Help choosing dining room rug size

12 years ago

I don't know what size rug to get for the dining room. We walk from the living room, through the dining room, and into the kitchen. The room is 9.5"x14". The table is 42" wide and 64-88 " long. If I add the general recommended amount of rug space to accommodate the chairs, the rug juts into the space we walk through. The doorway is 31" wide. Would it look terrible to get something like an 8'x10' and have it cover the space up entirely? Should I go no rug? A 6"6" wide rug will give me 18* for the chairs, but will jut into the area a little bit. Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

Also, there is a tray ceiling, so I can't move the table over towards the wall at all, or it will be weirdly off center.

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Rescued Relics Refinishing & Resturation

12 years ago

I my mind,never use fabric rugs or any rug at all where you have dinners,fabrics tends to trap oders and get discolored quickly if you have accidents with spillage but if you must have one,make sure it is synthetic but large enough to cover your entire seating area but NOT oval if your table is rectangulare table....estecticly not good

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Comments (12)

potchiemagoodleberry
12 years ago
rule #1 with dining room rugs....make sure that the rug is big enough, so that any chairs around the table will still be on rug, when they have been pulled out to be sat in. it's awkward to pull the chair in, if the chair gets caught on the edge of the rug when doing so. have your family pull chairs out to sit on them, then make your measurements. you can create a custom sized rug using flor carpet tiles if the size is off. p.s....replace the fan with a fab chandelier to really define this space as a DR.
parryk thanked potchiemagoodleberry
nadakaraja
12 years ago
What about using an oval shape rug? I feel this particular shape won't look bad if the entire space isn't covered, and it should cover the table space just fine :)
parryk thanked nadakaraja
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passionforrugs
12 years ago
Would be helpful to see the room that shares the space with the dining area. For the cost of a rug (which I can also advise you about) if this were *my* space, I would rather spend that money to hire someone to move the electrical outlet towards the buffet wall and eliminate the tray ceiling altogether. Sometimes it's best to eliminate a problem than try to work around it. The table would be in its own space and finding a suitable rug will be much easier.
parryk thanked passionforrugs
hatetoshop
12 years ago
Easiest solution: I would ignore the trey ceiling as far as table placement is concerned. Buy the appropriate sized rectanglular rug (big enough so the chairs are always on it -- in or out). Don't worry about the rug jutting into the area you walk. Best solution: As suggested by Atticmag Jane -- get rid of the trey ceiling.
parryk thanked hatetoshop
parryk
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!

The fan will definitely be switched out with a new fixture! Just moved in and trying to get the most important basics first.

Oval is an interesting idea. I haven't seen too many, but I'll poke around online.

The tray ceiling has to stay (for now at least). It was put in to hide the central AC ducts. It's an old house so they run along the ceiling on the first floor. It's something to consider if we decide to do any remodeling in the future.

Here's a photo from a little further back in the living room, looking into the dining room
parryk
Original Author
12 years ago
(oops, this is the new picture)
passionforrugs
12 years ago
You'll need an 8 x 10 rug for all the chairs to adequately slide without falling off the rug. What is the area between the living room and dining area (to the left of the door opening) a hall?
passionforrugs
12 years ago
Another thought about the tray ceiling...how about painting out the trim to the same color as the ceiling. The dark trim really draws your up :/
parryk
Original Author
12 years ago
When you stand looking into the area to the left, one side is a powder room and and the door to the basement on the other. That's a good point about the trim in the ceiling. We'll be painting the whole room soon, the colors are a little muddy for my taste.
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G T DESIGNS
12 years ago
Ideally, big enough to have the chairs ON when they are pulled out. Let's say about three feet out from the edge of the table. If you have kids or messy eaters, skip the rug.
parryk thanked G T DESIGNS
passionforrugs
12 years ago
Agree about the paint color. Wait until you finish that part then decide on a rug. If there's nothing to the left but a walkway, then I don't think you need to worry about a rug jutting out past that wall. Maybe later place a runner or something leading to the powder room to give the dining rug balance. Yes, paint trim and if replacing fan, don't do dark wood blades. I'd even be tempted to use a ceiling mout light. Something about that tray ceiling draws my eye straight to it!