Sounds like due credit when you learn that the rug is the product of having worked for at least an hour a day over the past year to produce it. This labour of love isn’t stand-alone however, as rug hooker Nancy Crisman explains she has completed over 50 hooked rugs in the last 25 years.

Having learnt to hook rugs as a child and growing up in an old three-storey stone house where floors were cold, Crisman’s rug making was as functional an activity as it was an enjoyable hobby she has kept up into adulthood.

The rugs she tends to make are largely reproductions of many that her great-aunt made. She does this to retain the pieces as family heirlooms as the materials and backing that were used in the originals aren’t as durable as those used today and have deteriorated over the years.

A lovely way to ensure family traditions are passed on, but if you haven’t got the skills of time to create your own but still want to warm up those floors, this large Chinese rug made of modern fibres for increased hygiene would do just the job for toasting your tootsies on.

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Having been hidden in private collections for decades due to Bacon’s belief that his earlier works were vastly inferior to his later pieces, it is clear that the appearance of the three rugs dating back to the 1929 when Bacon decorated homes throughout London demonstrate the influences and direction for the use of motifs thoughout his later work.

Despite the artist having attempted to destory his early artworks, these pieces will form a tremendously exciting display for many visitors to the Tate Modern exhibition that opens on October 26.

This is because, according to curator of Modern Art and Head of Displays Matthew Gale, very few people are aware that Bacon started out in interior design as the artist shied away from the discipline in later life.

Gale says: “These works show him linked to a European modernist tradition, with a debt to Picasso and building on cubism as he made the shift from decorator to painter.”

Stunning pieces, go to visit the Tate and be inspired; then come back and decorate for all you’re worth.

This hardy, good-looking rug will start you off as a great centrepiece.

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Well, we’re hoping it’s not in reference to some kind of crazy S&M practice, but it’s certainly a different flooring concept.

Unfortunately not even the rug’s creators regard it as being the kind of floor covering you’d willingly lie on in front of a roaring fire. They don’t even think your cat would be happy snoozing on one. There’s a ringing endorsement!

This crazily contemporary rug is constructed from a mixture of black and tan opened zips, and should never grace the floor of anyone who doesn’t own a pair of slippers.

Liable to lacerate your feet to shreds, it’s probably not the impression you’ll want visitors to leave with. It would, however, probably make a spectacular wall hanging being as it’s nowhere near as much of an eyesore as a footsore!

The biggest sting we feel in buying this 150 x 210 centimetre rug would be to your bank account at nearly £800 a pop. Although, they’ll considerately delivery your shiny and spanky new rug for free. We don’t think they’ll cover taxi fares to Accident and Emergency for you though – you’ll have to make your own way there!

For a rug that you could happily laze in front of the fire upon, try one of these considerably cheaper flooring options. A big and fluffy shaggy pile rug that’s 170 x 230 cm, comes in an array of colours and only costs 130 quid. Deal!

Using repurposed blankets and children’s comforters to create the rug body and head covering, and the face is constructed with a synthetic bear head.

So lovely is it that we’re almost convinced to give up on our sofa and lie on this luxuriously homely home furnishing instead.

Certainly a statement piece in any room, the colour scheme and kitsch nostalgic dimension to Lefebvre’s bearless bear rug really sets the piece off as a crucial addition to your floor.

No need for feeling naughty, the green credentials from rehousing recycled blankets and animal rights kudos from avoiding acquiring a real bear skin come in spades with such a fabulous floor cover like this.

Check out some of her other eco work here. It’s seriously impressive stuff.

If you’re not a fan of silly or have a more traditional approach to furnishings, you’ll be better off with the considerably more sensible and seriously snuggly Entropy shaggy rug from nicerug.co.uk.

Whether you’re the next Lewis Hamilton, or a boy (read, man!) who’s never quite got round to growing up, this rug will certainly put smiles on faces.

And it’s not just one for the boys, a fair few little girls we know could happily spend time using it as a base for a princess’s kingdom or village plan.

Despite the fun element, what we really want to do, what we’re just itching to do is wiggle our toes in to the 100% wool pile rug.

Although this rug’s in grey, you can have it custom made in a ridiculous choice of Pantone shades, neatly arriving 6 weeks after you’ve approved the colour sample.

Very exclusive touch, unfortunately it’s got a very exclusive price tag to match at 1350 Euros.

If that’s still in budget, then pop off to the Little Fashion Gallery to get one (and don’t forget to invite us round for tea to wiggle our toes!).

Meanwhile we’ll be wiggling away with one of these lush shaggy rugs for about a tenth of the price!

The solution we believe lies in buying natural fibre rugs, and we’re not alone in preaching their virtues!

Happily used in any room in the home, paired with either classic of contemporary surroundings, and the family friendly hard wearing nature of the rug makes it a winner on all accounts.

Natural fibre floors, also known as vegetable flooring in the US, come in a variety of textures made from exotic substances and weaved into the flooring we bring in to our homes.

A firm favourite, sisal rugs are made from the woven ropes of the pulped and dried cactus plants that produce tequila. Far more interesting than having picked up a mat at Ikea! And probably cheaper too.

Incredibly durable, it is complemented by a bright appearance that lightens the room and creates an airiness throughout the home.

We’ve zoned in on a goodie if you’ve decided that sisal rugs are the way forward for your home, and it’s a yummy chocolate mocha shade too to warm up your room whilst keeping it neutral.

Nobody knows just how old the art of crochet is, but historians have found indications that hundreds of years ago sticks were used to loop thread into stitches. The word crochet comes from the French word meaning hook. Crafter Sharon Lantham explains how to crochet strips of fabric into useful rugs using a single crochet stitch.

To read the lesson in full just head over to the DIY network, and go crazy creating your own eco-friendly crochet rug. For a more professional and stylish finish you may also want to look into the shaggy rugs that Nice Rug have to offer.

Crochet Rug

Meanwhile team leader of Ignite Philip Taylor was determinded to win this week, and did so although not in the best of circumstances. His team made a loss by underselling many of the antique items supplied by Sir Alan. Including a luxurious indian rug valued at £200. Lorraine had repeatedley suggested that the area rug may hold more value than Philip was willing to beleieve but no one was listening. The team eventually sold the large rug at the last hour for £50 to a member of the public.

Nine candidates remain and the competition has reached the half-way point. Who will make it through to week twelve and win the dream job?

Philip and the team get desperate trying to offload the rug

Richard, 34, loves rugs so much that he has had a rug transplanted to cover his bald head.

“I work with rugs all day and I love them,” said the production manager at Nicerug.co.uk.  “There’s something really soft and tactile about them.

“As a bald man there’s not a lot I can do with my head.  While having some beers with mates I thought of a rug toupee.  That idea progressed into a full blown transplant.

“It might sound mad, but I think it’s great – you watch Kevin Peterson will be following my lead soon.”

An employee of NiceRug.Co.Uk since leaving school, Richard has steadily worked his way up from shop floor to production line manager.

The three-time employee of the year gave his work mates a bit of a hair raising experience when he arrived at the factory with his new look.

“I knew he loved working here, but I didn’t realise how much,” laughs colleague David Matthews.  “It doesn’t look bad I suppose, but I don’t think my missus would let me get away with it.”

Richard’s hair has been such a success he’s now considering making seasonal changes with the launch of any new rugs.

“The factory floor gets very warm in the summer so I might go for the Coco Twist rug,” he laughs, “Not only is it a best seller on the website, but the Sisal fibres provide excellent ventilation too.”

Bacon’s early days as a rug maker are not widely know, and his productivity that insignificant that an example held at the Victoria and Albert Museum was thought to be one of only three in existence. His rug collection has now grown, however, after an Iranian carpet dealer found two while cleaning out one of her storerooms. Textile specialist Ian Bennett at Netherhampton Salerooms, near Salisbury, confirmed their authenticity.

Mr Bennett said that the Iranian dealer was unaware of the wool rugs’ significance, having bought them ten years ago from an elderly lady who had been using them in her hallway. “She thought they were impractical. She kept on tripping over them. She didn’t know what they were.”

Mr Bennett said that it was almost impossible to put a value on the rugs because none had been on the market in recent years. “I hope that each one will fetch a five-figure sum, but I haven’t the foggiest idea. There is no precedent. You never know. Roman Abramovich might want one.”