For the past six months I've used padded mats in my kitchen. They are comfortable when I'm standing for a long time, but they're difficult to clean and they've started to look so crappy that I just threw them in the garage one day because I hated looking at them. I couldn't find anything that I really loved, so I decided to make some old-fashioned farmhouse rugs. 

I wanted them to be durable and washable, so that when my boy spills a cup of milk on one of them, I can just throw it in the washing machine.  I used a heavy cotton twill. I made the braid out of 2" strips. Then I connected the braid with a wide zigzag on my sewing machine. After I had the rugs made, I dyed them dark green. They are easy and fun to make. Sometime I want to try an extra large area rug with real wool. I think I would love that.