I’ve definitely made my fair share of mistakes when buying furniture and accessories. Most of them had to do with choosing something that wasn’t the right scale for my space (the ginormous “Dr. Spock” chair that I bought for the small family room in our first house comes to mind…). Luckily, I’ve since figured out some tried and true tips that make it easy to get it right. So if you’re shopping for your family or living room and wondering how high your end tables should be or how large a rug you should buy, check out these must-have tips! (post contains some affiliate links – disclosure statement available {here})
What Size Coffee Table Should I Use With My Sofa?
- The ideal height for a coffee table is the height of the sofa’s seat cushions or 1-2″ lower
- The perfect length for a coffee table is ⅔ the length of the sofa
- Position the coffee table so that there’s 12-18″ of space between the sofa and coffee table
How High Should My Living Room End Tables Be?
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- Side/end tables should ideally be within 2″ of a sofa’s arm height. My personal preference is for them to be 1-2″ lower than the sofa arm.
- Side tables should be no deeper than the depth of the sofa
How Tall Should a Console Table Be When It’s Placed Behind a Sofa?
- Console tables behind a sofa should be the same height as the back of the sofa or up to 1-3″ lower
How Large of a Rug Should I Choose For My Room?
- Area rugs should be large enough that at least two legs of each furniture piece are on the rug.
- For rugs that cover most of the room, a good rule of thumb is to leave between 12-18″ of bare floor between the edge of the rug and the walls of the room. For small rooms, you may wish to leave less bare floor while for especially large rooms you may wish to leave more.
And what about hanging art? Those tips are worthy of a post all their own – you’ll find all of my rule of thumb measurements for hanging art {here}.
