Have you ever postponed something because of a ripple effect you knew it would create? Have you ever thought of updating something, but by changing one thing it would cause you to have to change so many other things? Well this is how I’ve felt about our primary bedroom makeover. We have been talking/thinking/mulling-over upgrading our queen bed to a king bed for 6 months. SIX-MONTHS! It sounds like a simple upgrade, with a new mattress and bed frame, but I knew it would involve so much more. We would need new sheets, a new comforter, new king pillows, new nightstands (because our old ones wouldn’t fit after the bigger bed), and a new rug. I like to see the details and the big picture before starting a project, which is why it took me 6 months to make a move on this room. My biggest obstacle was finding a larger rug that I like. It has been an adventure and I’m here to show you how to pick the right rug for your bed size and room!
The primary bedroom is about 14.5’ x 11’ 7”. Originally there was a queen bed with a wooden headboard I made from an Ana White build plan and a 6’ X 9’ shag rug. This size rug perfect for the room and the bed. The rug was centered under the bed horizontally, and about 1.5’ off the wall at the top so that the rug extended beyond the end of the bed. Here’s a picture of the original set up, and a room design drawing.
When we started talking about upgrading to a king bed, I knew the existing rug would be too small. A queen bed is 60” wide versus a king, which is 72” wide. A 6’ X 9’ rug would only allow for an 18” overhang on either side. Whereas a queen bed allowed for a 24” overhang. I know 6” on either side doesn’t sound like a lot, but it definitely makes a difference. Here’s a comparison in a room planner of an 8’ X 10’ rug and a 6’ X 9’ rug and a king bed.
The smaller rug makes the room feel smaller in the room planner above. It doesn’t ground the space like the bigger rug. Depending on the size of your room, a 9’ X 12’ rug would also work and provide more overhang on each side. A larger size rug would have fit in the room, but it would have taken up almost all of the floor, and also made the space feel small. Here’s what a 9’ X 12’ rug would look like in my room with a king bed.
After settling on a size for the new rug, I started searching for a pattern to go with the existing furniture and the new bed. I found one I liked, but after it was delivered I found that I didn’t pay attention to the pile height of the rug, when I purchased. The rug was very thin and the carpet pad I had underneath was thicker than the rug. I decided to find a new one and return the original purchase.
The original rug was from an online store that I had never used before. In the past I have purchased all of my area rugs from Rugs USA and had great experience. I went to their website to find a new rug. This time I made sure to research the pile height of each rug I looked at. I like that Rugs USA will provide a picture of the profile of the rug with a ruler so that you can see how tall the pile measures. I ended up going with this rug here. It is a creamy white and charcoal geometric rug. I put it in my mood board to get a feel for how everything would look together in the room. I like that this is a neutral rug that will allow the navy furniture to shine and be the focus of the room. The nightstands will be painted navy to match the dresser and I think the original navy and white rug would have been too much in the end.
It took about a week for the rug to arrive and it was perfect for the space. We’ve had the rug for a couple of weeks now and love it. There is no shedding or any issues! I am so glad I took the time to find a new rug! It is warm and soft and the right size for the room and bed.
Stay tuned for my next post on our mattress decisions and bedframe. There are A LOT more details to cover for this update!
