Rugs are an easy and impactful way to ad a little texture, color, and pattern. Every single room in your home can benefit from a rug, but especially the bedroom. They anchor the bed, especially in larger bedrooms, and the soft landing is nice on those chilly mornings if you have wood or tile floors. Even if your bedroom is carpeted, you can layer a rug right on top for a pop of pattern. It is a personal opinion, but it is completely fine to layer rugs on carpet, since I know the question comes up often. I did it in our bedroom here! We are eventually installing wood floors, but for now I placed the rug on top of our carpet. In the picture without the rug it feels bare and like it’s missing something. I love how the rug anchors it and pulls everything together.

However, the dilemma of choosing the right rug is a bit overwhelming. The biggest question that comes up is regarding size. How do you know what size to get? Is an 8×10 big enough? Should the rug go under the bed? I’ll help answer these and go over a few basic guidelines that show you how to choose the right rug for under a bed.

Where should you place the rug?

Generally, the rug is placed under the bed, but that’s not always the case. You can place them at the foot of the bed or at the side so you step on the rug when you get out of bed. It just all depends on where you want it. Once you know where you want your rug, that will help determine the best size needed.

Choosing Rug Size

The most common mistake is choosing a rug that’s too small in size for your space. You want a rug that feels proportionate in size to the furniture in your room. Just because you have a tiny room, doesn’t mean you need a tiny rug.

When a rug is placed under a bed, the rug should stick out at least 12 inches on all sides. Typically for a queen size bed, an 8×10 rug is sufficient. In our bedroom, that’s what size of rug we got and it fits our queen size bed perfectly.

Rug Placement

There are a few options when it comes to placing the rug under a bed. You can position the rug horizontal and have your nightstands and bed under the rug. This works if you don’t have a bench at the foot of your bed, since the rug wouldn’t be quite long enough to go under the bench as well. Or you could place the rug at the bottom two thirds of the bed so the rug was under the bed and bench but not the nightstands.

I chose to position our rug vertically in the room since our room is longer and more narrow, and I like how it fills more of the space. Once we get a king size bed down the road, I will probably rotate the rug horizontally so it fits the larger bed.

Deciding on a Rug

Maybe the hardest part of all is deciding on a rug for your room. With thousands of options and Pinterest filled with beautiful inspiration images, it’s hard to decide on just one rug that’s the perfect fit. There is no right answer here; it truly comes down to what you like and how you want your room to look and feel.

When I was looking for rugs, I primarily look online because there are tons of options and it’s easier to shop that way. RugsUSA is one of my go-tos because they have a huge selection and a sale always happening so you can find affordable options.

From the beginning I wanted a light toned rug to keep with the neutral and airy palette for our bedroom. But then I saw this beautiful blue patterned Loloi rug from At Home and I had to take it home and try it out. I got it home and while it’s pretty, the dark colors took away from the light and airy vibe I was going for, so I ultimately decided to go with a light, neutral rug. It’s kinda fun to see how different the room is when you switch something as easy as a rug. Which rug is your favorite? I will say I think the blue rug photographs better in the room, but in person it feels a tad too heavy and dark for what I want.

We are so close to reaching the finish line and completing the One Room Challenge! We are currently removing the trim and painting it and then I just have some styling to do.

Here’s a recap of the last 4 weeks if you missed them and want to see how our room has progressed!

WEEK 1 – LARGE MASTER BEDROOM IDEAS & INSPIRATION

WEEK 2 – GONE ON VACATION IN HAWAII

WEEK 3 – BEDROOM DESIGN PLAN: HOW TO DESIGN A ROOM FROM START TO FINISH

Week 4 – Bedroom Layout: How to Arrange Furniture

I’m purposely not sharing any other glimpses of our room so you you’ll have to wait to the see final reveal next week 🙂 I can’t wait!!

Make sure to check out all the amazing designers and other guest participants in the One Room Challenge! There’s a huge variety in rooms and styles so it’s fun to see everyone’s ideas.