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In an interview with Livingetc, rug designer Luke Irwin shared a low-cost way to visualize rug size: lay old Financial Times pages on the floor where the rug might go. He also recommends fitting furniture fully on a rug in large open-plan spaces, or at least placing the front legs on it elsewhere.
Rug designer Luke Irwin, whose clients have included The Rolling Stones and members of the British royal family, has shared a simple way to test a rug’s size before buying one: lay old copies of the Financial Times on the floor to outline the intended area. In an interview with Livingetc, Irwin said the paper’s color helps him visualize scale, while his broader advice focuses on fitting the rug to the room and its furniture.
Irwin told Livingetc that choosing a rug involves three main decisions: pattern, color and size. He said pattern is often the easiest to judge, while color can prompt prolonged comparisons between similar shades. In his experience, he said, people may spend too long debating colors even when their first combination is the one they prefer.
Size, he said, is the most critical consideration. Irwin’s general rule is that all the furniture should sit on the rug in a large open-plan space. In other rooms, he recommends putting at least the furniture’s front legs on the rug rather than leaving pieces partly on and partly off.
His Financial Times suggestion is a practical way to preview the rug’s footprint without moving or purchasing a full-size sample. Irwin said to spread the pages across the floor to represent the proposed size. He described the exercise as instructive, though he did not specify how many pages to use or provide measurements for translating the paper layout into a particular rug size.
A Paper Template for Rug Scale
Rug dimensions affect how furniture relates to one another and whether a seating area reads as a coherent arrangement. A rug that is too small can leave chairs and sofas visually disconnected; a much larger one may dominate the room. Irwin’s paper-layout method gives shoppers a way to assess those proportions before committing to a made-to-order rug.
The advice also offers a concrete response to a common design problem: judging a rug’s dimensions from a product image or a measurement alone can be difficult. Laying pages on the floor lets residents see the proposed footprint in the room itself and compare it with furniture placement. The method is a visualization aid, not a substitute for checking the final dimensions and product specifications.
For Irwin, the rug is more than a decorative accent. He describes it as a foundation that connects the different elements in a room. That view helps explain why his advice gives size a central role alongside pattern and color: even a design a shopper likes may not work as intended if its scale does not fit the space.
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Irwin’s Bespoke Rug Practice
Livingetc describes Irwin as an Irish designer who works in London. His namesake studio was established in 2003 and specializes in the design and manufacture of hand-knotted, made-to-order rugs. The publication says the studio’s rugs are knotted by artisans in workshops in Jaipur and New Delhi in India, and in Nepal.
The studio offers customers choices including size, color, weave, textile and design, with support from its in-house team. That bespoke process makes advance planning especially relevant: buyers need to decide how a rug will sit in a specific room, rather than selecting only from a fixed set of standard sizes.
Livingetc presents Irwin’s client list as spanning music, politics and royalty, including U2, The Rolling Stones, Barack Obama and British royals. The interview’s main focus, however, is not a new client project or product launch. It is his advice on the practical decisions involved in selecting a rug for a home.
“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, in an interview with Livingetc
Limits of the Paper-Layout Method
Livingetc does not provide a publication date in the supplied material, and the interview does not give a fixed conversion from Financial Times pages to rug dimensions. The paper method is offered as a way to visualize scale, not as a precise measuring system. Readers still need to check the planned rug’s actual measurements against the room and the furniture.
The advice is also a general rule of thumb rather than a universal layout standard. Room shape, furniture arrangement and personal preference can affect what works. The source does not describe a new rug collection, a product release or a change to the studio’s business; it reports Irwin’s guidance in an interview.
Measure Before Ordering a Rug
For shoppers applying the advice, the next step is to mark out the proposed rug area on the floor, then check how the furniture sits within it. In open-plan rooms, test whether all the furniture fits on the outlined area; in other layouts, check whether the front legs can rest on the rug. After using paper to judge the visual footprint, compare that outline with the rug’s listed measurements.
Irwin’s studio offers bespoke options and in-house guidance, according to Livingetc. The article does not announce a scheduled follow-up or any new product development, so further updates from the designer or studio are not specified in the source.
Key Questions
What is Luke Irwin’s rug-size trick?
He suggests laying old copies of the Financial Times on the floor to visualize the area a rug would cover. He describes it as a scale aid, not a replacement for checking exact measurements.
How should a rug sit under furniture?
Irwin’s rule of thumb is to place all furniture on the rug in a large open-plan space. In other settings, he recommends at least having the front legs on it.
What factors does Irwin say matter when choosing a rug?
He identifies pattern or design, color and size as the three main elements. He calls size the most critical and says color can be more subjective.
Does Irwin’s studio make custom rugs?
Yes. Livingetc says the Luke Irwin studio designs and makes hand-knotted, made-to-order rugs, with options including size, color, weave, textile and design.
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