Setting the front legs of the sofa/chairs on the rug is one option, but having a coffee table atop the rug can also ground the space. The most popular rug size for small living rooms is a 5x7, since it balances well with the average sofa and seating area of small living rooms.
I don't recommend anything less than a 6 x 9 foot rug for most living rooms. However, a 5×7 area rug might work for a very small space. It could tuck between the front legs of a couch and a couple of chairs.
The International Residential Building Code requires a bedroom to be a minimum of 70 square feet, with no one dimension being less than 7 feet. This is for a bedroom intended for a single occupant. For a double bedroom, you have to add 50 square feet to the minimum (at least 120 square feet total).
For a room to count as a true bedroom, it must have at least 70 square feet of floor space with a minimum of 7 feet in one direction. If a room is intended for multiple occupants, there should be a minimum of 50 square feet per person.
The average medium-sized living room in the U.S. is 12 x 18 feet, or 216 square feet, and has enough room for at least six people. The medium living room category can be ambiguous since it encompasses a range of sizes. But most often, a medium-sized living room fits a home between 1,500-2,000 square feet.
A 4'x6' rug should be big enough to cover most of the floor area of a small, apartment-size living room.
In living rooms both large and small, the rug often fills the majority of the room. This practice helps create one defined seating area and draws all the room's furniture and accents together.
How far should a rug go under a couch? A rug should go about 3 inches or so underneath the front legs of a couch. What you want to avoid is not having any part of the rug underneath the couch because the rug is too small—doing so might make the rug look like it's floating in the middle of the space.
As more and more newly established houses come with layouts that include larger living rooms than the average living room size, luxury homeowners often have living rooms that range between 20 x 25 feet (6 x 7.5 meters) or more.
Space standards for new dwelling houses
According to the nationally described space standard, the minimum floor area of any new home should be 37 square metres. In 2017, the government set out further internal area requirements for bedrooms in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs).
A 5x7 rug size for living room looks its best under a coffee table, with or without any accompanying chairs. It is also well-suited for otherwise empty spaces, like in front of a fireplace. Tip: This rug size for living room is ideal for the half on, half off look in living rooms that are smaller than 1'1x13'!
For example, it's ok to place a runner rug in front of furniture rather than having the legs of the furniture resting on it. But there are still a few rules to follow. The runner rug should be long enough to extend beyond the furniture in the designated area.
Is it dumb to put a rug over a carpet? No, it's not. First, carpeted floors are expensive to clean. But layering an area rug adds a stylish shield allowing you to clean a spillage before it stains.
Use a 5x7 rug for seating 2-4 people, 8x10 or 9x13 for 6-8, and a 7' or 9' round rug for round or square tables seating 4-6. Smaller rugs like 2x3 mats or 2x7 runners are perfect for entryways, walkways, or filling odd spaces.
Space Illusion: Visual Openness
One of the best tricks rugs do is to create the illusion of having more space. With a perfect choice of rug, a small room can appear larger by creating continuity between furniture pieces, streamlining one's vision outward, and not allowing it to feel closed off.
Typically, an 8' x 10' rug works for most living rooms. For living rooms smaller than 11' x 13', try a 6' x 9' rug. Unless your living room is very small, avoid a 5' x 8' rug for the space. It often ends up simply floating beneath the coffee table, which ends up making the space look smaller.
The Minimum Standard Living Room Size (Small Living Room)
But ideally, it should be about 200 square feet (18.6 square meters). The minimum width of your living room should be 11 to 12 feet (3.35 to 3.65 meters). This is extremely tight, and if you have the space, try to make the width at least 14 feet (4.27 meters).
A small-sized living room is about 10 x 13 ft., and a 2-seater sofa together with two chairs could fit four to five people. On the other hand, a 7 x 10 ft. space can fit a tiny living room. This space is very small but can fit a small two-seater sofa on one side.
Average Living Room Dimensions
If we look at the average living room size in America, it is only 18 feet long and 12 feet wide. This means that for the average size, the ideal space is 216 square feet. Keep in mind that these living room dimensions are ideal for accommodating about 10 people.