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In an interview with Livingetc, Irish rug designer Luke Irwin shared a simple way to test rug dimensions at home: lay out old copies of the Financial Times on the floor. He also advised choosing a rug large enough to connect the furniture, with all pieces on it in large open-plan rooms and at least front legs on it elsewhere.
Irish rug designer Luke Irwin has shared a practical way to check rug dimensions before buying: lay old copies of the Financial Times on the floor to mark out the proposed area. In an interview with Livingetc, Irwin said the newspaper’s paper color helps visualize scale, addressing what he described as a common difficulty in choosing a rug that fits a room.
Irwin’s advice is to use the paper as a full-scale stand-in rather than relying only on measurements or imagining how a rug might look. The newspaper pages can be arranged across the floor to approximate the rug’s footprint, giving residents a chance to compare that outline with their furniture and room layout. The source does not specify how many pages are needed or a particular measurement for each sheet, so the method depends on measuring and arranging the pages to match the dimensions being tested.
For furniture placement, Irwin offered different rules for different kinds of rooms. In a large open-plan space, he said all the furniture should sit entirely on the rug to help define the room. In other settings, he recommended at least placing the front legs of the furniture on the rug. He said he finds it visually awkward when pieces appear “half on and half off.”
Irwin told Livingetc that a rug’s main considerations are pattern, color and size. Pattern is often the easiest to judge, he said, while color can prompt lengthy comparisons between similar shades. In his experience, the initial choice of color and pattern often proves to be the right one, though that is his personal design judgment rather than a tested rule for every buyer.
A Paper Test for Rug Proportions
Choosing the wrong dimensions can change how a room feels and how its furniture relates to one another. Irwin’s suggestion offers a low-cost way to see a proposed rug area in place before committing to a purchase, particularly for people who find it difficult to judge scale from a product image or a list of measurements. The approach can also help shoppers decide whether they want a rug to anchor a whole seating arrangement or sit beneath only part of it.
The advice is relevant to both new purchases and room rearrangements, but the paper outline is a visualization aid, not a substitute for checking a rug’s actual measurements. Irwin’s placement guidance gives readers a second practical check: consider the room’s layout, then decide whether all furniture or at least its front legs should rest on the rug. The interview does not offer a universal size formula, and room dimensions and furniture arrangements vary.
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Irwin’s Design Practice and Clientele
Irwin established his namesake studio in 2003. According to the Livingetc report, the business designs made-to-order, hand-knotted rugs, with clients able to seek guidance on size, color, weave, materials and design. The report describes Irwin’s designs as being developed in London and hand-knotted by artisans in workshops in Jaipur and New Delhi, India, and in Nepal.
Livingetc described Irwin’s clientele as including U2, The Rolling Stones, Barack Obama and members of the British royal family. That client list provides a snapshot of the studio’s profile, but the interview’s practical focus is the challenge of selecting rugs for ordinary room layouts. Irwin said that, after more than two decades in the field, he remains struck by how often rugs appear too small for their settings or seem mismatched with a room’s design.
“A great hack for being able to visualize the perfect size is to lay out an old copy of the Financial Times on the floor, as the color of the paper is perfect for visualizing scale.”
— Luke Irwin, speaking to Livingetc
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Limits of the Newspaper Method
The interview does not provide a measured conversion for the newspaper pages, specify how to account for overlapping sheets, or compare the technique with other ways to mark out a floor area. Readers would need to measure the intended rug and arrange enough pages to represent that footprint. Irwin’s advice is presented as a practical design tip, not as a formal standard or guarantee that a particular rug will suit every room.
The source also does not give a detailed sizing chart for different furniture arrangements, nor does it identify specific rug dimensions for common room types. The best fit will depend on the actual room, the furniture and the effect the resident wants. Irwin’s comments about undersized rugs and mismatched designs are his observations from experience, not a quantified survey of homes.
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Measure Before Choosing a Rug
For readers applying Irwin’s tip, the next step is to measure the rug area they are considering, then lay out newspaper pages to represent those dimensions. They can compare that outline with the furniture arrangement and test whether the pieces sit fully on the rug or at least have their front legs on it. The Livingetc interview reports advice rather than a new product launch or announced event; it gives no indication of a further development or follow-up schedule.
designer rugs for open plan spaces
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Key Questions
What is Luke Irwin’s rug-sizing hack?
He recommends laying old copies of the Financial Times on the floor to visualize the proposed rug’s footprint. Measure the intended area and arrange the pages to represent it.
How should furniture sit on a rug?
Irwin advises putting all furniture on the rug in a large open-plan space. In other rooms, he says at least the front legs should sit on it.
What are the main things to weigh when choosing a rug?
Irwin identifies pattern or design, color and size as the three main elements. He describes size as the most challenging to get right.
Who is Luke Irwin?
He is an Irish rug designer whose namesake studio, established in 2003, designs made-to-order, hand-knotted rugs. Livingetc reports that his clients have included U2, The Rolling Stones, Barack Obama and members of the British royal family.
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