The Best Rug Size for a King Bed

Placing a rug under your bed is a great way to add a finishing touch to your room design. A rug adds color and texture to a room. It can make your space feel more cozy and give the entire room a more cohesive look. For bedrooms with hardwood floors or tile, a large rug also offers a soft, warm landing place for your feet. What’s the best rug size for a king bed? In this post, I’ll share my recommendations on the right rug size and placement options for your king bed.

Source: Studio McGee

Rug Size for a King Bed

The right size rug for your room will depend on two things: the size of the room, and the size of the bed. In general, a rug should extend 18-24 inches beyond the side of the bed. This design guideline is what we use to determine the ideal size of the rug that will be placed under a king size bed.

A standard king-sized bed is 76 inches wide, so this means that your rug should be 112-124 inches wide, or about 10 feet wide.

For the length, a standard king bed size is 80 inches long. With the head of your bed frame against the wall, you really only have to worry about extending the rug 18-24 inches beyond the foot of the bed, which ends up giving you a rug that is 8-9 feet long.

Combining that measurement with a width of 10 feet tells us that the minimum rug size for a king bed is 8ft x 10ft. For a large bedroom, a slightly larger rug size of 9ft x 12ft, will look even better!

Let’s take a look at the different sizes and placement options for a rug under your king size bed.

8’x10′ Rug

An 8ft x 10ft rug is the minimum size you should use under a king size bed, and is a popular choice for smaller rooms. It’s a perfect rug size if you have a small bedroom, and can be placed under both the bed and nightstands to provide coverage on all sides of the bed. One thing to keep in mind with this placement…it might limit the size of your nightstands, because you don’t want part of your bedside tables hanging off the rug.

Another placement option for an 8×10 rug is to move it down such that your nightstands are on the floor, rather than on the rug, as shown in the picture below. This will show off more of your beautiful rug, and give you some space to add a bench at the end of the bed. Plus, this placement won’t limit the width of your bedside tables…an added bonus.

9’x12′ Rug

A 9ft x 12ft rug is another ideal rug size for a king bed. You can place a 9×12 rug under your nightstands, and it will sufficiently cover the floor on all sides of the bed, and allow for a bench at the foot of the bed! This rug size also works well if you have wider nightstands that you want to fit on top of your rug.

However, a 9×12 area rug typically works best for larger bedrooms. So, you need to make sure your room size is large enough and you have enough space to accommodate this rug size. In the picture below, you can see that the 9×12 rug just barely fits in this smaller bedroom, and there is hardly any floor space on either side of the rug! Depending on the placement of other furniture pieces, and your door swing, this size could end up being too big for your room. When a rug is too large for a space, it can make the room look smaller and crowded. So, a smaller rug, like an 8×10, may work best.

Here you can see the same 9×12 size rug in a slightly larger room. See how everything looks a little more balanced than in the previous picture? One way to test out the size of a rug in your room before buying it is to mark out the rug on the floor using painter’s tape. It will help you visualize the rug size, and determine if it will work well in your space.

Rug Placement Guide

Since I love making interior design easy for everyone, I created a handy cheat sheet you can print out and save for later. This way, you’ll always know the best rug size for a king bed, and options for placing your 8×10 or 9×12 foot rug in your bedroom. Just click here to print my Rug Size Guide for a king bed.

Favorite Rugs for King Size Bed

Need some ideas or inspiration for a beautiful rug to place under your king size bed? I have a post sharing some gorgeous area rugs for bedrooms, and I’ve also added a few more favorites below. Looking for a new paint color for your bedroom? Check out this post, where I share six designer-favorite primary bedroom paint colors.

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