The Best Living Room Rugs, 5 x 7-Foot

A living room tends to be one of the most popular rooms of any home. It can serve as a gathering spot for your family, whether you’re watching TV or letting your little one play. But in recent years, wood flooring has become the go-to option for living rooms, and the affordability and quality of engineered wood have made it an even more appealing alternative to carpeting.

But there’s one major problem with those attractive wood floors. Padding across a hardwood floor in your bare feet can be less than comfortable, especially during those chilly winter months. If you have pets or small children, the lack of cushioning makes for an uncomfortable sleeping and playing spot for those favorite family members.

That’s where the right area rug can make a huge difference. You’ll keep the modern look of neat hardwood floors while creating a soft, cushy area for walking and living on. Rugs also soften a space, potentially complementing other aspects of your décor. A 5-by-7-foot rug is great for filling a large, empty space in your living room or for putting beneath your coffee table. You can even buy smaller rugs in matching patterns and colors to cover other areas of the room.

But as you start to look for the best living room rug for your space, you’ll quickly notice there’s an overwhelming amount of choices. That starts with the sizes, colors and patterns, but you’ll also need to choose the type of weave. Machine-made rugs can give you affordability and durability, but hand-knotted rugs give you that durability with a soft, plush build. There are also tufted, hooked and flat-woven rugs to help you find the right look, feel and price for you.

Before you buy a rug, look into the care instructions. Some rugs can be tossed into the washer, while others can only be spot cleaned. If you have a spill, you’ll also want to make sure the rug has a backing that will protect the floor beneath.

• Measuring for a rug can be challenging. You can use a measuring tape to get the dimensions of the desired area, but you might get better results by marking of the edges of your planned rug with painter’s tape. This will give you an idea of where the rug will actually be and provide more accurate measurements than trying to hold the measuring tape in place on both ends.
• As convenient as vacuuming your rug can be, it can damage the sensitive fibers of some rugs. Using your vacuum’s attachments to do the job can help preserve your rug’s longevity.
• Rugs with nonskid undersides can keep your little ones safe. If yours doesn’t come with one, you can buy pads that will hold your rug in place while children and pets run over it.
• Rugs can tend to get wear in certain spots. By occasionally rotating your rug, you can prevent one area from fading or showing signs of wear earlier than the rest of the rug.
• You can easily find rugs that match your décor, but consider whether this choice will give you a long-term solution. You might eventually want to change up your furnishings and accents, and a more neutral-toned rug will give you a little more flexibility than one that’s chosen specifically to match the way your living room looks today.
• Consider how much traffic your rug will experience. Some rugs are great for sleep spaces for your pets but will show signs of wear as foot traffic moves over it day after day, month after month. Those who entertain regularly or have a houseful of children might want to opt for something that’s designed to absorb all that wear without showing it.
• Rug comfort is all about the pile. If you want the type of rug your feet sink into, look for one that’s high pile. The downside of these rugs, though, is that some can shed or flatten as you use them.