How To Choose the Perfect Size Vinyl Rug for Your Home

There are some areas of your home that endure a lot of traffic. Kids, pets, and enthusiastic gardeners can track dirt, mud, and leaves in, and can scratch, dent, or chip wood and tile floors. There’s an easy way to both beautify and protect your floors. Consider adding a durable, easy-to-clean vinyl rug to your most-used rooms. Let us help you decide how to choose the perfect size vinyl rug for your home.

Why Choose Vinyl Rugs?

Vinyl rugs offer many advantages that traditional rugs and carpets lack:

• Durability: When cared for properly, vinyl rugs can last for decades.
• Design: Vinyl rugs can feature intricate, artistic designs that are difficult to achieve with traditional floor coverings
• Versatility: Vinyl rugs can brighten both indoor and covered outdoor spaces.
• Hypoallergenic: Unlike fiber rugs, vinyl rugs won’t trap dust & dander
• Stain and Water Resistant: Vinyl rugs repel water and resist stains.
• Protection: Vinyl rugs protect wood and tile floors from dirt, stains, and damage.
• Easy to clean: Wipe vinyl rugs clean; no vacuuming or shampooing necessary.
• Cost-effective: Vinyl rugs are much less expensive than traditional fabric rugs of the same size and quality.Non-slip: Most vinyl rugs come with a non-slip backing.

Heavy traffic areas in your home, such as entryways, kitchens, and informal dining or living areas benefit from the protection and easy care of vinyl rugs. Muddy footprints (human, canine, or feline) won’t leave stains and they can be quickly wiped away. 

Unlike woven rugs or carpeting, vinyl rugs come in many complex and colorful designs. You’re sure to find a vinyl rug that complements your existing décor.

Sizing

After you find a design you love, you’ll have to determine the best size for your space. Learning how to choose the perfect size vinyl rug for your home will save time and will ensure a great fit when your rug arrives.

First, determine where you will place your vinyl rug. Common locations are entries, kitchens, laundry rooms, informal dining areas, and covered outdoor living areas.

Next, determine whether you want one statement rug or a few coordinating rugs to cover different areas in the room.

Finally, decide what type of rug placement relative to the furniture you would like to use. There are three typical ways of laying a rug in a room with furniture:

• All legs on: The rug runs under all seating and tables, and each piece of furniture has all four legs on top of the rug. This is the best set-up to pull large rooms together and give them a cohesive look. The “all legs on” layout is also best for dining rooms, so when you pull a chair out from the table, it remains entirely on the rug.
• Front legs on: In this arrangement, only the front legs of the furniture go on top of the rug. This style will work in rooms with irregular shapes or if you want to orient your rug diagonally.
• Floating: A rug in this layout is on its own with no furniture on top (except possibly a coffee table). Instead, the rug accents an area of the floor that is not occupied by furniture. Use floating rugs sparingly in small living rooms or in a large room that already has a main rug.

The layout you choose will help determine the proper size of your vinyl rug.

Measure

For an “all legs on” set-up in a living room, your rug should be the size of your seating area. It should run at least eight inches wider than your couch while leaving a minimum of 18 inches of bare floor around the perimeter as a path (24 to 36 inches is even better).

A “front legs on” arrangement may work better if you have a smaller living room. Use painter’s tape (the type that peels off easily without leaving residue) to mark the area in the room you’d like to cover with a rug, considering the current furniture arrangement. Then measure the perimeter of the area you’ve marked. This measurement will help you select from standard-sized rugs that are typically available in rectangular shapes.

For smaller rooms, kitchen areas, entries, or “floating” arrangements, tape and measure the area within the seating, standing, or walking areas. Rectangular kitchen rugs are quite effective when placed on the floor in front of the sink. Runners look great in long galley kitchens or accentuating the kitchen counter in an open floor plan.

Standard Sizes

Typically, a vinyl rug will come in one of several standard sizes. Compare these common measurements to your own, and choose the one that is closest to, without being smaller than, the area you previously marked with painter’s tape:

Rugs:

2 x 3 feet

3 x 5 feet

4 x 6 feet

5 x 7 feet

Runners:

2 x 6 feet

2.5 x 7 feet

Multiple Rugs

For large rooms, you can place a large rug in the center of the room and use smaller rugs to accent any chairs and bookcases in the corners of the space. You can use a mix of complementary and coordinating vinyl rugs to create a cohesive feel from the kitchen to the laundry room, through the back entry, and by the door out to the patio. For a more modern, casual look, layer two coordinating rugs on top of one another—this will help you cover a larger area and bring more interest to your space.

A Special Note for Bedrooms

A designer trick for using rugs in bedrooms is to run them under the bed, so about two-thirds of the bed is over the rug. Extend the rest of the rug out from under the bed enough for you to comfortably put both feet on and take a step when you arise.

This layout helps when you want to add some color to a bland bedroom without disturbing the furnishings too much or if you have an irregular arrangement of doorways or architectural features in your bedroom that makes having a large rug awkward.

Outdoor Use

Using a vinyl rug on your covered patio follows the same sizing principles as those you’d use for indoor rugs. Use a larger rug to anchor a conversation area and smaller rugs to offset accent chairs, large planters, or the bar area.

Finally, vinyl rugs are especially useful for entryways, both indoors and outside. They can complete your front porch or entry décor while protecting them from muddy feet.

For hundreds of choices in vinyl rugs by size or color, use the filters on our rug collection page. We’re confident you’ll find the perfect rug, in the perfect size, for your home.