Guide · For the trade
Childrens rugs: specifying a kids room rug and a playroom rug that survive to the teenage years
Childrens rugs for a bedroom are sized to the room like any other: a 5x8 across the foot of a twin bed in a 10 by 11 foot room, an 8x10 under a full bed or two twins in a 12 by 13, with 12 to 18 inches of floor at the walls. A playroom rug is sized to the floor the child uses, usually 8x10 or 9x12, in a dense low pile or a flatweave over a 7/16 inch pad, in wool or solution-dyed nylon, in a pattern with enough going on to hide a marker. The rug that reads as a nursery at age two should still read as a bedroom at age twelve, which rules out the themed rug the client saw online.
This guide is for the designer specifying a child's bedroom or a playroom after the crib stage, and the junior drawing it: sizes by room and bed, fiber and pile for a floor that gets sat on, the pad that makes a rug cushioned, washable rugs and what to tell the client, and pattern and color that last. The nursery itself, with the crib and glider layouts, is in the nursery rugs guide, and wall-to-wall for a baby's room is in the nursery carpet guide.
Kids room rug sizes by bed and room
| Room | Bed | Rug | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 by 10 ft | Twin, 38 by 75 in | 5x8 | Long side across the room, under the lower half of the bed, 24 in showing on the open side |
| 10 by 12 ft | Twin or full, 54 by 75 in | 6x9 | Under the lower two thirds of the bed; nightstand on the floor |
| 12 by 13 ft | Full, or two twins 30 in apart | 8x10 | Under both beds, 18 in of floor at the walls |
| Playroom, 11 by 13 ft and up | None | 8x10 or 9x12 | Centered on the open floor; furniture on the perimeter stands on the floor |
| Bunk or loft bed | Twin over twin | 6x9 or 8x10 | In front of the bed, not under it, so the floor by the ladder is soft |
A child's room has more floor use than an adult's: the floor is where the building, the reading and the fort happen. Err on the larger rug, and keep the desk chair either fully on it or fully off it so the chair does not catch the edge.
Fiber for a kids room rug
Wool first. It is naturally flame resistant and self-extinguishing, needs no topical stain treatment, hides soil in its scales, and a wool rug in a child's room is the one most likely to still be there at the end of high school; the fear of stains is answered by a mid-tone and a pattern. Solution-dyed nylon is second: the color is in the fiber, so bleach-based cleaners do not mark it, and it is the choice for a pale rug the client insists on or a playroom with paint. Polypropylene flatweaves are the budget answer for a playroom and the right answer for a basement playroom on concrete, where moisture rules out wool. Polyester shags are the one to avoid: soft on day one, flat in a year, and full of crumbs a vacuum cannot reach.
Construction and pile for a floor children sit on
A dense cut pile at 1/2 to 5/8 inch, a hand-tufted plush at the same height, or a wool loop under 3/8 inch. Any of them is soft enough to sit and lie on and low enough that a small car rolls across it and a block tower stands up on it; a 1 inch shag does neither. Flatweaves are the playroom choice when the floor is a track for toys and a surface for puzzles, and a flatweave over a 7/16 inch 8 pound rebond pad is softer than a shag over a thin one. Hand-knotted pieces belong in the bedroom of a child old enough to be told about it, not in a playroom.
Cushioned rugs for a playroom: it is the pad
The cushion the client is asking for comes from what is under the rug, not the rug. Under a flatweave or a low pile, specify the same pad as a bedroom carpet, 7/16 inch 8 pound rebond or a 3/8 inch felt-and-rubber, cut 1 inch inside the rug. On a hard floor, that pad also stops the rug sliding when a child runs onto it. On existing carpet, a rug-on-carpet pad with a textured face. A rubber-backed foam play mat is a toy, not a rug, and it goes on top of the rug in the corner where the toddler plays, then goes away.
Washable childrens rugs: what to tell the client
The machine-washable rugs sold for children's rooms are thin polyester prints on a rubber-backed pad; they wash, and they also curl, slide, lose their print and read as a bath mat in a room the designer drew. The honest answer is a wool or solution-dyed nylon rug on a pad, spot-cleaned, professionally washed every two to three years, which outlives three washable rugs. Where the client needs something for the machine, allow a cotton flatweave under 4x6 in the reading corner.
Pattern and color that last past age six
Pattern hides a childhood. A small-scale geometric, a stripe, a tone-on-tone texture, a faded vintage-look Persian or a Moroccan diamond in a mid-tone all take a marker line without a trace at 6 feet; a plain pale rug shows everything, and a themed rug with a road on it is outgrown in three years. Color: mid-tone blue, green, terracotta and grey on an ivory ground, or an ivory pattern on a colored ground. The whimsy belongs in the wall color, the bedding and the lamp, which cost a fraction of the rug to replace.
Questions designers ask
What is the best rug for a playroom?
A wool or solution-dyed nylon low pile or flatweave, 8x10 or 9x12, in a mid-tone small-scale pattern, over a 7/16 inch pad. It is soft because of the pad, cleanable because of the fiber, and forgiving because of the pattern. For a basement playroom on a slab, a polypropylene flatweave instead of wool.
What size rug for a kids bedroom with a twin bed?
A 5x8 placed with its long side across the room under the lower half of the bed, in a 9 by 10 foot room; a 6x9 in a 10 by 12. With two twin beds, an 8x10 under both. The rug should extend at least 24 inches on the open side of the bed, where the child gets out.
Are wool rugs safe for children?
Yes, and they are the safest fiber on the floor: wool does not support a flame, self-extinguishes and carries no chemical stain treatment, and most of our wool rug lines carry Green Label Plus or equivalent low-emission certificates on request. The lanolin that bothers a very few people is removed in scouring.
Should a kids room rug go over wall-to-wall carpet?
Yes, if the carpet is a low pile or a loop and the rug is a flatweave or a low pile on a rug-on-carpet pad. A thick rug on a plush carpet moves and ripples. A rug over carpet is how a designer gives a child's room color without replacing the carpet the house came with.
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