Should All of Your Furniture Legs Be on the Rug? Designers Say There’s a Right Answer

Everyone knows one of the most beloved pieces of decor in any room is a stylish rug. But shopping for a rug that suits your style is only half the battle. The next half is the trickiest: trying to arrange it precisely.

There’s a lot to think about when adding a rug to your room. You have to find the right placement, determine the appropriate size, and then figure out how to arrange your furniture around it.

Thankfully, we spoke to a few experts to answer one of the most burning rug placement questions: should all furniture legs be on the rug? Here’s what they had to say.

Should All Furniture Legs Be On the Rug?

While both our experts agree that having all furniture legs on the rug is ideal, they also say it’s not always the case or what’s best for the room.

“Ideally, when there’s enough space, we love having all furniture legs on the rug—it creates a cohesive and polished look,” says Stephanie Calderon, CEO & Principal Designer at Stephanie Calderon Interiors. “However, there are situations where this isn’t feasible. In those cases, we aim to have at least the front two legs of key pieces, like sofas, accent chairs, and side tables, on the rug.”

Ashley Powell, interior designer at Roseberry Allen, also says that as long as you can position two front legs on the rug, your design won’t be compromised.

“This helps to keep the furniture grounded and connected on the rug within the room,” she shares “And, more conversational which is the goal, right? We want to be able to connect and talk when enjoying our beautiful interiors.”

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The Right Way to Position a Rug

Placing a rug in any room involves more thought than just laying it down anywhere. Our experts say they follow a few rules to properly style a proportionate rug in the room that complements the space and furniture.

Calderon recommends thinking of the rug as an anchor for the room and starting from there.

“Start by centering the rug in the space or aligning it with a key focal point, like a fireplace or a main wall,” Calderon says. “Then arrange your furnishings around the rug to create balance, ensuring there’s about 3 feet of walkway around most pieces. This approach keeps the layout functional and visually appealing.”

But before you focus on anchoring a room, Powell says to keep in mind the rule of rug sizes.

“Dining room rugs should extend at least 24 inches past the table legs to accommodate chairs and in bedrooms, the rug should be large enough to go under about half of the bed,” Powell says. “Living room rugs should be large enough to capture at least the front legs of upholstery.”

Additional Rug Styling Tricks & Rules

Other than placing the front two legs or all four on your rugs, here are other pro-backed tricks and rules for positioning rugs in your home:

• Keep proportion in mind: “Choose a rug that complements the room size. A rug that’s too small can make the space feel disconnected, while one that’s too large can overwhelm it,” Calderon says.
• Go for layers: “Another trick I often use, especially for larger rooms, is to lay a sisal rug that lands about 1-2 feet off the perimeter of the entire room, and then I lay a patterned rug on top of that to create more intimate seating zones. It’s such a fun, layered look,” says Powell.
• Create room “zones”: Calderon says, “In open-concept spaces, use rugs to create distinct zones, like separating a seating area from a dining space.”
• Play with designs & patterns: “When selecting a rug, consider how its pattern interacts with your furnishings. If the rug features a bold or defined central design but the room layout prevents your furniture from aligning with that center, it can disrupt the visual balance and draw attention to the wrong spot,” Calderon says. “In such cases, it might be better to choose a rug with a more versatile or evenly distributed pattern.”