How to Style a Moroccan rug in your Home

Jun 15, 2021

We often get the question– where in my house is the best place to put my Moroccan rug? One the biggest factors that determines the ideal spot for your new rug is its size and shape. While ideal placement may vary depending on the layout of your home, here are some of our tips on the best places to put your Moroccan rug based on shape and size!

Moroccan living room rugs

The rug in the living room is the pièce de resistance. It's the first thing you see when you walk into your home. It should capture the attention while not distracting from the other art and decor of the space. In the living room, your rug will need to fit in seamlessly with your couch, armchair, coffee table, and whatever artwork you have on the walls.

I get a lot of questions about if the rug should be placed under the couch and cover the entire surface area of the living room. Most of the time, my answer is unequivocally, no!

I advise clients to position the rug lengthwise along the length of the couch. Leave a little space between the couch and where the rug starts. The coffee table should be centered on top of the rug with an armchair on either side of the rug. Leaving a few inches of space for the flooring to peak through will frame the rug properly without overwhelming the space with what seems like a substitute for wall-to-wall carpeting.

With this in mind, you actually have more leeway in the size of the rug that you place in your living room. In most homes, with a standard-sized couch, a 5' x 8' rug or 6' x 9' rug would be sufficient to fill up the space nicely.

Moroccan bedroom rugs

I also have a lot of clients who reach out looking for large rugs that can go beneath their beds. In general, this means that the smallest rug that would fit would be a 6' x 9' rug for a standard queen-sized bed.

If you are committed to placing a rug beneath your bed and you have the space at the foot of your bed to play with, I would recommend cheating it towards the bottom half of your bed and finding a low pile or flatweave rug to place here.

Make sure the design is consistent throughout the rug so that you're not covering up the beauty of the piece. The idea with these bedroom rugs is that you're looking for something that offers you both functionality and comfort. For a rug that goes under your bed, look for something in the range of 6' x 9' or larger.

Because I work with Moroccan rugs that are often abstract, expressive, and works of art in and of themselves, I have begun to think of alternatives to this set up. For one, when you place a rug beneath your bed, the bed often obscures the best parts of the rug. Additionally, if you're placing a high pile rug under your bed, one thing you should be aware of is that it will be incredibly hard to keep the dust bunnies free and clear from the parts that are hidden from view under your bed.

An alternative that I love suggesting is getting several smaller sized runners to lay on either side of the bed and another one at the foot of your bed. In this way, you can frame your bed properly, you have something cozy to sink your feet into as soon as you get out of bed in the morning, and you can maintain the cleanliness under your bed. A good sized runner next to your bed would start at the base of your nightstand and run the length of the bed. If you're looking to go this route, a 3' x 6' runner would do the trick. For the base of the bed, depending on how much space you have, you could go with a slightly wider and longer runner, such as a 4' x 7' rug.

And if you're committed to finding the perfect Moroccan rug to go beneath your bed, I would suggest looking for an 8' x 10' rug or larger. This may involve custom ordering your rug, but that way, you will get the exact design and style that you're looking for. Kantara offers custom design services on most Moroccan rugs, so if this is something that you're interested in, read more about it here.

Moroccan hallway rugs

Most hallways are standard-sized, meaning they are about 36" wide. Similar to rug placement in other parts of your home, it's a good idea to leave a little bit of space on either side of the rug so that you can frame your rug properly. A good sized runner should be anywhere from 24" to 30" wide, which will leave you ample space on either side of the runner in your hallway.

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