Odd-Size Rugs: 10x11, 11x12, 12x14 and 13x14, Solved

An odd-size rug fixes the room a standard size cannot: the near-square living room, the wide bedroom, the dining space where a 9' x 12' leaves a strip of bare floor along two walls. Handmade rugs were never woven to a retail size chart. The loom and the weaver set their size, so a 10' x 11' or a 13' x 14' is common in antique and vintage stock and rare in machine-made catalogs.

Below is what each of those sizes solves, the standard size to compare it with, and the rooms it fits. Rugs at least eleven feet on both sides sit together in Oversize Rugs.

Measure the room, then subtract two feet

For a rug that fills a room, take the wall-to-wall measurement and subtract about two feet from each side. That leaves roughly a foot of bare floor on every edge, enough to frame the rug without making it look small. A 14' x 15' living room comes out at 12' x 13'. A 12' x 13' bedroom comes out at 10' x 11'.

Now put a standard 9' x 12' in that 14' x 15' room. It leaves 30 inches of bare floor along two walls and 18 inches along the other two, so the border looks lopsided. Standard 8' x 10' and 9' x 12' rugs are a quarter to a third longer than they are wide, and they suit rooms with the same proportion. The closer your room gets to square, the more an odd size earns its place.

The near-square sizes, one at a time

A 10' x 11' is a foot wider and a foot shorter than a 9' x 12'. It fits a square living room of about 12 by 13 feet and most primary bedrooms: under a king bed it leaves about two feet of rug on each side. Under a round dining table five feet across, it keeps the chairs on the rug when they pull out. The Antique Heriz Area Rug (10' x 11') shows the size well, a Persian piece from around 1920 with a rust field, a navy border and a bold geometric medallion. The rest are in 10' x 11' Rugs.

An 11' x 12' is two feet wider than a 9' x 12' at the same length. In a room of about 13 by 14 feet, a 9' x 12' leaves two feet of floor along each long wall; an 11' x 12' brings that down to one. Rugs this size are scarce, so two are worth knowing by name: the Vintage Tulu Area Rug (11' x 12'), an ivory field crossed by a grid of charcoal and blush, and the Vintage Kilim Area Rug (11' x 12'), a flatweave in warm browns and camel.

Past twelve feet, the near-square sizes go up a foot at a time. A 12' x 13' fits a family room or a large primary bedroom of about 14 by 15 feet. A 13' x 14' fits a great room of about 15 by 16 feet. A 14' x 15' fills a room of about 16 by 17 feet, with a full sofa group and a walkway on the same rug. All three are within a foot of square, so each one fits the room either way round.

12' x 13' Rugs For a family room of about 14 by 15 feet. Shop 13' x 14' Rugs For a great room of about 15 by 16 feet. Shop 14' x 15' Rugs Fills a room of about 16 by 17 feet. Shop

Longer rooms: 12' x 14' or 14' x 16'

Some rooms are too big for a 9' x 12' in both directions but still clearly longer than they are wide. A 12' x 14' is three feet wider and two feet longer than a 9' x 12'. It fits a room of about 14 by 16 feet, or a living room where the sofa, two chairs and a console all need to sit fully on the rug. A 14' x 16' fits about 16 by 18 feet, or an open plan where one rug holds the seating group and the walkway behind it. If you land between the two, choose the 12' x 14' for a single seating area and the 14' x 16' when the rug also has to reach a reading or dining corner.

12' x 14' Rugs Three feet wider than a 9' x 12', for a single seating area. Shop 14' x 16' Rugs Holds the seating group and the walkway behind it. Shop

For 13' x 16' and larger, the guide to oversized area rugs covers the sizing rule for great rooms and the weaves that come that big.

Check the exact measurement before you buy

Our size pages group rugs to the nearest foot, while the size in each rug's name drops the inches. A rug that measures 9'10" x 10'8" is named 9' x 10' and sits on the 10' x 11' page, because 10' x 11' is the closer fit. The exact feet and inches are the first line of every product description, so hold your tape against those numbers rather than the name.

Handmade rugs are rarely woven perfectly true, and the two ends of one rug can differ by an inch or two. In a tight room, leave a little slack on top of the foot of bare floor.

If your room measured out to an odd number, start with Oversize Rugs: every handmade piece in the shop at eleven feet and up on both sides, on one page, with the size pages above to narrow it to the foot.