Decorating Tips | How to Pair Your Rug and Sofa Sizes

We love helping our customers with their design questions. In a process that can often feel confusing or opaque, our Design Advisors work with you to make design tips and tricks easy to understand. One piece of advice we’re frequently asked to help with is pairing the right sofa size with the right rug size, so we thought we’d write a 3-step guide to figuring out the right ratio!

Pictured above: The Crosby L Sectional in Creme Performance Linen and Driftwood finish.

Step 1: Select The Right Rug Size for Your Room

The four standard rug sizes are 6x9’, 8x10’, 9x12’, and 10x14’, and there are a few general rules of thumb for choosing the right rug size for your room:

• Leave at least 6-8” between the rug and the floor on all sides. This will ensure the rug looks intentional in the space.
• At least two legs of all main furniture pieces should rest on the rug.
• The rug should extend 12-18” beyond the sides of the furniture underneath.

The number one rug 'don't' interior designers notice is using a rug that is too small...like one that only fits your coffee table on top of it. If you’ve fallen in love with a small rug for your space, you can always layer it on top of a larger, natural fiber (like sisal) rug to tie the room together. 

Once you’ve decided the right rug size for your room, you can now move onto your furniture!

Step 2: Pair Your Sofa Size to Your Rug Size

In general, the rug and sofa size pairings we suggest are:

• A 6x9’ rug pairs best with our 60-80" wide sofas 
• An 8x10’ rug pairs best with our 85" or 90" wide sofas and chaise sectionals or our 98" x 98-127" L sectionals
• A 9x12’ rug pairs best with our 90-115" wide sofas, 101-119" chaise sectionals, or 98-105" x 98-136" L sectionals
• A 10x14’ rug pairs best with our 98-105" x 98-136" L Sectionals

Pictured above (L-R): The Hayes Chair in Snow Hair-on-Hide and Beech, The Bowery Coffee Table Ottoman in Stone Pebbled Leather and White Oak, and The Warren L Sectional in Flax Performance Textured Linen.

Step 3: Lay Out Your Space

Need some inspiration on rug and sofa placement? Our Design Advisor, Hannah, put together these layouts with some of our favorite Maiden Home pieces to get you started:

A 6x9' Rug

In this layout, Hannah recommends pairing our 80" Warren Sofa with two Leroy Chairs and our Bowery Coffee Table Ottoman. Place the front feet of both the sofa and chairs on the 6x9' rug.

An 8x10' Rug

In this layout, Hannah recommends pairing our 91" Crosby Chaise Sectional with The Bowery Coffee Table Ottoman. The front legs of the sectional should be placed on the 8x10' rug.

A 9x12' Rug

In this layout, Hannah recommends a layout similar to the 8x10' layout but with all furniture legs placed on top of the 9x12' rug. You can see how the 91" Crosby Chaise Sectional with The Bowery Coffee Table Ottoman both sit on top of the larger rug versus the 8x10' option.

A 10x14' Rug

Since this is the largest standard sized rug, Hannah recommends an L Sectional that commands presence in the room. Pictured her is our 106" x 135" Sullivan Sectional and The Bowery Coffee Table Ottoman. There's room here for an accent chair or two, and Hannah suggests either The Hayes Chair or The Leroy Chair.

Discover our Maiden Home Sofa Collection, Sectional Collection, and order free swatches from our luxurious fabric assortment to start your living room layout.

Looking for more inspiration? Check out our tips for finding the perfect living room layout for your home.