Sold by Design: The importance of Rug Size in Home Staging.

Using the proper rug size in home staging is not just about good design, it is about making a room feel large, comfortable, and ultimately controlling the buyer’s eye.  Many years ago we defined home staging, to our customers, as a marketing project, not interior design. That doesn’t mean that interior design principles aren’t still important.

5′ x 7′ Rugs are the Top Selling Rug Size

Sadly, this is a true statement, but one that makes me cringe every time I think about it. Even worse is to surf social media and see my counter-part home stagers using them in main living spaces. The cost of 5′ x 7′ rugs are often the least expensive, and it is what you’ll typically find in some of your less expensive stores. Surf sites like Houzz, Better Homes & Gardens, or any other quality design source, and, if you pay attention,  you’ll see that these are not the size in photos.

In general, the smallest rug that should be used in almost any living space is 6′ x 9′. The most common size that Rave Home Staging uses is 8′ x 10′.

Rugs not only add color and texture, but they also anchor the room. More importantly, they anchor furniture pieces together. In the room above, the chairs and small table are at least three feet away from the sofa. Without a rug, they would just sort of float in the space next to the living room.

By using a rug in this long, narrow room, the visual space in this room increased significantly. When selling a home, larger rooms that are carefully planned out for potential buyers tend to sell faster and for more money.

Rugs define a room. The placement of the sofa would make no sense with a smaller rug. Actually, the rug probably should have been a little wider, so that it would have completely fit under the sofa. This would have created the need for a custom rug, however. Since we are staging for selling and not designing for living, custom is not an option.

A smaller rug would not have breached the space between the sofa and the TV console, and it would have left the gray chair and table, to the right, hanging out in space, apart from the rest of the seating area. Once again, a larger rug creates a space that makes sense for potential buyers, allowing them to see possibilities in a room that may have felt small and awkward previously.

This room was also defined by an 8′ x 10′ area rug. This situation was slightly different, however. We used a smaller rug, in a large room, to open up a completely different area behind the primary entertaining area. This allowed the long living room to be used for two different functions.

Creating additional zones in a home offer opportunities for potential home buyers.

Where are 5′ x 7′ rugs acceptable in home staging?

Small spaces like bathrooms, entry rooms, or kitchens, are the ideal place for 5′ x 7′ rugs. The photo above shows a 5′ x 7′ rug in a small sunroom. The rug still does the job of anchoring and defining the space. A larger rug would have overwhelmed the room.

Despite what women have said for hundreds of years, size does matter. For more information on using rugs, check out 11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them.