The humble footstool was the comfort of many individuals while sat in their large padded chair by the fireplace for many years. As a functional item it really did serve us very well and we could relax with our feet up at the end of a hard working day. Now, the fashionable footstool has emerged and turned those lazy evenings of comfort into relaxation in style. Now we can relax at home in a variety of different ways while proudly displaying our footstools as a complimentary room accessory to our guests.

You can still utilise the benefits of having a small and low down footstool that can be easily tucked away to make more room when you're feeling more energetic but the range of footstools has increased dramatically to a whole new level.

Firstly, you can forget all about the conventional rectangular shape of a footstool. Although these are still available there is a wealth of alternative shapes to suit everyone's needs and requirements. You can rest your feet on a rounded square “Pouffe” that doubles up as an emergency seat for kids or cats thanks to its unrivalled comfort and soft all over padding. In fact these pouffes (or cubes) are actually popular in many shoe stores who supply them as a comfy seating alternative. These pouffe footstools can also be provided in a variety of colours and materials. The classic choice is for leather or imitation leather cubes in natural colours such as dark brown, yellow ochre, tan, beige and sometimes red. You can also get luxury cubes now with elaborate floral patterns in rich reds, purples and pinks, or modern spotted white pouffes. In addition to this you can also get these earthy colours in suede fabrics if you prefer and you can even have storage cube instead so you when you aren't resting your feet or your behind on the cube you can store games, DVD's or towels in it. This provides not only style and comfort but also additional storage!

If square isn't your thing you can go for a round cylindrical footstool called a drum stool. This is naturally a higher option that the conventional cube or rectangular varieties and also doubles up as spare seating. Perfect for a house that loves curves and not angles.

If you are the kind of person who likes the best of both worlds, a stylish and handy coffee table and a place to rest your feet, you can now get fabric bench stools. These footstools are designed to allow you to rest your cup and saucer and the morning newspaper on with their large flat surface, whilst still being a comfortable foot resting location. If you are tired of being yelled at for having your feet on the table try out this table - footstool combination. You can also get a medium sized storage ottoman so you can rest your feet up with your friend on the sofa and store whatever you like without any extra furniture cupboards.