As you can see, there are many ways to position a rug in a bedroom! Depending on the room size, setup, and other pieces of furniture you have, one look might work better than another. If you’re having trouble deciding what would work best, map it out! You can do this in two ways: on paper or in the room itself. Either grab a piece of graph paper and draw it out using the measurements of your room and furniture, or use painter’s tape on the floor of the room to “try out” different rug sizes and placements.
Happy rug hunting!
If you love this style, come talk to us about creating a custom-sized carpet bound rug for your home!
