Rugs 170 x 240 cm

Rugs in 170 x 240 cm: the most common living room format

170 x 240 cm is the obvious size for many living rooms. The rug takes in the sofa, the coffee table and usually an armchair as well, without filling the room completely. It therefore does the most important job of a living room rug: it draws the furniture together into a group rather than simply decorating an area of floor.

If you are wavering between two sizes, this format usually serves a normally proportioned living room better than the next size down. Rugs chosen too small are the most common mistake in furnishing a room.

Where this format fits

• Living room: beneath the seating group, with the front feet of sofa and armchairs on the rug.
• Dining room: beneath a table for four to six people, provided enough margin remains all round.
• Bedroom: across beneath the bed, so that it shows on both sides and at the foot end.
• Open-plan living: to set the seating area apart from the dining or working area.

Effect and placement

At this size, placement becomes decisive. In the living room, at least the front feet of the furniture should stand on the rug. If the whole seating group sits on it, the area feels more self-contained still, though that needs more space all round.

In the dining room the margin rule applies: roughly 60 to 70 centimetres on each side in addition to the tabletop. With a table of 160 x 90 cm, 170 x 240 cm is therefore just sufficient. If your table is larger, go one size up, otherwise the chairs tip over the edge when pushed back.

Oriental or modern

This format has the best choice in both worlds. Our Oriental rugs are hand-knotted individual pieces whose patterning comes fully into its own across this area: medallion, border and spandrels stand in the right relation to one another. Among the modern rugs you will find quiet surfaces and graphic designs that hold a seating group together without competing with patterned textiles.

Other sizes and shapes

For long, narrow routes, runners are the more suitable choice. Beneath round dining tables and in reading corners, round rugs read more coherently, and in roughly square floor plans, square rugs. For large open-plan living spaces, the next rectangular sizes up are the better base.

Material and care

Wool is the most widespread choice at this size, because it takes colour deeply, is hard-wearing and feels warm. For a silken sheen there are pieces with a silk content, and in hand-knotted rugs cotton forms the foundation. Low pile is more practical in a dining area, high pile more comfortable in front of the sofa. Vacuum regularly, lift stains at once with clean water and turn the rug once a year. Professional rug cleaning is worth arranging every few years, depending on how hard the rug is worked.

Advice and showroom

Morgenland Rugs is a family business in Hamburg's Speicherstadt. If you are unsure whether 170 x 240 cm suits your seating group, we are glad to settle it in our rug consultation, including from photographs and the measurements of your room. If no standard size fits, we can tell you about made-to-measure rugs. In our showroom you can see the difference from the next size down and the next size up immediately.

Common questions

Does 170 x 240 cm fit beneath a dining table?

With a table up to about 160 x 90 cm, yes. With larger tables you need more margin, so that the chairs do not slide over the edge of the rug when pushed back.

Do all the furniture feet have to stand on the rug?

No. The front feet of sofa and armchairs are enough to draw the seating group together visually.