3 Dorm Rugs That Will Make Your Room as Cozy as Possible, According to College Students

See all the dorm must-haves — from mattress toppers to storage — that real college students swear by for making your space cozy and functional. Check out the full list of Dorm Therapy Awards 2025 winners!

If you’re working on decorating your dorm, you’re probably focusing on the bedding and wall decor. But when you want to take your dorm room’s coziness factor to the next level, that’s when you add in a soft rug. Dorm room rugs are a bigger purchase than some of the other items on your list, which means you want to make sure you get the right one.

But how do you know what the right one is? First, think about what dorm aesthetic you want for your room, and then see what’s available in your price range. Students who took our survey shared everything from colorful shag dorm rugs to vibrant patterns and designs, and these are the top three picks that will help you on your way to transforming your room into an oasis.

Dorm Therapy is dedicated to helping students at every point of their college experience, and that includes shopping for their dorm! We’re a website powered by real college student contributors (who have recently experienced dorm living) and experienced editors, creating service-first content about navigating life at school and sharing vetted product recommendations for dorms and college apartments.

We went straight to the source to determine our winners for the Dorm Therapy Awards 2025, surveying more than 360 college students and recent grads to learn about their absolute favorite products they used in their dorm. 

As you might expect, there was a ton of variety in the different rugs that students recommended (and some didn’t use a rug at all!). To determine the best rug recommendations, we first looked at the rugs with 10 ratings; students rated their rugs on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 meaning they’d “definitely recommend” it. From there, we considered the student reviews and cross-referenced them with customer reviews on the retailers’ websites. Our winner had 2,500 reviews and still held a 4.4-star rating, and that, coupled with the many color options, gave it the top spot. 

If you’re looking to add a cozy pop of color to your room, this rug is the one for you. You can choose from five different sizes and 11 colors. It also has “high-density non-slip points,” so when you place it down, it should stay where you want it — great news for when you want to vacuum it. With more than 2,500 reviews, this product has an average of 4.4 stars on Amazon. 

Reviewers on Amazon call it “thick” and “plush” and “soft and comfy.” Of course, it’s a thicker rug, so you’ll want to make sure you have a vacuum that works well with it. 

• “Very cute and soft!” —Mell A., Texas Christian University, Class of 2027

This rug was also highly recommended in our survey and has received many positive reviews on the Target website, with some people calling it “the softest” and hyping the “solid anti-slip bottom.” Though it is a bit more expensive than the winner, this cozy shag rug comes in four sizes and more neutral tones if you’re looking for something that blends a bit more casually. This rug was reviewed online by more than 1,200 customers, and has an average rating of 4.4 stars. 

I had this rug in my college room for two years, and absolutely loved it. Because my dorm was so small, I used it for just about everything and anything, from a dining table to an exercise mat. To this day, I’ve never had a rug as soft and comfortable.

• “Affordable, easy to wash/keep clean, was a dark color so stains didn’t show, super comfortable to sit on.” —Rachel V., Grand Valley State University, Class of 2026

If you’re looking for more of a statement rug, this soft patterned rug will fit the bill. This product comes in 5 different patterns to add a pop of color to your room. With more than 1,900 ratings on Amazon, this rug has an average of 4.5 stars. Reviewers call it “plush and comfortable” and “soft to the touch.” 

Despite the pattern, these rugs can still be neutral or great for mixing and matching designs. I love the blue! 

• “I loved this rug, it was good quality, soft, good pattern, and easy to clean.” —Clara D., Southern Utah University, Class of 2027