What Size Rug for a Queen Bed?
6×9, 8×10, 9×12 or runners: each drawn to scale around a queen bed, with how far it reaches past the bed and the smallest room it fits.
The short answer
8 × 10 ft, under the lower two-thirds of the bed
For most queen bedrooms, a 8 × 10 ft rug turned across the bed leaves 30 in of rug on each side and 34 in past the foot. Your feet land on rug, not floor, and the nightstands stay on the floor in front of it. It needs a room at least 12 ft wide.
Every size, drawn to scale
A queen mattress is 60 × 80 in. A rug should reach 18–24 in past each side, and leave about 12 in of floor to the walls.
6 × 9 ft
A small room, or a tight budget: the least rug that still gives you a soft step on each side.
24 in past each side, 18 in past the foot · room at least 11 ft × 9 ft 2 in
8 × 10 ftOur pick
Most queen bedrooms: a generous landing on both sides and a band of rug at the foot.
30 in past each side, 34 in past the foot · room at least 12 ft × 10 ft 6 in
9 × 12 ft
A large room, where the rug can run under the nightstands and anchor the whole sleeping area.
42 in past each side, 28 in past the foot · room at least 14 ft × 10 ft
Runners, 2.5 × 8 ft
A narrow room, or a floor you want to show off: a soft landing on each side and nothing under the bed.
30 in past each side, 34 in past the foot · room at least 12 ft × 10 ft 6 in
Find yours by room size
| If your room is at least this wide | Go with |
|---|---|
| 14 ft | a 9 × 12 ft rug |
| 12 ft | a 8 × 10 ft rug (our pick) |
| 11 ft | a 6 × 9 ft rug |
Width decides it: a rug runs across the bed, and the room's length only has to clear the rug past the foot. Narrower than all of these, or want the floor to show? Runners on each side work in any room the bed fits.
Questions
Should the rug go under the nightstands?
Only when it's big enough to run under the whole bed, as a 9×12 does. Otherwise start it just in front of them, so they sit level on the floor rather than half on a rug.
Which way does the rug go?
Long side across the bed. That puts the extra rug where your feet land on each side, rather than out past the foot where nobody steps.
Is a 5×8 big enough?
It's on the small side. Turned across the bed it only just reaches far enough past each side, and it covers just the lower half of the bed, so it reads as too small for the room. At that budget, two runners along the sides do more.
Two runners or three?
Two, one along each side, is the usual setup. A third across the foot makes a U and softens the walk past the bed, but it takes three matching runners and the room at the foot to lay it.