The kitchen is a high-traffic area, host to equal parts entertaining and eating while also prone to spills and messes. A kitchen rug provides a comfortable surface to stand on while cooking while simultaneously providing some design impact. Thankfully, a kitchen poses no tricky furniture arrangements to incorporate when choosing a rug. For many kitchen setups, a petite rug works beautifully under the sink, while a vibrant runner is an ideal fit for an elongated or narrow kitchen or counter-side bar seating. Regardless, a rug is a quick way to warm your hearth while you cook. Wool is incredibly resilient, but you don’t want it to be perpetually waterlogged, so be mindful of where you place your kitchen rugs. For a high-traffic kitchen, try a small, half-round, or rectangular rug in front of the sink. If your kitchen has a center island or a narrow galley, try a runner that extends nearly its full length. Recommended sizes range from 2'x3', to 3’ x 5’, to 2’6” x 8’ — or shorter or longer, depending on the length of your kitchen. Choosing a kitchen rug is fun — you can get a bit playful here, since there isn't much furniture to consider. Instead, think about the color scheme: what's the palette of the tile, the walls, the cabinetry, the countertops, the barstools, if any? Choose something that picks up or plays off of these elements. We love cotton rag rugs in kitchens, like chaputs or boucherouites, because they're light and easy to hang up to dry, and reflect the kitchen-theme of many hands at work, with their many fibers. When placing a kitchen rug, the most important thing is using a rug pad. The last thing you want is someone slipping and falling on a rug that's not anchored to the floor, especially if the floor is tiled!
