Guide · For the trade
Carpet or rug? Wall-to-wall vs an area rug, and the custom route between them
Carpet or rug comes down to the floor underneath and what the room is for: wall-to-wall carpet when the subfloor is not worth showing, the room needs quiet and warmth edge to edge, or it is a bedroom, stair or hall; an area rug when the hardwood or stone is part of the design, the furniture group needs defining, or the client may move. The third answer, which solves most of the hard cases, is broadloom cut and bound into a custom size rug, 3 to 5 weeks from the same carpet library.
This guide is for the designer deciding a floor room by room, and the junior who has to explain the decision to the client. It covers the difference, the questions that decide it, a side-by-side table, the bedroom in particular, and when the custom rug gives the client both.
Carpet or rug: the difference, in one paragraph
Carpet, in the trade, means broadloom: a roll 12 feet, 13 feet 2 inches or 15 feet wide, cut to the room, seamed, stretched over a pad and fastened at the walls. A rug is a finished piece with its own edges that lies on the floor, whether it is a hand-knotted wool, a machine-woven piece from a line, or that same broadloom cut to 9x12 and bound. Our library holds about 3,700 broadloom styles and the rest of the 6,900 are rugs, and more than a third of the custom rugs we quote are broadloom cut to size.
Six questions that decide it
- What is under it? A good hardwood, stone or tile floor argues for a rug. Plywood, old carpet, a slab or a floor the client dislikes argues for wall-to-wall.
- What is the room for? Bedrooms, stairs, halls, media rooms and children's rooms favor carpet. Living, dining and entry favor a rug on a hard floor.
- How much quiet and warmth does the room need? Wall-to-wall over pad is the quietest floor there is; a rug helps in proportion to how much floor it covers.
- Is the client staying? A rug moves to the next house. Carpet stays with this one.
- Is there radiant heat? Both work, but carpet and pad slow the heat; a flatweave or low-pile rug on the hard floor lets more through.
- Allergies and cleaning? A rug can go out to be washed; carpet is cleaned in place. See the carpet and allergies guide.
Wall-to-wall vs area rug, side by side
| Factor | Wall-to-wall carpet | Area rug | Bound broadloom rug |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor underneath | Hidden entirely | Shown around the edges, 18 in at the walls | Shown, as a rug |
| Sizes | Any room, seamed past the roll width | Standard 5x8 to 12x15, plus mill custom sizes | Any size and shape from one 12, 13 ft 2 in or 15 ft width |
| Lead time | Made to order, 3 to 6 weeks plus install | In line sizes, days to weeks; custom, 8 to 20 weeks | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Acoustics | Best; full coverage over pad | Good within the rug | Good within the rug |
| Cleaning | In place | Can be sent out | Can be sent out |
| Moves with the client | No | Yes | Yes |
| Trip edge | None | Rug edge, mitigated by pad and low pile | Bound edge, same |
Rug vs carpet in a bedroom
The bedroom is the room clients ask about most, and the room where carpet still wins more often than not. Bare feet, quiet and warmth all favor wall-to-wall, and the floor is rarely a showpiece; the bedroom carpet guide covers the soft constructions that belong here. The rug wins when the house has a hardwood floor the client paid for. The compromise clients like is a bound broadloom rug sized to leave 12 to 18 inches of floor at the walls: the softness of a wool carpet, almost the coverage of wall-to-wall, and a piece that can leave with them. A cut pile wool at 1/2 inch, bound or serged, is the usual spec, with a 1/4 inch felt and rubber pad.
Living, dining and the open plan
On a hard floor, the rug is the designer's tool: it sizes the seating group, sets the color, and leaves the floor to do its work. Wall-to-wall in a living room is back in some projects, usually in a wool texture under a layered rug; the wall-to-wall guide covers what is being specified. Dining rooms get a rug or nothing; carpet under a table is a cleaning commitment most clients regret. An open plan is where the bound rug earns its place, cut to a 12x18 or 14x20 that no rug line offers.
The custom route: broadloom cut to size
Any broadloom in the library can be cut to a rug and finished with binding, serging or a fabric or leather border. It is the answer when the room is too large for a standard size, when the stair runner and the bedroom rug should match, and when a client cannot decide between carpet and rug, because it is both. The bound carpet rugs guide covers the finishes, and the custom size guide the sizes we cut most.
What to specify for each
Wall-to-wall: style, color, roll width, seam diagram, pad (7/16 inch 8 lb rebond under residential cut pile, 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense under loop and Wilton), and a power-stretched installation. Rug: size, orientation, pad for the floor type, and which furniture legs sit on it. Bound rug: the broadloom style, finished size, edge finish and pad. We measure and install any of the three anywhere in the United States.
Questions designers ask
What is the difference between a carpet and a rug?
Carpet is broadloom, sold by the roll and installed wall to wall, fastened at the edges over a pad. A rug is a finished piece with its own edges that lies loose on the floor, from a hand-knotted wool to a bound cut of that same broadloom. The yarn and the mill can be identical; the difference is the edge and the fastening.
Is wall-to-wall carpet out of style?
No. It left living rooms for a decade and is coming back there in wool textures, and it never left bedrooms, stairs, halls and media rooms, where nothing else is as quiet or as warm. What is out is beige cut pile in every room; what is in is wool, pattern and texture where the room calls for coverage.
Is an area rug a good idea on a hardwood floor?
Yes, with a pad. A rug on hardwood defines the furniture group, protects the finish under chairs, and comes up for cleaning. Specify a felt and rubber pad so it does not slide or scratch, and size it by the furniture, not the room.
Carpet or rug for a bedroom?
Carpet when the floor is not worth showing or the client wants bare-foot softness to the closet door; a rug when the hardwood is part of the design; a bound broadloom rug sized to leave 12 to 18 inches at the walls when the client wants both. The last one is the most common spec we write for a primary bedroom with a good floor.
Can carpet be made into a rug?
Yes. Any broadloom can be cut to size and bound, serged or bordered, in 3 to 5 weeks. It is the fastest custom rug there is, and it lets a client have the same wool on the stair, the hall and the bedroom floor as a runner, a carpet and a rug.
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