The Best Living Room Floor Ideas, According to Interior Designers

Like it or not, your floors can make or break the entire ambiance of your living room. That’s why it helps to know what types of flooring the pros recommend for creating a stylish and comfortable living room. So we reached out to seven interior designers to find out what their favorite living room flooring ideas were, and here’s what they had to say. 

“A great trick for making your living area feel bigger is with a thoughtful area rug. Small scale patterns will always make a room feel bigger, and carefully considered stripes can actually make your space feel wider. Both patterns are also great for durability and are a wonderful way to get away with a lighter rug if you have little ones or pets.” —Alyssa Kapito, interior designer

 “My general rule with area rugs is that they have to big be enough to fit under all of the furniture in the living room (the sofa and the accent chairs, etc.) and be soft enough to sit on. Size and texture are the two most important qualities. There is nothing worse than a flat and scratchy rug that you can’t stretch out on.”  —Tali Roth, interior designer

“Herringbone wood floors have always been a classic for living rooms, then came a more modern chevron. A living room with large scale chevron floors feels unique and dramatic, while elegant and timelessly beautiful at the same time.”  —Anjie Cho, interior designer

“I design a lot of home for families, so I am always keeping in mind how to make spaces more kid-friendly. As a result, I am a huge advocate for having a healthy and durable area rug in the living room. This is not only great for kids running around and laying around, but it’s also aesthetically pleasing for the overall design as it can either tie together the room decor or be a nice neutral base to build upon.”  —Liz Caan, interior designer

“We love using chunky braided or knotted jute rugs in a variety of living room styles because they add an element of natural, casual texture that plays well with many types of furniture, from formal to beachy. Jute is even softer than a standard sisal rug, so we encourage clients to take their shoes off in our presentation so we can prove how great it is underfoot!”  —Julie Massucco Kleiner and Melissa Warner Rothblum, co-owners of Massucco Warner Miller

“Make a statement in your living space with by employing a bold color-blocked rug that draws the colors of the room together. This way, you can get creative with color in your living room without overpowering the space.”  —Caroline Rafferty, interior designer

“A too-small rug can make the room feel smaller, so I suggest a rug that provides a visual anchor to the entire seating grouping. What if you fall in love with a beautiful antique rug and it’s just too small for the space? Layer it over a textural rug, such as a sisal or jute design and you get to use the rug you love and still achieve the right proportions.”  —Mel Bean, interior designer