How to Measure an Octagonal Rug

If your home has an unusually shaped space or an accent area, an eight-sided octagonal rug might work best to highlight the uniqueness of the spot. Rugs not only bring color and design to the room, but octagonal rugs can help hide imperfections in the shape of the area or cover up flaws in the floor, much like other rugs. Regular octagons, those with equal sides, or interior angles of 135 degrees, are the most common types. Determining whether an octagonal rug will work in your particular place isn't difficult to do, and doesn't require any special tools.

Tape measure

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the width and length of the area where you want to place the octagonal rug with a tape measure. Ask someone to hold one side of the tape measure as you pull the other end of the tape measure across the room.
- 2
  Measure the length of three adjacent sides of the octagon to ensure you have a "regular" octagonal rug with equal sides.
- 3
  Determine the distance across the octagonal rug. First, label each point 1 through 8. Then measure the distance between two points that have a difference of four. For example, measure between points 1 and 5. Note the length.
- 4
  Plan to leave a border of 8 to 18 inches on all the sides of the area rug, suggests Susan Welch Heeney, from Decorating Studio LLC; it helps to keep the room well proportioned. Use larger borders for larger rooms, and smaller borders for small rooms.
- 5
  Compare the smallest measurement in your room to the total width of the octagonal rug to see if it will fit in the space allotted.

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