Where to Place Bathroom Rugs

When you buy a bathroom rug, it is very important to choose the perfect location to place it. If it is too close to the toilet or bath, then it will get very wet and may start to spoil quickly and get ruined. 

You can’t do away with bathroom rugs; they are a great addition to any bathroom as they can complement color schemes and make a room.

Having a rug in the bathroom can transform the room to make it look bigger and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. They also keep your feet warm and dry.

Ideal Locations for Bathroom Rugs

Near Shower or Tub

Placing a bathroom rug near the shower or tub is a must, as it helps absorb excess water when you step out, preventing slips and falls. Additionally, it provides comfort and warmth for your feet. To achieve this, position the rug directly beside the bathtub or shower, making sure it’s long and wide enough to catch any drips as you dry yourself off.

Near Vanity Sink

A bathroom rug placed in front of the vanity sink is practical and stylish. This spot allows the rug to catch water droplets when you’re washing your face or brushing your teeth, protecting the floor from water damage. Consider choosing a rug that fits the space between the sink and other fixtures, ensuring functionality without overcrowding.

Near Toilet

Lastly, placing a rug in front of the toilet is a useful addition to any bathroom. It adds softness and warmth for your feet, particularly on cold mornings, while also absorbing any splashes or spills.

Ideally, the rug should be positioned close to your bathroom cabinet, ensuring a comfortable distance from the toilet. Remember to select a rug that fits within the space and complements the overall design of your bathroom.

In Front of Bathroom Cabinets

Placing a bathroom rug in front of your bathroom cabinets can be an excellent choice. This location ensures the rug provides cushioning and support, as well as catches any spills or drips that may occur when you use the sink.

Furthermore, having a rug in this area helps protect the flooring from scratches and scuffs due to frequent usage. To optimize this rug placement, make sure the rug complements the design and color of your bathroom cabinets.

Placement of Rug – Tips and Tricks

Placement of Rug

Small Bathrooms

If you have a small bathroom with a lovely patterned floor, then often there is not much point in placing a rug in there.  A rug can be a centerpiece for a larger bathroom and should complement a bathroom, not make it look smaller.

Disguising an Eyesore

If you don’t like your bathroom floor or it is a bit of an eyesore, placing several rugs on the bathroom floor can help to disguise this and take some of the focus away from the flooring.

Quantity of Rugs

The quantity of rugs needed depends on the size and shape of the bathroom; ideally, you want your rugs to complement and show off features in the bathroom. A very commonplace for rugs which is the trend at the moment is to have a rug directly in front of a sink to emphasize the shape of it and show it off.

Measuring Your Bathroom

It is essential and goes without saying that you must accurately measure your bathroom before you go rug shopping, whether online or in person. You can then determine what size rug or rugs you will need for your bathroom.

Center Rugs

If you are buying a center rug for the middle of your bathroom, you mustn’t buy a rug that is too small for the middle of the room, as it will be obvious that you mistakenly bought a rug too small. Rugs are designed to complement a room and not look out of place.

For rugs that are placed in the middle of the bathroom, they should be large and extravagant looking so that they are the centerpiece of the bathroom. If you have a centerpiece rug, then you can buy matching rugs to go next to your bath and/or shower so that your entire bathroom matches.

Door Considerations

Another important consideration that must be made before you go shopping for rugs which people often forget, is to consider whether the bathroom door opens inwards or outwards as the projection of an inwards opening door can often clash with the rug and therefore either damage to the rug or prevent the door from opening.

If you have an outward opening door, then this should not cause you any problems with the placement of your bathroom rug.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Bathroom Rug

The first step of having a rug in the bathroom is to establish whether you have enough room for a rug in your bathroom, as often, some bathrooms can be too small.

It is important to look at the placement of your bath and toilet and ensure that you have room between them for a rug. Many factors need to be considered before you can even think about where to put your new rug, and they’re explained below. These factors should all be individually considered to help you to conclude how many rugs to get and where to put them.

Style of Rug

The next step to placing a rug in your bathroom is to look at different styles of rugs that could fit in your bathroom. In rug stores, you’ll find many differencing shapes of rugs, different styles, and different colors. You must look at the different shapes of rugs to determine whether you want a run that stands alone or sits around the base of a toilet. You might even fancy both!

Also, consider the style of your bathroom, whether vintage, contemporary, etc., before you decide what style of rug to place in it. Rugs placed around the toilet are often in a darker color in case any accidents happen, so they are not easily visible.

An alternative approach people have is to have a white toilet rug so that it shows off how clean the bathroom is. If you simply want a plain rug in your bathroom, this is a great way to go, provided you are committed to cleaning the rug as often as possible.

Another rug you can have in a bathroom is a bath rug which goes right next to the bath so that it is nice on the feet when you get out of the bath.

Color of Rug

You must consider the color scheme of your bathroom when you are choosing a rug color, as it is better when the rug matches your color scheme. If you cannot find a color that matches your existing color scheme, then it is important to find a color that compliments it.

There are a wide variety of rug colors that you can choose from for the bathroom, you can even take along sample paint colors, and companies can match the exact shade and find the perfect rug for you.

If you have a nice patterned tile flooring that either has a lot of colors or a busy pattern, then you should go for a neutral-colored rug in your bathroom.

It is important to take floor and wall patterns into account when choosing a rug for your bathroom as if you have too much color or pattern, they may clash and cause the bathroom to look cramped and overcrowded.

Shape of Rug

It is important that you first decide what shape of the rug will best suit your bathroom. Some people have bathrooms that are all about curves, others have bathrooms that are themed or color-themed, and some like block or square-shaped features in bathrooms.

Bearing this in mind, it is important that the shape of your new rug compliments the theme of your bathroom, and so doesn’t look out of place. You can now get rugs in various shapes and even custom-made ones.

Whether you want several rugs for a bath/shower, a toilet, or a centerpiece one, there is something out there for everybody! It is important that you consider whether your bathroom needs a standard rectangular rug or whether it would need something a bit more round!

Type of Rug

Having a rug in the bathroom used to be considered a show of wealth as only people with money could afford to have a rug in their bathroom; however, now it is more of an accessory.

It is important to take into account whether the rug is going to be placed somewhere it will get very wet. If this is the case, then it is important to look into materials of rugs that dry quickly as opposed to some, which would take hours. You can now buy rugs made of very soft materials that dry quickly.

Another factor to consider when choosing the type of rug to put in front of a bath or a shower is the anti-slip quality. You can buy fashionable and modern rug options which have little suckers on the bottom so that they grip the ground and cannot slip.

Whilst these may not sound pretty, a lot of rugs have a shaggy edging that protects the rug, so the practical suckers cannot be seen. These types of rugs are ideal for bathrooms where the shower or bath is placed on a floor, making it slippery when wet.

Whilst there is a history of people having bathmats instead of rugs, rugs have become a more aesthetic alternative as they look more pleasing to the eye and can completely change a bathroom, making it look neater, bigger, or simply complements other accessories in there.

If you have several bathrooms, you may want different rugs for different bathrooms. In a small bathroom with just a toilet and sink, it is a popular trend to have two matching rugs around the edge of the toilet and the base of a sink.

Often people will ensure that all the rugs in the various bathrooms of the house match. If this is what you are planning, then it is important that you ensure that you first find the complete set of rugs you’ll be needing for all your bathrooms before making a purchase so that you don’t simply end up with mismatched rugs.