That’s right – rugs are back! For some time it was fashionable to fully expose your wooden floors (and wooden floors and other original features are still as stylish as ever) but such bland and frankly impractical styles of décor are no longer preferred by most. People are now instead choosing to make the most of their floors by augmenting them with contemporary rugs.

A contemporary rug is not only stylish but also practical too. They’re easy to clean, can be easily removed when the time comes to clean or vacuum your floors, and they can be quickly shaken or beaten outside, negating the need for vacuuming. If you are the kind of person who likes to shake things up a little and you change the layout or décor of your home regularly, rugs are the perfect way to alternate styles and color schemes without the expense of fitted carpets.

If you are a bit of a style guru then you probably already know about the concept of zoning. If not, then this is something that would be useful to learn, particularly I you have an open plan home or studio apartment. Zoning is a technique used by professional interior designers to create the illusion of different spaces within one room. One effective way to do this is by using a contemporary area rug to indicate different areas. Using several rugs in one room can have the psychological effect of dividing the larger space into separate zones with individual uses. Dining areas and sitting areas for example, or a separate area for reading or relaxing.

Of course the specific use of a room or area will help to determine what type of rug you will use. Contemporary area rugs are available in a variety of styles, including some modern interpretations of the classics. For the bedroom there can be nothing better than nice contemporary wool rugs to give you that feeling of warmth and luxuriance when you step out of bed in a morning. This type of rug is also ideal for a cozy seating area, the thick pile providing a feeling of warmth and comfort during a relaxing evening by the fire (or TV). A rug with a shorter pile would be more appropriate for a dining area or a ‘high traffic’ area such as a hallway.

There really is nothing quite like stepping barefoot from the cold of a wooden or tiled floor onto the warmth of a rug. Because of this, rugs have never been out of style for very long. Wherever there is a wooden floor, large room or open plan space, the décor will never be truly complete without a stylish contemporary rug.

Round rugs were once incredibly rare. Oval shaped rugs have been popular in the past but these went out of style a long time ago and are now seen as being out dated and undesirable. Contemporary design favors the aesthetic of simple geometric shapes such as the circle. Because of this, circular rugs have become increasingly popular.

Circular rugs are well suited to many contemporary spaces, in the center of a seating area for example, perhaps beneath a circular coffee table or as a centerpiece for the room. The few people who have round dining tables may also consider a round rug for their dining areas.

Smaller round rugs can also add interest to under dressed areas of a room, such as an empty corner. For example, a standard lamp or tall case can fill an awkward space but these items can sometimes look as though they are missing something. Placing a small rug underneath will solve this problem and can help to break up the angular nature of a room.

Rugs are also useful for creating different areas within one larger room. Professional designers refer to this technique as ‘zoning’ and typically use square or rectangular rugs to create the illusion of separate spaces. Round area rugs do the job just as well, however, and will create a more casual look. This works equally well in large spaces, where bold design ideas will have a greater impact, and small spaces where square rugs would cause zones to overlap.

The issue of rugs in contemporary design is often considered to be a matter of taste, with various styles of rug coming in and out of style throughout the years. But the fact is that rugs offer many advantages. Aside from ‘zoning’ rugs allow you to keep the stylish effect of exposed floorboards whilst giving you a warm spot to rest your feet. They are also usually much less expensive that fitted carpets (depending on which style of rug you choose).

Rugs are also easy to clean. Most smaller rugs can be machine washed and larger rugs are usually no harder to clean than a standard carpet. They can also be shaken or beaten outside as a quick alternative, removing the need for vacuum cleaning and keeping your home free of dust and dirt.

If you have never considered buying a round area rug before now, perhaps this article will give you something to think about. Round rugs are available in many stores and in as many sizes and styles as you could wish for, be it a round bath rug, or a round shag rug. Another popular option is round braided rugs; my grandma had a few in her house. Large or small. Contemporary, classic or retro – you are sure to find a circular rug to suit your personal taste and the décor of your home.

I did have an old rug by my bedside, long ago, but I found it to be more of a nuisance than a comfort. It was more of a throw than a rug really. It refused to grip to my polished floors and would not stay in one place. This was dangerous if nothing else. It also had a tendency to move about during the night like my slippers, although I quickly realized that this was because my cat enjoyed sliding about the room on it, crawling underneath it and being generally childish. I grew tired of retrieving and straightening it so it was relegated to the only place it deserved to be – underneath the cat’s basket.

After some persuasion by my boyfriend, however, I did buy myself a new shag area rug. This time it was a nice, thick and heavily shag pile rug. Being much more modern it had a special underside that prevented it from slipping. It’s fury appearance did, at first, make my cat more prone to attacking it but he quickly grew to love it.

There really is nothing quite like the feel of a warm shag rug first thing in the morning.

I never had any of these problems when I slept at my boyfriend’s place (he’s more of a dog person for one). His apartment was always warm and inviting. And not just the bedroom. When the time came to redecorate my house I considered how it was that he had made his small apartment feel so comfortable and how I could achieve the same effect. Not surprisingly, I realized that it was his use of shag rugs that really made the difference. He had shag area rugs in almost every room. That I went out and bought several new round shag rugs of my own seems almost pointless now, as not four months later we decided to move in together. Now we have more shag pile rugs than we could possibly need.

The great thing about rugs is that they provide the warmth of a carpet without entirely concealing your wooden floors. They are also easy to clean. A round shag rug can be machine washed or washed by hand. For larger rugs, special rug cleaning services are available. Of course, rugs can also be taken outside and beaten or shaken, keeping them free of dust and dirt. The other advantage over fitted carpets is that rugs do not require any expensive fitting costs, meaning that you can change them whenever you like.