The Best Area Rugs

Sometimes you need an area rug just to cover ugly floors, to keep downstairs neighbors from hearing you walk around, or to make your place feel homey without spending a lot of money. We spent more than 60 hours researching hundreds of area rugs, interviewing experts, and testing rugs with panelists. Then we put our feet on our favorites at home (and let a cat do his best to destroy them) for many more hours. Of the 42 rugs we tested, we highly recommend 16 that come in multiple sizes, colors, and patterns. We have picks for flatwoven, low-pile, and high-pile rugs that will suit a range of functional purposes and decorating styles.