Checker Mini Rug 30-45cm

A mini rug is the most useful floor covering nobody thinks to buy. It is the right size for the strip in front of a basin, the spot beside a bed where your feet land, the base of a plant stand, the seat of a hard dining chair, or the small patch of floor in front of a bookcase that always looks bare. Full-size rugs cannot do any of those jobs, and a doormat looks wrong doing them.

The pile is tufted from 100% polyester microfibre, which is dense underfoot and noticeably soft for something this small. The pattern is a curvy checkerboard drawn with rounded rather than square blocks, which stops it reading as a chessboard and gives it a slightly retro feel. Four versions are offered: square or round, in black and white or brown and cream. Three sizes run from 30cm through 40cm to 45cm, so the same pattern can be used in two or three spots in one home at different scales.

An anti-slip backing is fitted, which means it can be used as a bath mat as well as a floor accent and will not skate across a tiled or wooden floor. Note that the manufacturer specifies dry cleaning only, so use it as a decorative mat rather than something to throw in the machine every week. Shake it out regularly and vacuum on a low setting to lift the pile.

• Material: 100% polyester microfibre, tufted pile
• Sizes: 30 x 30cm, 40 x 40cm and 45 x 45cm
• Shapes: square or round with rounded edges
• Colourways: black and white, brown and cream
• Anti-slip backing, also suitable as a bath mat
• Dry clean only; vacuum on a low setting