How to Choose a Dining Room Rug: Best Styles, Sizes, Colours and More

Wondering how to choose a dining room rug that’s going to tick all the boxes? You’re not alone.

Placing rugs under dining tables is a point of confusion for so of our interior design clients and blog readers. So today I want to make it easy for you to choose the perfect one for your space.

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to a rug for under your dining table. But I’ll break it down for you so you can shop with confidence.

1. Biggest Question First: Do You Actually Need One?

When deciding how to choose a dining room rug, the first question is: do you actually need one? People often think they need a rug here when they in fact they do not need a rug here.

If you’re in an open plan space with a living and dining room side by side, for example, it’s not crucial to rug your dining area. Let your living room be the area you rug up, and give your dining zone another textural focal point.

Art, pendants or some fabric dining chairs are a good idea here. That’s not to say you can’t rug both rooms, but it’s not essential.

If you’re super-keen on the idea of a rug for your dining room, ensure it’s not exactly the same as the one in your living room. More on this below.

2. Your Dining Room Rug Shouldn’t Copy Your Living Room

If you have an open plan room with a living and dining space side-by-side, you want to make sure the rug you put under your dining table isn’t exactly the same as the one you have in your living room.

They should have a relationship, but not match. The connecting factor between the two of them could be colour, for example. Have a flat colour in your living room, and something more patterned in your dining room.

You might want a rug in your living room to be plusher, more textural (like a shag or loop pile) but these styles of rug are not going to work in your dining room. The piles are not appropriate.

3. Your Rug Should Mirror Your Dining Table Shape

It might sound obvious, but it’s best to get a rug in the same shape as your table. Round table, round rug. Square table, square rug. I’ve not seen many examples, if any, of rug and table combos that break this rule and look good.

A square table on a round rug is an odd choice because the corners of the table become an unwanted focal point. The same goes for a square table on a rectangular rug (too much excess rug space with nothing on it either end of your table).

The one exception I can think of here is a round table on a square rug. The clean lines of the rug would mirror the clean lines of the room. The circular table would provide a nice point of contrast. It’s the only time you should break this rule.

4. You Need 50cm of Rug Either Side of Your Table

When considering how to choose a dining room rug, size would have to be the biggest potential blunder you can make. It’s definitely on my top 10 list of dining room mistakes.

All too often people wander into a store and guess that the size of the rug will work. Or they measure their table top and then buy a rug the same size. This never works.

You have to leave enough room for a dining chair to be pulled out from the table and sat on by someone. And when that someone pulls it out and sits on it, the chair legs should still be sitting on the rug.

With this in mind, ensure you get a rug size that’s 100cm wider and longer than you dining table (5ocm of rug should sit either side of the table top to allow for a pulled-out chair).

5. Can’t Fit a Rug Larger Than Your Table? It’s Best Not to Buy

If you find the dining room you’re in won’t fit a rug that’s a 100cm longer and wider than the dimensions of your dining table, you’re better off not having a rug at all.

It’s better to let your dining room rug dream go, then to get one that looks dwarfed under your dining table.

It’s also going to be problematic when family or friends pull out a chair, sit on it, go to pull it back in and mess up the edges of your dining room rug. It can not only ruin your rug, but a potential friendship!

6. Do You Want the Rug to be the Focal Point?

When it comes to rugs under dining tables, you need to think about colour and pattern. The reason for this all comes down to the concept of a focal point.

Every room in your home should have one focal point; a design element that pops out as the dominant feature. It could be a rug, artwork, a feature wall, bedding. Whatever it is, that one moment is the ‘wow’ piece in your space.

In your dining room, consider if you want your rug to be the focal point. If you do, choose one in a bold colour or pattern. If there is already a loud feature in the room (like art or a pendant), choose the rug in a colour or pattern that’s more subdued.

7. Patterned Dining Room Rugs Work Better

When we specify dining room rugs for our clients, we always gravitate toward a rug with some pattern in it.

And that doesn’t mean it has to be the dominant focal point with a crazy, eye-catching pattern to it. The rug can have a subtle pattern and give off a little movement instead.

The reason we do this is simple: patterns hide stains. A subtle pattern in a rug with varying colours in it will hide spills, crumbs and dirt wonderfully. It also makes wear and tear over time seem less obvious.

If you choose a simple block-colour dining room rug, I assure you that spills and stains will be the bane of your existence!

8. Avoid Lighter Rugs Under Your Dining Table

Rule number eight on how to choose a dining room rug is a little like rule seven that came before it in that light rugs (like rugs with no pattern) show up mess, dirt and spills so much more than a darker-toned option.

You’re better off placing a darker dining room rug in the space if you have young kids, pets or friends and family prone to spills. If you don’t have to contend with any of these issues, then a lighter rug may work.

You’d still be wise to choose a material that’s easy-clean. Miss Amara, for example, has a section dedicated to easy-clean rugs for your dining room so you can choose confidently. Armadillo & Co allow you to filer by room too.

9. Think About the Chair Legs You Have

When it comes to choosing a rug for your dining room, you have to consider the legs of the dining chairs that will move back and forth across it every day.

Rugs under dining tables need to be practical, so you don’t want to invest in one that the legs of your chairs are going to rip apart.

For example, if you were to choose a jute rug or a similar style with a weave or loop pile, a thin pointy leg could get caught in the weave. It won’t take long for the rug to look old and battered. Not cute.

Similarly, if you have heavy chairs, dragging them across a thin rug will cause the rug to ripple and bunch up. Not only is this chair and rug combo impractical, but it will drive you mad to look at it every day.

10. Choose the Right Dining Room Rug Pile

The last tip on how to choose a dining room rug is possible one of the most important: the pile of your rug is everything. It can make of break the entire room.

You want to avoid loop pile rugs in your dining room, first and foremost. They just won’t take chair chairs dragging across them all the time, and crumbs will get stuck in the fibres.

Same goes for heavily shagged dining room rugs: too much dirt will get trapped in them. And anything with a loose weave will get ruined by chair legs too.

The best type of rug for a dining room is a short cut-pile rug. If you take nothing else from these expert tips, remember that!

Hopefully this post on how to choose a dining room rug has helped you select one for your space with confidence. Shout out in the comments below if you have any additional questions for me. And happy styling!

This post includes images and/or videos of Metricon display homes and events, reproduced with permission. © Metricon Homes Pty Ltd 2022.