How to Slide a Rug Under a Dining Table (In 6 Steps)

A beautiful, well-placed area rug can tie an entire room together. Rugs are common in living rooms, bedrooms, and in any room that can benefit from additional decor and comfort. Rugs are also popular in a dining room. However, it is difficult to place rugs underneath heavy items. A rug in the dining area can complete the space, but sliding a rug underneath a heavy dining table is not always an easy task. 

Thankfully, sliding an area rug under a dining table does not have to be an impossible task. There are a few ways you can add a rug underneath a dining table to achieve the perfect interior design in your dining room. Read on to learn how to slide a rug under a dining table in six steps. 

1. Determine the Size and Shape of Rug You Need

The perfect rug for your dining room depends on your room’s dimensions and the size and shape of your dining table. Dining tables come in all shapes and sizes, just like rugs do. Popular dining table shapes include:

• Square
• Rectangle
• Oval
• Circular

To achieve the best dining room rug, you first have to ensure you pick a rug that will fit well with your table. This is not only a design necessity, but it is a practical requirement. If your rug is too small, it will both look strange and it will make sitting at the table difficult. If it is too large, it will swallow the room while creating a tripping hazard. 

Your ideal dining room rug should be the same shape as your dining table. For example, if you have a rectangular dining table, you should opt for a rectangular rug. Other shapes will look strange in the room and will not fit well underneath the dining table. 

Why Use a Rug in the Dining Room?

An obvious reason to opt for a rug in any room is for aesthetic purposes. Rugs create cohesion between other design elements in a room. They also fill voids in a room by adding decoration without taking up space. 

There are other reasons to add a dining room rug too, though. Many people use their dining room as a place to meet and spend time with their loved ones over meals. If you have a dining room that is saved for special occasions, you want to be able to hear and participate in the conversation occurring around the dining table. Rugs soften noise in a room so people around the table can better hear one another. 

Rugs also protect floors. At a dining table, chairs are constantly being scooted back and forth. If you have a hardwood floor, your dining room chairs can scratch up the wood and create divots. A well-sized rug will come between your dining chairs and the fragile floor, protecting your hardwood from needless damage. 

2. Ensure the Rug Covers Enough Floor Space

Your rug needs to stick out further than your table on all sides. The reason for this is that rugs should stay under the dining chairs around the dining table whether or not someone is sitting in the chair or scooting it backward to get up.

If your rug does not stick out far enough, you can run into problems:

• The rug can fold up awkwardly and create a trip hazard. 
• Your dining chairs will get caught on the lip of the rug every time someone scoots back or forward. 
• You lose the protection your rug provides your floors. 

Before you can place your rug under your dining table, you should measure exactly how far it should come out from under the table on either side.

3. Decide If You Need Help

If you are moving a heavy table in order to slide a rug underneath, decide if you need help. It is dangerous to attempt to move heavy furniture alone, especially when you know that you are out of your depth.

There is nothing wrong with asking friends or family for help on a project such as this. It will not take much time, and you can ensure you do no damage to your floors, your table, or yourself. 

Consider Furniture Dollies Or Sliders

There are products on the market specifically designed for moving heavy pieces of furniture. If you can get your hands on one of these, it will make emptying out your dining room even easier. 

WEN Hardwood Movers

These are small movers that can hold up to 1,000 pounds each. If you have heavy furniture in your dining room that you need to get out of the way, you can utilize tools like these. 

Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Shoulder Dolly Moving Straps

These unique moving accouterments allow you and a second person to maneuver with large furniture while keeping your hands free. They prevent back injury and spread the weight more effectively. These moving straps can hold up to 800 pounds. 

Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

X-Protector Felt Furniture Sliders

These furniture sliders allow you to slide furniture around without damaging your floors underneath. They can come in handy if you are able to attach them to the bottom of your heavy furniture items. 

Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Even if you use a tool like the ones listed above, you should have a second person with you. There is no sense in injuring yourself or damaging your furniture. Placing a rug under a table only takes a moment. Unless you have a very small or light table, moving your dining table alone could be dangerous.

4. Prepare Your Table and Rug

When you have your chosen rug, keep it rolled up. If it is unrolled, roll it up. It is best to start with your rug in a tube shape. This way it takes up less space in the room while you maneuver around other objects. 

Clear out the dining room or other room where you are placing the rug.

• Move your dining chairs out of the way. Put them in a separate room if you can. You need as much space as you can get to maneuver around your dining table. 
• Remove anything from the dining table. If you have your dining table pre-set, you will need to get your dishes and table cloths out of the way.
• If your table has a heavy top that separates, like glass or stone, remove the top from your table and set it out of the way. This is the part that might require assistance from others since some tabletops can weigh over 100 pounds.

Once you have taken all extra pieces and gotten the heavy lifting out of the way, you can move the remaining table legs or foundation. Be sure you know where you want to lay your rug down before you move the table entirely, or you might end up having to move it again to get it right. 

5. Lay Down Your Rug

You should have measurements or parameters letting you know where to place the rug. Unroll your rug in the spot you have chosen. 

Since this rug is going underneath a dining table, you will want to add a grip to the bottom of the rug so it does not move around. It is best to choose a rug grip that adheres to your rug but not to the floor. This way, you will not damage your floors, but the rug will stay in place.

You should add enough rug grip to the bottom so that each major length of rug will stay flat to the ground. Again, this is to prevent tripping. 

6. Replace Your Table

Now you are free to replace your table and put it back together. Place carpet protectors on the bottoms of your table and chairs if you want to protect the rug underneath. Depending on the kind of rug you purchase, constant chair scooting and heavy table weight can damage the rug.

Bring the table legs and foundation and center them on the rug. Then, replace the tabletop. You can reset the table if you have items to put back on the tabletop.

Replace your dining chairs around the edges of the table. Ensure you can sit down and comfortably scoot back to get up without the chairs coming off of the rug.