Taupe sits between grey and brown, so it gets along with sage kitchen cabinets, a linen sofa or a walnut sideboard. Nothing clashes with it.

• Pure cotton on a cotton back
• Machine washable at 30 °C
• Flat weave with fringes
• Rectangular, several sizes
• Suits underfloor heating

Being washable, this cotton rug makes sense in front of the hob, where splashes happen, and it joins our kitchen rugs as one you simply put in the machine. Beside the bed or in a kids' room it feels soft and light underfoot. Each piece is woven by hand in India from strips of cotton cut from textile offcuts, like many of jaloom's cotton rugs, so the taupe varies a little from one to the next. Our size guide helps you pick between the several sizes for a hallway, a bedroom or a lounge.

Shake it out over the back step and run the vacuum over it lightly. Laid on a non-slip underlay, as our cleaning advice suggests, the light weave stays flat on kitchen tiles. Taupe cotton goes into the machine at 30 °C whenever it needs a proper wash.