About 1 to 1 1/2 foot around the edges is supposedly enough. http://www.overstock.com/guides/how-to-size-your-room-for-an-area-rug
AND
http://www.decoratingstudio.com/archives/ht_floors_flooring/Choosing_the_right_size_area_rug.html
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/proper-furnitur-149156

Sit in one of the chairs and then push the chair back to get up. Measure the distance from the table to the back chair legs. You need a rug that is wide enough and long enough that the chair legs will stay on the rug even when pushed back. The most common mistake I see with dining room rugs is that they are too small and the chair legs catch on the edge of the rug.

I think the rug is a good size for a dining room rug.

OK, by those tests then, I think it will be OK. It just seems like such a big rug for a small room, but I guess if I did go too much smaller then the chairs would be partially off since the table is also big w/ lots of chairs...

The problem you may run into is the rug forming ridges because the rug won't be anchored like carpet. Normally it wouldn't make a difference but your's will have furniture on the edges and scooting chairs could cause the rug to give in certain places. Straightening it might be a hassle.

I love the blue in the rug, I can see why you like it!

Love your room and the rug! I think the size will be fine. Is your china cabinet built in? Have you accounted for it in your measurements?

porkandham the china cabinet is built in. I will have to remeasure to make sure it won't interfere or have the rug right up against it.

oakleyok if I choose this rug, there'd be quite a bit of space for the chairs to push back before they're right on the edge so it might be OK. We'll use a rug pad. We also likely won't use this room THAT much probably since we seem to congregate outside or in the breakfast nook more often than the DR...

Thanks for the things to consider. I have an 8x12 rug that is in the great room, I may move it in the DR and leave it for a day or two just to get a feel for how the size actually looks since I think that size is close enough to be a good representation...

I think it will be a perfect size leaving about 18" of floor showing around the edges and the color will look fabulous. Most people choose rugs that are too small in a dining room.

Love the rug! Hope it can work for you! It seems like it won't be too big.

I agree that the size is perfect for your room. Most people have rugs that are far too small.

Beautiful rug. I adore it.

Totally agree that the size is fine and most people choose rugs that are too small. I think it will look beautiful! I have never had a problem with an area rug bunching up unless it is a very thin rug. If that is the case, a pad should solve the problem. Can't wait to see it in your room!

It is not a thin rug, it is quite heavy.
I have now ordered it :) It should be delivered w/in the next few days and I will post updated pictures. Got to get some art on the wall in the DR too- maybe will hang up some pics before I post pictures again.

Thanks for the opinions and help!!

Love the rug. Glad you decided to go with it. Looking forward to seeing it in your room as I am sure it will look lovely!

Love the rug! I think the size is good. Better too big than too small.

I think the size is fine and the colors are fab!

I looked at the measurements again, and I agree with the rest, it will look great! For some reason I was thinking it would be wall-to-wall.

Thanks :) I can't wait to get it in the room when it comes and see how it looks!

I love the rug! It'll look great in your room and it isn't too large at all. I agree, most dining room rugs are too small (including my own!). I love the built in cabinet, too. Did you paint it yourself? If so, do you happen to know the color blue it is? I'm looking for a blue to use on the inside of a china cabinet, and your color looks like one I ought to test. :) Thanks!

kimberlyrkb, the cabinet is not painted, it is a custom stain color and I did not do it myself... my cabinet makers came up with it after I gave them a tile to match. Sorry I can't be more help.

We do have a lot of blue in our house though and we went through a lot of colors to find our blues. Our favorites and the ones we used were SW Windy Blue, Sherwin Williams 7603 Poolhouse and Sherwin Williams 7601 Dockside Blue so if you're looking for suggestions, may want to check those out :)

Thank you very much for generously sharing the other blues you've tried. I'll check them out. :)

Here we go, rug is in :) I need to move the table back centered into place, but I think it looks great. Thank you so much for all your help everyone!

Very, very nice!

Beautiful! It's perfect with your chairs and everything else! You got it in place just in time, too. Yay!

It is PERFECT!!!!!!

Where did you find it, Beagles? (I know, I'm always asking you questions!).

Oh my, that is perfect. Great looking room.

The rug looks perfect, and I love your colors!

I beginning to like the layered look! I thought the room was already lovely, and now it's warm and lovely. What's next? There's no such thing as done :)

I'm so glad you went forward with the purchase. I love the way the rug looks in your room.

Thanks :) I am glad that everyone convinced me it would work b/c I probably would have passed otherwise.

stinky-gardener the rug is actually from eBay. We got/get most of our oriental rugs on ebay mainly because I won't buy really expensive oriental rugs when I have dogs that seem to aim for the rug whenever they get upset tummies! The ones on ebay are reasonably priced and there's a few sellers that I really like who do hand-knotted rugs w/ high KPSI.

jamies I am a big fan of the layered look. I like mixing patterns and colors and styles and it also kind of happens accidentally because I just buy what I like.

Related rug size question. I am thinking from all the comments I've read here that this rug is too small for my dining room. What do ya'll think?

Beagles- it looks amazing in your pretty room!

Tx2- can we see another pic? It's hard to tell...thanks!

Beagles, it looks fabulous!

Tx2nc, it does look small, but that is a beautiful rug, too. When you pull the chairs out to sit for dinner, they should still be able to fit on the rug.

Beautiful rug and room!

Beagles, it's perfect - perfect size, perfect color.. just perfect!

Tx2nc, yes.. it IS too small. :(

Beagles- gorgeous and the perfect size.

Tx2nc- yes, way too small as I'm sure you know by now. You do have to be able to pull out the chairs and not have them off the rug or they will catch the rug as you pull them back up to the table when you sit down. I think I've read that you need 2 feet of rug behind each chair when the chair is pulled up to a sitting position at the table to be able to pull the chair out..

I'm so glad you didn't listen to me in my first reply! lol. It's gorgeous!

Thanks for your reply, Beagles! I think it's fantastic that you got it on E-bay! I'm so intimidated and confused by shopping there. I never caught on to that whole "bidding" business, and I don't use a credit card online, or have a paypal account, blah, blah, blah. It's all just beyond me. Anyway, if you got a great deal in addition to this beautiful rug, good for you, girl!

I bet your soon-to-be DH is very pleased too!

Very pretty rug and pretty room! Love that built in!

Care to share your eBay sellers names? I collect this sort of info for when the time comes.

I'd be interested in that info too, Beagles. Who knows, maybe I'll become an eBay convert at some point! I'm sure a lot of people would like this info...(you should ask for a commision...you may be responsible for some rug sales in the near future!)

Beagles, I know you mentioned that you designed your house, or some of it, (which is newly built, yes?). Are you a designer by profession or an architect or an artist of some kind? (Those are my questions of the day for Beagles!)

Oh, another question while I'm at it - what are the dimensions of your chandelier? It looks like the perfect size for that room, and I think my dining room is similarly sized. It's very pretty too!

Beagles - The rug looks great!

Tx2nc - Your rug is too small. As others have said, all four chair legs need to be on the rug when they're pulled out for sitting. You have pretty floors, so even if it's not in the budget to replace the rug, at least your dining room would look nice with no rug. Bare floors look better than a too small rug, IMHO.

tx2nc I love your blue walls! The rug is gorgeous but I agree w/ the others- too small.

cottonpenny the two most recent ones were dcrugs and greatfallsdecoratorc but there are actually others I like better that I got rugs from last year- I will have to go back to my old records and find them. If you look at DCrugs, don't be put off by the prices. The most recent one, I put in an OBO for 1/2 of what it was listed for and they accepted. Every oriental in my house came from eBay.

Regarding the chandelier dimensions- I don't know. I am away for the weekend but when I return tomorrow, I will get you the dimensions and details :)

stinky-gardener, I am not a designer or architect. I am a writer and work in search engine optimization. I just really love decorating and design stuff!

The house is new (well, we closed in April '12). There are pics of the rest of it here (http://stonepondhouse.blogspot.com) if anyone is interested and hasn't seen them :)

We started w/ a basic floor plan from the builder and I added the conservatory, dog room and sun room, moved a bunch of other rooms around, took out an inside study and completely changed the structure of the kitchen. I designed all the cabinets and picked all the finishes, etc. (I actually made Photoshop mock-ups of the kitchen and all bathrooms and we worked from there and had some truly amazing people that were able to do exactly what I asked! The kitchen especially I think turned out JUST like the photoshop:

Hi Beagles,

I find rug selection uniquely bedeviling.

Yours is both lovely and perfect in every way for your DR. Brava!

Thanks mtnrdredux!