Rug Size for a King Bed: 8x10, 9x12 or Larger

There are two usual positions. In the first, the rug stops a few inches in front of the nightstands, so about two thirds of the bed stands on it. With an 8-foot-deep rug that leaves about three and a half feet of wool beyond the foot of the bed. This is the position that makes an 8x10 work under a king, and it keeps the nightstands level on the bare floor.

In the second, the rug runs all the way to the wall and the nightstands stand on it too. That needs the depth of a 9x12 or more, otherwise nothing is left at the foot. It looks more generous and suits a large room, but check that the nightstand legs sit fully on the rug or fully off it. Half on and half off, they rock.

The rug should leave a border of floor around the room, somewhere between 8 and 24 inches from the walls. In a bedroom 12 feet wide, a 9x12 laid across the bed would run wall to wall and read as bad carpeting, so an 8x10 is the right answer there even though the bed could take more. From about 14 feet of width a 9x12 breathes, and from 16 feet a 10x14 becomes possible.

Check the doors as well. A hand-knotted wool rug has real thickness, and a door that clears the floor by half an inch will catch on it. Mark the outline on the floor with painter's tape, open every door across it, and leave the tape down for a day before you decide.

If the room is too narrow for an 8x10, two runners do the job a large rug cannot. One on each side of the bed, roughly 2 ft 6 in wide and 8 to 10 feet long, puts wool exactly where your feet land and leaves the hidden floor under the bed alone. It is also the easier arrangement to vacuum and to move.

A third option is a rug at the foot only: a 5x8 or 6x9 laid across the end of the bed, half under it and half in front of a bench. That works when the bed stands between two windows or built-in wardrobes and there is no room at the sides at all.

Seventy-nine rugs, all Beni Mrirt: dense, heavy pieces that stay where you put them. Forty-two are close to an 8x10, between 7 ft 11 in and 8 ft 10 in wide and 9 ft 7 in to 11 ft long. Three are longer, up to 8 ft 4 in by 12 ft 4 in. Thirty-four are large, from 9 ft 10 in by 12 ft 10 in to 10 ft 6 in by 14 ft 1 in. A true 9x12 is rare in hand-knotted stock; the nearest pieces are the long 8-footers and the smaller 10x13s.

Most are quiet colours that suit a bedroom: twenty-two in sand and taupe, eighteen in ivory and cream, eleven in camel and brown, with greens, charcoal, caramel and a few stronger colours among the rest. Each rug is one of a kind, with its exact measurements on its own page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.