Nursery and Children's Room Rugs: Safety and Sanity

In a child's room the floor is where everything happens, so the rug is arguably the most used object in it.

What matters

• Washability, obviously and above everything.
• No latex or rubber backing — those degrade into a fine dust and are a common allergen.
• Low pile, so small wheels roll and small pieces do not disappear into it.
• Non-slip, because children run indoors regardless of instruction.
• Nothing with long fringe or loose loops.

Size

Bigger than you think. The value of the rug is floor area to play on, so a 155 × 230 cm or 200 × 300 cm covering most of the open floor beats a small rug beside the cot.

Colour and pattern

Ignore the assumption that a child's room needs primary colours or character prints. Children grow out of those in about three years, and a decent tonal or geometric rug will still be right at ten. Mid-tones hide the most.

Washing

However often you need to. This is the room the whole category exists for.