In the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain (near Granada), where I live, I simply can’t imagine my house (cortijo) without area rugs. The floors are all natural terracotta tile, and although it’s wonderfully cool on the feet in summer, in spring and autumn, and especially during winter, my toes long for something other than tile.

My Shaggy Shag Rug Studio

I look around the studio from where I write, and I can count 8 area rugs, just here in the studio, and it’s none too many. There’s a thick wool shag rug in front of the fireplace, but I have a few used rugs layered around and on top of each other, a little like an Arabian tent floor, just that I leave the stone area nearest the fire exposed. Since my studio is open I can see the salon (living space) and kitchen and dinning area from where I sit.

By the kitchen basin there’s a super long shaggy white and reddish purple shag rug that somewhat matches a royal purple chair throw (I got in India), and I have it in the kitchen because I love my hubby to sit and talk with me while I make salads, so I have a comfy chair and rug in the kitchen, which I know is odd, but it works for us. There’s also a large round shag rug (more of a low pile chenille rug) under the antique round wood dinning table beside a long wood console table I got in Belgium. (I know this is about rugs, but my console table is a work of art, all hand carved with two drawers and twisting legs, and the best part is that the top lifts up and has a second table top that is made of travertine marble and converts into a bar).

I also have a fabulous antique Russian Samovar (that my mother-in-law gave me) on the console table and a small gilded mirror above it. But, I’m getting distracted…this is about the shag rugs that are near my console table and all over the house.

More of my Shaggy Shag Rugs

Oh…and there’s the white sheepskin shag rug (from somewhere in Northern Europe…I’m not sure where because it was a wedding present) beside my bed. Mmmmmm, my toes love that shaggy sheep in the morning! There’s also a turquoise blue shag rug on my hubby’s side of the bed, which he bought from a local goat herder/carpet maker in the mountains above the house.

At the foot of the bed is a huge white shag (that could be and should be in the living room) that I just bought about two months ago in a mountain village. It’s an exquisitely soft white shag rug that my 3 cats love to curl up on. But it’s such a huge rug that I think when I finish renovating my antique house (which is quite another story) I will use it as the central rug in the living room. Anyway, I also have two multicolored (traditional alpujarreño) shag area rugs at the entrance to the courtyard (yes, in Spain, mountain homes called cotijos still have courtyards).

My Shag Rug Collection

So when I talk about rugs…I might actually know what I’m talking about! I’ve bought (or been given or somehow acquired) area rugs over the last 20 years as I traveled as a journalist, throughout Asia and Africa and Europe and the Americas (mostly South) and I have collected a lot of rugs.

Some are still in storage in Asia, but I will one day have all my area rugs in one place – my wool shag rug from a Mongolian trader, my strange American leather shag rugs that a friend sent me from New York, my Persian rug with the swirly Islamic motif, and my round Chinese rug with the lucky emblem in red and my all time favorite Tibetan rugs, one that is a sheepskin shag rug and the other a hand knotted wool area rug with a delicate Buddhist motif.

You know what a shag rug is. It’s synthetic, sticky, yucky, and comes in green, orange and red. You know this because you’ve been in a van or a cheap motel about 30 some years ago and you’ll never forget. Beeep! You’re wrong! And to prove it I’m going to tell you about the coolest shaggy shag rugs, Zebra area rugs and Spaghetti leather items you didn’t know you always wanted.

A Super Shaggy Shag Rug

Super Shaggy is fluffy soft, toe cozy and ultra modern! Many of the new shag rugs are knotted by hand and made of the best New Zealand wool, Chinese silk, African cotton, and Spanish leather and crafted by artisan from around the world including Nepal and Tibet, of from Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Some have a low pile and some have fibers or yarn (or even bits of tied fabric) that are left very long and sheep-like.

Shag Rug Shapes

The shapes are another thing that set the newer rugs apart from their vintage predecessors. They are not wall to wall or chunks of shag with frayed edges cut from a larger roll of carpet as they often were in the 60’s and 70’s. The new cotton, wool and leather shag rugs are specifically designed as area rugs not as carpet to be glued down, and therefore come in every shape.

There is a round shag rug from teeny tiny to huge living room size, edged professionally and finished so as to be easy to care for. There are square and oval shaped shag pile rugs, and long rectangular runners for hallways and lots of shaggy shapes to fit any area, even the bathroom. Bath rugs can be not only practical but, because they are so soft on bare feet, they are a wonderful place to step onto when you’re fresh out of the tub or shower.

Shaggy Shag Rug Colors

The colors of shag area rugs have also changed a lot. Not only are they more plush, but there are contemporary colors in yellow, beige and neutral tones. There is a black shag rug, also a black and white and zebra rug and a plain white item that is very fashionable. Don’t forget the super popular baby blue shag rug for kids.

There’s a brown and a chocolate shag rug that look good enough to eat, and recently I’ve also seen some metallic colors and some gray and even green, but not the sickly greens from before. There’s also a green brown color blend that’s earthy and for trendy decors, a shocking lime and orange shag. There is also the super hit in pink, and the wild purple shag rug, to say nothing of the new shaggy designs in red.

Shaggy Raggy Shag Rug

It’s just as the name suggests, shag plus rags tied together into one rug. Wool yarn or fibers are knotted together with soft bits of cotton jersey for different textures and patterns in shag. With bits of fabric, and not only yarn, these area rugs can be more absorbent, especially when used as entrance or even as bath rugs.

The Shaggy Raggy Shag Rug Collection from The Rug Market has solid and multi colored shag rugs, hand dyed then woven with strips of cotton jersey. Because they are handmade, there are no two shag rugs that are the quite the same. They have a 2 inch pile height so they’re fluffy to touch and walk on and don’t crunch down easily because the fabric is somewhat bouncy and resilient.

Although these creations may be of New Zealand wool yarn and enhanced with other modern textiles, they are hand woven in India and so retain the eastern quality that rugs are famed for. They come in small 22″ x 34″ sizes, or in a medium sized shag rug of 2’8” x 4’8” or a large 4’7” x 7’7”. There’s also a round shaggy raggy rug that is 4′ in diameter. They can be washed by hand in cold water and hung to dry. They can also be vacuumed from the backside so the fibers don´t get damaged and to avoid unnecessary shedding.

Shaggy Raggy Shag rugs come in cream, yellow, lavender, tangerine, and there is also a white, a blue and the ever popular pink shag rug for kids or all the pink loving ladies.