26 Of The Best Rugs According To An Interiors Expert

By Eleanor Cording-Booth

A room without a rug is like a burger without cheese. Clearly, something is missing. It's the anchor that will pull a design scheme together, define a space and stop your furniture from "floating" aimlessly. A great rug is one of the hardest working pieces in a home and can help you with most decorative dilemmas.

If you live in a rented flat and hate the landlord's carpet; a rug can hide most of it. If you went hard on minimalism and you’re living in a home that doesn't feel cosy; a rug will add texture and absorb sound. If you want to update a room but it's not the right time to redecorate; a different rug can transform it entirely. Not all heroes wear capes.

By Henrik Lischke

In a living room, any material or style can work aesthetically but consider your lifestyle and be honest with yourself about whether you really plan on vacuuming every day. For example, if you have young children or pets (or you’re exceptionally clumsy), a patterned rug or a jute rug will serve you better than a short pile rug in a single colour, which will show spillages, hair or lint. Reserve that cream rug for your bedroom where it will take less of a hit from the toddler. Wool or silk rugs with a longer, shaggy pile are especially lovely in bedrooms as they’re soft under bare feet and they get minimal day-to-day wear. They can work well in living rooms too but avoid them in a dining space. You didn't go all the way to Marrakech for the perfect Berber rug just to drop your toast honey-side-down.

A flatweave jute or hemp rug is a practical choice for dining areas as the colour and texture will hide a multitude of sins, plus they tend to be inexpensive, so if disaster truly strikes, you can replace it without selling a kidney. Another great choice for a dining area is a wool flatweave with a pattern because there's no pile for food to get buried in and pattern hides marks well. Lastly (and these are especially useful in family homes) consider a washable rug made from recycled plastic because they’re a great use of waste materials, they’re dead ringers for wool and they can be washed. Look to brands such as Weaver Green and Jennifer Manners.

One of the cruellest things you can do to a beautiful living room is plonk a rug the size of a bathmat in front of your sofa. A stingy rug will make a small room seem even smaller and the positioning of your sofa, chairs and coffee table will seem awkward in context to the little wool postage stamp in the middle.

An area rug (hence the name) should define a space, so go as big as you can but leave a 30cm gap between the edge of the rug and the wall. Likewise, if you’ve got an open plan home and you’re zoning your living and dining areas with two different rugs – leave enough of a gap so they feel separate.

By Emma Spedding

As a rule of thumb, your living room furniture should sit on top of the rug, but if that's not possible, make sure that at least the front legs do. In a bedroom, the rug is best under the bed (rather than at the end of it) so your feet land on something soft. Aim for at least as wide as your bed plus the bedside tables.

Always sense-check the size before buying. You can map out the rug on the floor using masking tape and if you need more of a visual, lay out sheets of newspaper too.

Vintage Swedish flatweaves, stripes, checkerboard designs, woven rush matting (Rush Matters made the rugs at Heckfield Place) and seagrass squares continue to be popular this year. As do heavily-worn antique rugs like those often used by designer Amber Lewis (see Frances Loom for a good selection). Rugs with scalloped edges – for this writer at least – are feeling a little overdone at the moment. Beni Ourains haven't been as ubiquitous as they once were but Moroccan rugs are timeless and there's always a place for them.

Large rugs are expensive, especially when you’re paying for the maker's time. The best quality rugs aren't made quickly on a machine, they’re hand-woven or hand-knotted. This is especially true if the design is particularly detailed or if there's a very high knot count (which means they were more labour-intensive to make). If you’re able to, it's worth saving up for one showstopper that will elevate the whole room and thrill you every time you see it, rather than buying cheap and buying twice.

If your doors are very low to the floor, you won't be able to open them over a plush studmuffin of a rug. In that case, you’ll need a smaller rug or a slim flatweave that they can slink over without getting jammed.

Rugs can work on top of carpet but the key is to contrast your textures. For example, a cut-pile carpet with a cut-pile rug on top is going to look weird. A flatweave or a woven jute/seagrass would be better. If you have a sisal (or similar) carpet, almost any wool rug will work on top. To stop your rugs from wrinkling or creeping around the carpet (and this applies to hard floors too), you need a good underlay. For the sake of your sanity and the lifespan of the rug, don't scrimp on this. Foxi won't leave a sticky residue and it's the underlay frequently recommended by interior designers and rug specialists.

By Emma Spedding

Scroll on to shop an edit of our favourite designs of the moment.

Made from hand-knotted wool and available in multiple sizes including a really large 8ft x 10ft, this animal print rug in warm terracotta will sing against blue walls or a blue sofa. If you’re looking for a statement piece, you know this makes sense.

If this checkerboard rug looks similar to the style that interior designer Beata Heuman used in the library of a recent project, that's because it is the very same rug. Take a leaf from Beata's book and mix your high-low with a rug that costs less than £200. Not only is it a steal but it's made from recycled yarn, it's double-sided for maximum versatility and you can use it outdoors.

OKA are consistent with their excellent seasonal rug collections. Not only that but they get the size spot-on – they’re just a fraction wider than most high street rugs, so you can fit them under the legs of your furniture. This dark blue style was influenced by the work of Swedish textile designer Barbro Nilsson.

The Waver rug – a collaboration between interior designer and antiques dealer Adam Bray and Vanderhurd – is the perfect amount of undulation in a room. Waves come and go but this rug is a modern classic; it comes in various colourways, custom sizes, and its edge detail means the centre is vacant, ready to fill with a statement footstool. It would also be great under a bed.

Not actually vintage but contemporary, this red wool flatweave from Vinterior would be ideal under a dining table (no pile and a pattern help to hide crumbs or spillages). It's worth taking a look at the seller's other pieces too as they’re a UK-based rug specialist with lots of wonderful vintage designs.

This rug is from Morocco-based Beni Rugs's collaboration with interior styling royalty Colin King. It was hard to choose one as they’re all lookers so have a snoop at the full collection. The good thing about Beni Rugs (besides their eye-watering softness) is their rugs are made to order, so you can customise the size, the colour and whether or not you have fringing.

Not all jute rugs are created equal and this chunky design from The White Company is particularly pleasing. The colour is the ideal warm neutral and the basket weave sets it apart from the usual knotted boucle. It comes in two sizes – the medium would be good under a dining table and the large is ideal for a living room.

Pinch Ray Rug

Pinch's rug collaboration with textile artist Sussy Cazalet includes two stellar striped designs and this is one of them. The Ray design will add warmth in the cold British winter light and there's a subtle ombre effect. If you recognise this, you might’ve seen it in Lucy Williams's much-coveted living room.

If you’re not already familiar, Larusi is a name to know for superb vintage Moroccan and Turkish rugs. Founder Souad has a showroom in London but travels back and forth to Morocco to source the very best pieces. This handsome flatweave is neutral and delicate in tone but still beautiful to look at with its traditional narrow stripes in muted colours.

This might be the perfect affordable natural fibre rug and this writer can attest to that because I owned it for years. The twisted, braided design gives it a different look to knotted jute and if I had £1 for every time someone messaged me about it on Instagram, I could buy you all one.

Contemporary Scandinavian rug brand Nordic Knots can hardly put a foot wrong and their latest collaboration with designer Giancarlo Valle is a triumph. These plush designs are crying out for a spot in your bedroom or sitting area and the cut-out corner detail really sets them apart. The green or yellow Loops designs stand out as being the most versatile.

For serene, neutral living rooms or bedrooms where you need a bit of visual quiet and something soft underfoot, you can't beat Urbanara's cosy and textural wool rug in white or sandstone. Both will be perfect in a room with lots of linen and wood.

Take one glance at this striped wool flatweave and you’d likely assume it's a vintage or sourced from an interior designer with a great eye. Nope, it's good old Ikea. Not quite big enough for a living room (unless very tiny), this is perfect for a dining area and the colours are *chef's kiss*.

Trove's Bargello rug is giving vintage Missoni for the floor. In sherbert shades of green, purple and pink, this tonal flame stitch design will lift the room and your spirits. It's made entirely of jute, the texture of which really brings the design to life.

A bold look for a living room or even under a dining table, this geometric wool and cotton design from H&M Home is sharp in all the right places and the price is great for the size and the budget-conscious. Say goodbye to your landlord's carpet for a while, because you won't notice it under this.

No two ways about it, this is expensive but hand-knotted – not machine-made – wool rugs are, especially for a design as beautifully intricate and detailed as this. You get what you pay for and Soho Home's rugs are always superb quality, so you’ll keep it for a lifetime (especially because the colours are so ravishing).

Checkerboard isn't going away any time soon and 8 Holland Street's collaboration with Vanderhurd has the best selection in town. There are several colour combinations to choose from but if you’re adding pizzazz to a lacklustre flat, this versatile green is a good place to start.

Sometimes you want to fly to Marrakech to barter for a rug in the souks and sweat while trying to squish it into your suitcase and other times, you just want to buy one online and have it delivered, because who's to know, eh? The soft tones in this shaggy wool number from West Elm are far easier to decorate around than harsh black and white.

This wool flatweave is in the sale so it likely won't stick around but it would cut a sharp figure in a modern living space with clean block colours and a few design classics a la Vincent Van Duysen. It's an excellent price for the size if you’re quick enough…

If you have a lot of colour and print in the room already, that's when you’ll need something simple to anchor the space without adding to the pattern party. For a really luxurious and timeless rug, you can't get better than this cashmere-mix design from The Conran Shop. It feels sublime and if you don't love the darker colour, it also comes in ochre or sage.

It's hard to choose just one rug from small British brand A Rum Fellow because their selection of flatweaves (made from the finest New Zealand wool) is stand-out good. You could start with this retro vibe or perhaps a design that looks like a traditional Welsh blanket. Either way, they’re an outfit for your floor that you’ll want to plan the rest of the room around.

When the budget is small but there's a big area to cover, this simple and neutral braided jute rug from John Lewis's price-conscious Anyday range will do the job. Layer it up in a room with patterned textiles and interesting vintage pieces and it will provide the ideal backdrop for your more flamboyant homeware.

Named after Sophie Ashby's daughter, the interior designer has created a zen mood of a rug with this hand-knotted wool and bamboo silk beauty. Soft underfoot and in an unexpected colourway, this rug would be the perfect partner to a curvaceous cream sofa.

If you’re in the market for a Swedish flatweave (aren't we all?) then Etsy is a very good place to start. This particular seller has several different vintage Swedish rugs to choose from. This green design is a bold piece and a good size for underneath a dining table or perhaps for a small reading nook.

Shame Studios makes their rugs to order in any size and with customisable colour combinations, so your wish is their command (within reason). Made from wool or silk with a luxuriously high knot-count, their statement rugs are real attention-grabbers – like art for the floor.

What do you do when you want to feel like you’re on holiday – possibly in some kind of Slim Aarons in Palm Springs alternate reality – all the time? Obviously buy a groovy Missoni Home rug and soak up the mood-brightening colours.