All Rugs

Measure first, browse second. A pattern you love is no help if it ends up too small for the sofa.

Choosing rugs by size

Mark the size you have in mind on the floor with masking tape and leave it there for a day or two. You will soon notice if a door catches on it or a chair slides off the edge when you push it back from the table. The two sizes we stock most often are 120 x 170 cm and 160 x 230 cm, followed closely by 80 x 150 cm and 200 x 290 cm.

A rough guide to where each format usually ends up:

• 60 x 110 cm and 80 x 150 cm: beside the bed or under a desk chair
• 120 x 170 cm: under a coffee table or in a play corner
• 160 x 230 cm: a seating area where the front feet of the sofa rest on the rug
• 200 x 290 cm: a large corner sofa or a dining table with six chairs
• 240 x 340 cm: open-plan living and dining spaces
• 60 x 180 cm up to 80 x 400 cm: hallways and the floor along the kitchen units
• Ø 120 cm and Ø 200 cm: round dining tables, reading nooks, children's rooms

A wide sofa usually needs more than 160 x 230 cm. In that case a 200x300 rug lets every sofa leg stand on the pile, which keeps the whole seating group together. Working to a tighter budget? Start with the reduced designs in our rug sale. The selection there changes regularly.

Wool, jute, cotton or synthetic rugs

The material decides how the floor feels under bare feet and how much looking after it needs. Wool is warm and dense. Our handwoven plain wool designs have a fuller pile, and every wool rug we stock is gathered on its own page.

Jute feels dry and natural. A handwoven jute rug in 100 % jute has a short pile and belongs in the living room or bedroom rather than a damp corner. It is tough. Water is another matter.

Cotton mostly comes as a very flat weave. These kilims slip under doors without catching and can be shaken out in the garden, and some of them are woven from recycled cotton.

Synthetic fibres cover the widest span, from flat vintage-look designs to deep shaggy high-pile. A few are made as indoor and outdoor rugs, so they can go on a balcony or patio too. Viscose has a soft sheen and feels smooth. It is happiest where there is little foot traffic, say in a bedroom or in front of an armchair.

For classic patterns there are hand-knotted oriental rugs in wool. According to the product details they are made in India after Persian designs. So they look close to a Persian rug, even though they come from somewhere else.

Care depends on the fibre, so check the care notes on each product page before you reach for water. Vacuum wool and jute gently and often. Blot spills with an absorbent cloth instead of rubbing, which only spreads them.

Colours and shapes across our rugs

Beige is clearly in the lead, followed by cream. Red and grey come next, then blue and black. Green, white and orange appear in smaller numbers, and there are pink rugs as well, mostly in wool or soft high-pile. Beige copes with almost any change of wall colour. Red and orange, on the other hand, bring warmth into an otherwise calm room.

Rectangular is the norm. Runners form the second largest group, and there are well over a hundred round designs. Square and oval shapes are the exception, with only a handful of each. Many people put a round rug under a round dining table. Others choose one for a child's room because there are no corners to curl up and trip over. Planning a new seating area from scratch? Carry on with our rugs for the living room, sorted by the sizes that suit a sofa.