DH works for a restaurant supply company. They sell anti-fatigue mats, and he brought one home for me about 8 years ago. I parked it in front of the kitchen sink and fell in love. I even put the small rug I had there already on top of it. We're a shoes off house so standing in bare feet hurts after a while. When prepping for long periods of time for a party, I'd move the mat over to the prep area. That floor was vinyl.

I'm planning to put a longer one in my new kitchen with my oak floors. Wouldn't be without one anymore. Because they aren't very attractive, I'll probably put a rug on top again. You learn to adjust to the height difference, btw, so it's not horribly dangerous to have that much height.

You're right that you don't see rugs in kitchens much here, but there have been enough threads on rugs and mats to lead me to believe that they are out there. Histokitch has a gorgeous rug in her kitchen. I'll see if I can find it.

I've had one of those mats purchased from a restaurant supply company 18 years ago. I love it. It's cheap, at least in its restaurant incarnation ... or was. Just cut it to fit underneath a rug and only your back will ever know it's there.

Here's Histokitch's oh-so-lovely kitchen. So glad I got to drool over her space again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hitokitch's rug

I have ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. Thought I'd try out one of these mats. After one night of rolling holiday cookies, I purchased another. They were not the expensive ones in the gourmet kitchen catalogs; rather, the inexpensive ($25) ones from a local home improvement store. They saved my hips, feet & back from physical torture that comes with holiday baking hours on end. They are made of some sort of rubber; do not move unless I pick them up with my hands or the vacuum. They also keep the bottoms of my feet from freezing on the cold tile. One of the least expensive purchases for the room; with the biggest payoff of all - more cookies to eat & share!!!

I"ve always been intrigued by the anti-fatigue mats and
I am thinking of buying one for my mom to help with her joints.
Good to hear what people like (and don't like) about them.

Personally, I'm a sucker for simple cotton striped rugs in the kitchen.
(I'm way too messy a cook to put a oriental rug in the kitchen.)
For other women maybe it is shoes or purses --
for me, I could go crazy buying striped rugs
and drool over the Dash and Albert website.

Here is our cat giving our rug the "Tippy Test" for cat paw comfort.

{{!gwi}}

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In my new kitchen I put oak hardwood flooring for durability, removing the Marmoleum that I had. While I loved the softness of the Marmoleum, it didn't work from a cleanliness view (pet hair!).

I purchased two wool rugs off Overstock for in front of the doors in my kitchen, but fell in love with them so much, that I put one in front of the sink. They are at least an inch in thickness and very soft to stand on. I also got a GelPro knockoff off of ebay (the Canadian version) and I love it. It looks identical and feels identical to the GelPro one, in basket weave style and black in color so it matches my new rug.

My kitchen is very small, so not a lot of room for rugs, but I do want to be comfortable when standing in front of the sink or stove for long periods. Here's a photo of my combination:

I think the two together may have been about $70.

"I see a lot of people comment about how hardwoods are soft underfoot for their feet and legs."

This is 100% in people's imaginations. Hardwood planks nailed down to the subfloor do not "give" noticeably more than stone, tile, or concrete under your feet. Ditto linoleum. Even vinyl hardly gives at all. Wood, linoleum, and vinyl certainly feel warmer to bare feet (but underfloor heating takes care of that for stone, etc.).

If you want a really cushy surface, the only way to get it is with a mat or rug. Or just wear shoes with a cushy sole.

Like Francoise, I went with cotton stripe rugs from dash and Albert. I got the thick rug pads under them and they are soft and don't slip. I have a runner in the kitchen aisle between the back wall and island and the same stripe in a large rug under the kitchen table. I have two messy kids and spot shot gets everything out! I love them!

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Thanks everyone, for posting the links and pics of the beautiful kitchens with rug/anti-fatigue mats.

It seems that the knock offs are just as good and the Gelpro mats, so the next time I see them in Costco or Sam's I can get one.

Also, I'll check out Dash and Albert for rugs.

You can also get some carpet pad at HD or Lowes in smaller rolls, cut a piece to fit under the rug. It might not be as firm as the anti-fatiuge mats but is pretty nice at our sink, DW liked it. I bought some for area rugs in the TV room, strips along the bed, and the scraps were used in the kitchen. I think there is a thin anti-slip pad on the bottom, the carpet pad on top of it, then the rug.

I asked for anti-fatigue mats everywhere here last year and people had no clue what it was, tried Lowes/HD/Walmart. They had some in various depts at Walmart and I showed it to them, but they said they didn't sell it and had no idea where it came from.

I got a Gel Pro mat a few years ago. I actually started with a 3 feet one and liked it so much, I bet another 6 feet one and moved the 3 feet one to a new location. I bought them at Bed Bath and Beyond with their 20% off coupon.

Love our GelPro-- it was on sale at their website-- found it when someone mentioned the sale on this site.