TL;DR
Get cleaning gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Rug designer Luke Irwin recommends arranging old Financial Times pages on the floor to help visualize a rug’s size before buying. In an interview with Livingetc, he also advised placing all furniture on a rug in a large open-plan room, or at least putting its front legs on the rug in other spaces.
Rug designer Luke Irwin, whose reported clients include The Rolling Stones and members of the British royal family, recommends laying old copies of the Financial Times on the floor to preview a rug’s size before buying. In an interview with Livingetc, he said the paper’s color helps visualize scale and offered placement guidelines aimed at avoiding rugs that look too small or overwhelm a room.
Irwin’s practical suggestion is to arrange newspaper pages on the floor where a rug might go, then assess the proposed footprint against the furniture and room. He described the Financial Times’ paper color as useful for visualizing scale. The interview does not specify how many pages to use or provide a calculation for translating them into a particular rug dimension; the method is a visual aid rather than a measurement formula.
For placement, Irwin said that in a large open-plan space, all the furniture should sit fully on the rug, which can help define the room. In other settings, he recommends placing at least the front legs of the furniture on it. He said furniture that is partly on and partly off the rug can look odd.
Irwin identified pattern, color and size as the main elements in choosing a rug. He described pattern as relatively straightforward to judge, while color can prompt prolonged comparison between similar shades. But he called size the most critical choice, warning that a rug can feel overwhelming if too large or look out of place if too small.
A Simple Test Before Buying a Rug
Rug dimensions affect how furniture relates to one another and whether a seating area reads as a coherent zone. Irwin’s newspaper technique gives shoppers a low-cost way to test a rug’s approximate footprint in the room before committing to a purchase. It may also help people notice whether a proposed size leaves furniture awkwardly divided between the rug and the bare floor.
The advice is particularly relevant in open-plan homes, where a rug can visually mark out a living or dining area without a wall separating it from the rest of the space. Irwin’s rules are general design guidance, not a universal formula: room dimensions, furniture arrangements and personal preferences can all affect what works.
Financial Times newspaper for rug sizing
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Irwin’s Bespoke Rug Studio
According to Livingetc, Irwin established his namesake studio in 2003. The business designs and makes custom, hand-knotted rugs, with clients able to request changes to size, color, weave, textile and design. The publication describes the designer’s work as drawing on heritage patterns and palettes.
Livingetc reported that Irwin’s clientele has included U2, The Rolling Stones, Barack Obama and British royals. The source does not name individual royal clients or provide details about specific commissions. Its interview focuses less on those projects than on common decisions facing people choosing a rug for their own homes.
“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
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Limits of the Newspaper Method
The interview gives no measured demonstration of the newspaper technique, including the size of the pages used, how many are needed or how closely the paper outline should match a finished rug. It also does not report testing or independent evaluation of the method. Readers would need to check the dimensions of a rug under consideration and compare them with their room and furniture rather than treating newspaper pages as a precise substitute.
The source does not provide prices, production times or current availability for Irwin’s bespoke rugs. It also does not identify the members of the royal family said to be among his clients. The reported client list and design advice are presented in Livingetc’s interview, not as independently documented claims in the supplied material.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Measure the Room Before Ordering
For anyone considering a rug, the immediate next step is to mark out a proposed footprint on the floor, using newspaper or another temporary marker, and see how it aligns with the furniture. Then check the intended rug’s actual dimensions and placement before ordering. In an open-plan room, Irwin’s recommendation is to test whether all furniture can sit on the rug; elsewhere, check whether the front legs can rest on it.
The source does not announce a new product, release date or follow-up from Irwin. His comments are design guidance in an interview, and no further development is specified.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is Luke Irwin’s rug-sizing hack?
He recommends laying out old Financial Times pages on the floor to get a visual sense of a rug’s scale before buying.
How should furniture sit on a rug?
Irwin advises putting all the 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 does Irwin say matters most when choosing a rug?
He names pattern, color and size as the three key elements and describes size as the most critical, since a rug can be too large or too small for its setting.
Who are Luke Irwin’s reported clients?
Livingetc reports that his clients have included U2, The Rolling Stones, Barack Obama and British royals. The supplied source does not identify individual royal clients or detail particular commissions.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
