When I first wrote this article, I'd just found a viral hack that promised to make laying a rug under a couch, or a cabinet, a lot easier. I'd usually have had to move all my furniture out of the room to lay a new area rug, or even to take a rug up to clean it.
The solution, according to TikTok, was a 'ceramic tile lifter', which you can find on Amazon, which you can use as a 'jack' to lift your sofa so that you can place your floor covering with your ideal rug placement in mind. The promised result? An end to bunched-up rugs that never quite sit perfectly. Without it, the shape of the rug might end up distorted, or the edges won't sit flat – whatever the symptoms, you would have been sure to find me on my hands and knees trying to push out creases, vainly trying to get it to sit pretty.
However, nearly a year since I first came across this viral idea, I still hadn't invested in one. Why? The price put me off. They were just under $50 for a set of the two tile lifters — a relatively expensive solution to a once-in-a-blue-moon problem.
Since then, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for other solutions, too. Here's what I've found.
How do I get a rug under a couch without it bunching?
The original viral post by user Paola Medina (@mywellihousedecor) showcases a clever way to easily switch rugs under furniture like a bed or couch. While it's technically a ceramic tile lifter, Paola showcases how she uses it to jack up furniture so that she's hands-free and can easily lay the rug underneath before gently lowering the couch or bed back into place.
It's had nearly two million views, so it seems plenty of people out there struggle with the same rug problems I do!
However, at nearly $50 for a set, it's not a cheap solution to the problem, necessarily, especially a problem that doesn't come around too often. So what can you do instead to stop your rug bunching? The solution that I ended up choosing was a little different to Paola's jacks — and a little less expensive.
This furniture lifter tool, also from Amazon, is only $16.91, and arguably a little more functional for lifting furniture to lay a rug. It comes with a series of blocks so that you can even lift taller furniture on legs, which makes it more handy than the ceramic tile lifter, too. If you go looking for a different version online, just follow this one piece of advice — get one with a handle that's raised enough to properly lift furniture so that you can get a rug underneath. Some of them are just a little too shallow, though the price might be even more attractive.
My original solution to the problem was even more cost-effectve. While rug tape, like this from Amazon, is great for stopping the edges of a rug from sliding once laid, it doesn't necessarily stop bunching from heavy furniture legs. Instead, look for a rug liner, similar to this one from Amazon. This can be laid before you lay your rug down, and once you move the furniture back on top, it won't move an inch.
There's a downside - you really need to completely move your sofa or bed out of the way to do this (unless you've invested in furniture lifters), which can be tricky if you're trying to lay a rug in a small bedroom or small living room.
For my own home, and it's small bedroom where it's almost impossible to move the bed, these furniture lifters make a lot of sense, still.
