The 10 Best Area Rugs of 2025

A stylish neutral: Burrow Cape House Rug

Best for: living room, bedroom, office, porch

Why it’s great

It whispers hygge. If you’re looking for an area rug with a contemporary yet neutral design that’s cozy and welcoming, the Burrow Cape House rug is a solid pick on looks alone. Its heathered chevron pattern is subtle like a well-loved sweater. And unlike some rugs made with polyester, the overall texture was neither too slick or silky, a credit to its chunky weave.

We were surprised by its sturdiness. The tightly woven rug impressed us with its ability to withstand the stress of stretching cat claws, despite its prominent loops, and a couple of “I don’t remember the cat eating that!” cleanup incidents that Gregory experienced, after which the rug looked as good as new again.

Cleaning is super easy. This rug lived up to its advertisement as a low-maintenance and easy-to-clean floor covering. One of our editors has this rug in her bedroom, where her dog has thrown up a couple of times, and because the polyester is less absorbent than materials like cotton or wool, messes are easier to clean up.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It comes in only two sizes. Unlike many of our other picks, this rug is available in only two sizes: 5 by 8 feet and 8 by 10 feet. There are also only two main colors: beige or gray (but you can choose light or dark for either).

It’s not immune to stretching out. One of our editors has been using this rug in her bedroom, where two of the bed legs sit on top of it. She’s noticed that after about three years, some spots are looking a little stretched out and misshapen. She’s been using it without a rug pad, which can make any rug more susceptible to sliding and wear and tear.

Key specs:

• Color options: dark gray, light gray, dark beige, light beige
• Sizes and shapes: 5 by 8 feet, 8 by 10 feet; rectangle only
• Materials: 100% recycled polyester
• Swatches: no

A very-easy-to-machine-wash option: Ruggable Flatweave Rugs

Best for: mudroom, kitchen, kids room, playroom, any space where pets spend time

Why it’s great

Each design offers a choice of thickness and cushioning level. Ruggable rugs consist of two pieces that stick together: the topper (the actual rug) and the rug pad (which goes underneath and is not optional). The topper comes in two options, the Flatwoven and the low-pile Tufted. The Flatwoven, Ruggable’s original topper, is very thin. The newer, thicker Tufted looks and feels more like a traditional rug. The pad is available in two styles, too: a slimmer Standard pad and more expensive and thicker Cushioned pad. This means you’re not limited to just one thickness and cushioning option based on your choice of rug pattern. However, we recommend the Cushioned pad, regardless, for a nicer feel underfoot. You can order both rug and pad samples if you’re having trouble deciding.

Ruggable is your best bet for machine washing. This is especially true with the Flatwoven toppers, which we have the most experience testing. While even the medium-size Tufted options might have a hard time squeezing into a residential washer, the Flatwovens fit easily. It’s also easier to wash compared with washable cotton rugs like our rag rug pick (which can get very heavy when wet); and it cleans better than the similarly constructed Tumble rugs, which held on to tough stains. Of course, avoid putting heavy or hard-to-move furniture on top of your Ruggable—it defeats the purpose of machine-washability if you have to rearrange the furniture every time you want to wash the rug.

It’s almost impossible not to find something that works for your space. The Ruggable flatweave comes in hundreds of sizes and colors. We love them for kids rooms—we recently tested The Home Edit’s Joanna Ivory Rainbow Rug in a tween girl’s room, and that tween adored it—but we’ve also tried them in kitchens, hallways, and living rooms (our 2019 Quadra Teal tester is still holding up well, despite being heavily used in the kitchen).

Flaws but not dealbreakers

You might want to avoid vacuum settings with a strong suction, at least for the flatwoven designs. When I vacuumed in my daughter’s room with our Shark Navigator, using the motorized brush roller, her Flatwoven rug would get pulled up from the floor. On the lower-suction hardwood floor setting, the rug stayed put. (Ruggable also has detailed vacuuming advice on its site).

Ruggable rug pads tend to slide on hard floors in high-traffic areas. In one tester’s tiled-floor kitchen, the 3-by-5-foot Ruggable Quadra tends to slide around slightly. It doesn’t trip our tester, but it can be annoying to constantly have to readjust it, which is why we suggest not using these rugs in rooms with a lot of foot traffic.

Larger sizes can be harder to wash in a regular washing machine. The biggest size we’ve tested in a home setup (in our top pick washer and dryer) is a 6-by-9-foot flatweave rug, and it washes easily without overloading the machine. Be sure to check Ruggable’s washing machine guide to see what rug sizes will fit in your specific washing machine.

There are complaints about the shedding of plastic pieces. One staffer with an older Ruggable pad, as well as other owners on a Reddit thread, noticed that their rug shed what looked like black plastic bits. Ruggable told us that while very rare, it could be for a variety of reasons (such as sunlight, moisture, heat), but to contact customer service if it happens. We’ll keep testing the newest pad versions to see if the company has fixed this issue.

Older versions can be trip hazards. Staffers with earlier generations of Ruggables noted that the edges and sides curl up over time, especially in high-traffic areas (which we discuss in our spotlight on Ruggables). Ruggable told us it redesigned the rugs in 2021 to address this issue. We tested two in 2024 (one with each rug pad style), and both, in fact, continued to lay flat throughout our four-month testing. We will continue testing them over time to see if they’re truly better.

Key specs:

• Color options: wide variety of colors and patterns
• Sizes and shapes: varies, from 2 by 3 feet to 10 by 14 feet; rectangle, round, and runner shapes
• Materials: polyester with a polyurethane water-resistant barrier, thermoplastic rubber pad
• Swatches: yes

You may also like: Tumble Washable Rugs

Affordable but nice: Target Threshold Eliot Geo Area Rugs

Best for: living room, bedroom, kids room, dining room, hallway

Why it’s great

It’s so soft for the price. As with Target’s Threshold Plush Persian Area Rug (which is already sold out as of this writing), the pile on the Threshold Eliot Geo Area Rug isn’t as plush as that of the more-expensive wool pile rugs we’ve considered, but it felt comfy underfoot, and our testers were happy to sit and hang out on them. The Persian rug had a deeper pile, but even the lower-pile Eliot Geo felt cozy, not to mention also sturdy, and it’s fantastic for hiding household stains. We suspect you’d have the same positive experience with other Threshold rugs because all the designs we researched were made with the same 100% polyester material.

There’s little risk of getting stuck with a rug you don’t like. Many retailers in this guide are online only. With Target, you can check out styles in person before you buy. And if you purchase a rug you decide you don’t love, you can take advantage of Target’s one-year return policy for its own brands, including Threshold—whether you bought it in-store or online.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It may be awkward to unroll. That’s because these rugs are packaged rolled with the top of the rug facing unconventionally out, as opposed to in. This allows customers to see and feel the texture of the rug right away. But to unroll it, you have to flip it right side up once it’s unfurled.

Designs can sell out quickly. Because Threshold’s assortment of rugs changes frequently, it’s hard to recommend one specific style. But, as mentioned above, all the styles we researched online were 100% polyester, and therefore should perform similarly.

You may still want a rug pad, even for those with a latex backing. We assessed one rug with the backing and one without. Neither slid in our testing, but the backs of both felt rough enough that it’s worth considering a pad to help protect delicate floors.

Key specs:

• Color options: varies, but each design typically comes in a single color
• Sizes and shapes: varies, from 2 by 3 feet to 7 by 10 feet, rectangle and runner shapes
• Materials: 100% polyester
• Swatches: no

Inexpensive Scandinavian: IKEA Tversted

Best for: living room, bedroom

Why it’s great

It’s a mood on a budget. The IKEA Tversted Rug immediately made us think of a tucked-away ski retreat with mountain views for miles. The pile isn’t especially high, but it’s made of a mix of yarns in different lengths. IKEA’s product page says it’s “Berber-inspired,” but its pile isn’t looped as with a Berber—it simply stands upright from the rug’s base. Something about the shaggy mix of materials and textures makes it seem more plush than it is. It is absolutely inviting for bare feet and quiet nights in, and our tester’s dog loved it, too.

The light, creamy color is easy to care for. We were worried that the creamy color would be a nightmare with every speck of dirt, or that the loose, casual pile would shed, but it wasn’t that bad. The rug was easy to vacuum, and we didn’t experience any shedding in our shake tests. When our tester’s dog walked across it with muddy feet, we definitely noticed the dirt, but it was easy to clean up as long as we got to it before it set in.

There’s a generous return policy. You’ve got 180 days for open, used products—giving you some time to see if it works for you.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s not a great choice for high-traffic or high-mess areas. What’s more, it might be higher maintenance over time because of the light color, but it’s so affordable that we still think it’s worth it.

It does need a rug pad. IKEA sells one compatible with European sizing, which we also tested, but we prefer our rug pad pick—the IKEA pad is thin, flimsy, and awkward to align.

Key specs:

• Color options: cream
• Sizes: 4.3 by 6.4 feet; 5.6 by 7.8 feet, 7.8 by 9.8 feet; rectangle shape
• Materials: 50% polypropylene, 50% polyester
• Swatches: no