Hardwood floors are the perfect backdrop for an area rug. Hardwood floors are durable and stylish but can be hard and cold under foot. They don’t invite you to sit down and sprawl out to play a game on the coffee table or watch movie like carpet does. An area rug is the perfect compromise between the beauty of wood and the comfort of carpet.

Once you decide you want an area rug for your hardwood floors, you’ll want to make sure you select the right size for the space. Measure your room and then measure your seating area. Buying a rug too big for the room is a mistake you don’t want to make, nor do you want a rug that is too small.

 

If the area rug is too large it will hide all the beautiful wood floors. Too small and the rug will feel like Aladdin’s magic carpet. The right scale area rug should allow some of the wood floor at the perimeter of the room to still be visible. For a seating area, the area rug should accommodate the furniture so that each piece can be on or touching the rug. For a dining room, the rug should accommodate both the table and the chairs when they are pulled back.

 

If you are unsure what size rug to purchase, measure before you buy. You can also tape out the standard rug sizes on your floor to see how each size rug will fit in the space.