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Generated on: July 20, 2026 at 09:33 PM

Rug Size Calculator

Inputs

Room length5 m
Room width4 m
Border of bare floorBalanced (≈45 cm border)

This is a styling guideline, not a fixed rule. Adjust for furniture layout, traffic paths, doorways, and personal taste. Rugs come in standard sizes, so round the recommendation to the nearest size that still leaves a border on every side.

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Lifestyle

Rug Size Calculator

Find the right area-rug size for a room by leaving an even border of bare floor around the rug. Enter the room dimensions and choose how much floor to show.

Inputs

≥ 0 m
≥ 0 m

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Details

A 5 m × 4 m room with a Balanced (≈45 cm border) border suits a rug of about ... × ....

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Rug Size

The most reliable way to size an area rug is to start from the room, not from the rug. Interior designers generally recommend leaving an even strip of bare floor between the rug and the walls. That border frames the rug, keeps it from reading like wall-to-wall carpet, and makes a room feel finished. The rug should be large enough to anchor the furniture but small enough to show floor on every side.

The rug-dimension formula

The border appears on both sides of the room, so each room dimension loses twice the per-side border. The rug length and width are:

rug length=room length−2×borderrug width=room width−2×border\begin{aligned} \text{rug length} &= \text{room length} - 2 \times \text{border} \\ \text{rug width} &= \text{room width} - 2 \times \text{border} \end{aligned}

The border is the bare floor left on a single side. A common range is about 30 to 60 cm12 to 24 inch per side: a wider border suits large rooms, while a narrower border suits small rooms where too much bare floor would leave the rug looking lost.

Worked example

A room that measures 5 m16 ft long by 4 m13 ft wide, with a balanced border of 45 cm18 inch on each side:

rug length=5−2×0.45=4.1 mrug width=4−2×0.45=3.1 m\begin{aligned} \text{rug length} &= 5 - 2 \times 0.45 = 4.1 \text{ m} \\ \text{rug width} &= 4 - 2 \times 0.45 = 3.1 \text{ m} \end{aligned}
rug length=16−2×1.5=13 ftrug width=13−2×1.5=10 ft\begin{aligned} \text{rug length} &= 16 - 2 \times 1.5 = 13 \text{ ft} \\ \text{rug width} &= 13 - 2 \times 1.5 = 10 \text{ ft} \end{aligned}

So a rug of roughly 4.1 × 3.1 m (about 12.7 m²)13 × 10 ft (about 130 sq ft) fits the room with an even 45 cm18 inch border all the way around. Because rugs are sold in standard sizes, you would round down to the nearest standard size that still leaves a border on every side.

Choosing a border width

A spacious border of around 60 cm24 inch gives a gallery-like frame and works in open-plan or formal rooms. A balanced border of around 45 cm18 inch is a safe default for most living and dining rooms. A minimal border of around 30 cm12 inch lets the rug fill more of the floor, which suits small rooms and bedrooms where a larger rug feels cozier.

For seating areas, you can also decide whether all the furniture legs sit on the rug or only the front legs. The all-legs-on look needs a larger rug and feels anchored; the front-legs-on look ties a seating group together with a smaller rug. Both are valid, so treat the calculated size as a starting point and adjust to your layout.

For related room-measurement projects, see the Flooring Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How much bare floor should I leave around a rug?

A common interior-design guideline is to leave an even border of bare floor between the rug and the walls so the rug looks intentional rather than like wall-to-wall carpet. In most rooms a border of about 30 to 60 cm (roughly 12 to 24 inches) per side works well: wider in large rooms, narrower in small rooms. This calculator subtracts twice the per-side border from each room dimension, since the border appears on both sides.

Should all the furniture sit on the rug, or just the front legs?

Both arrangements are valid. In an "all legs on" layout every piece of furniture sits fully on the rug, which calls for a larger rug and gives a unified, anchored look.

In a "front legs on" layout only the front legs of sofas and chairs rest on the rug, which lets a smaller rug still tie the seating together. This tool sizes the rug to the room with an even border; if you prefer the front-legs-on style for a seating group, a slightly smaller rug than the recommendation is also fine.

What are the standard rug sizes?

Rugs are usually sold in a handful of standard sizes rather than custom dimensions. Common imperial sizes include 5 × 8, 6 × 9, 8 × 10, and 9 × 12 feet; common metric sizes include 160 × 230, 200 × 290, and 240 × 340 cm. Once you have a recommended size, round to the nearest standard size that does not exceed your room minus the border, so the rug still leaves bare floor on every side.

Disclaimer

This is a styling guideline, not a fixed rule. Adjust for furniture layout, traffic paths, doorways, and personal taste. Rugs come in standard sizes, so round the recommendation to the nearest size that still leaves a border on every side.

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