‘I sometimes wonder whether it would be possible for me to decorate a sitting room without an ottoman slap bang in the middle,’ Ben Pentreath once confessed in the pages of House & Garden. There is no debate about it: an ottoman is a fantastic and very useful decorators’ tool. Part decorative, part functional, it sits in the middle of a seating area, either providing a perch for a cup of coffee, a rest for weary feet or a showcase for a much-loved vintage fabric. Often, an ottoman will be on castors (wheels) and thus can be easily nudged out of sight when more space is needed, or wheeled in to provide extra seating.

So enamoured by ottomans are many designers that some have started to create their own, adding embellishments to make them yet more suitable for life today. Alice Crawley, for instance, has created one with a removable tray in the middle. Underneath it is hidden storage: perfect for books, glasses or unsightly cables. There have even been instances of people popping a toddler in there when they need to stop them marching off. Over at Loaf you can buy an upholstered coffee table with a discrete shelf underneath.

Decoratively, an ottoman serves several purposes. An antique one will add a sense of depth and story telling to a space, while a fresh new fabric in bright colours will create a focal point for the room, and offers an opportunity to be bold. The challenge is deciding what to do with your ottoman – whether it will be a statement or a subtlety. To help you decide we’ve had a flick through the House & Garden archive to find the best, most inspiring ottomans.