After much deliberation, budget consideration and research (always) I decided to take the leap and try a seagrass rug in my living room.
We have a big messy dog, a toddler and a cat. The only thing that has had a chance in my house has been wool, and wool rugs can be cost prohibitive.
Here’s my recent rug history in the living room,
Sisal, Capel Rug Outlet
Flor, Corrugated Rib (dark brown)
Flat weave wool, West Elm
Indoor/Outdoor, Diamond rug, Pottery Barn
here it is in action at my old house, Bungalow 404
Here’s a quick rundown on what happened with each of the rugs I tried,
- The sisal was a joke and I bought it before I knew very much about rug materials. It didn’t take long before that rug was ruined.
- The Flor tiles lasted two years and would’ve gone on for longer with a few replacement tiles and a professional cleaning.
- The flat weave wool rug from West Elm with the Moorish pattern is still alive and kicking, although Betsy’s dog Pollack did chew a little bit on the corner. West Elm does not sell this rug any more but Surya makes a rug that is similar that seems to show up everywhere on flash sale sites.
- The Pottery Barn indoor/outdoor rug showed dirt quickly after a few months. PB’s instructions for cleaning the rug were to hose it off. So I did that and let it dry in the sun, soon after it developed a strong wet dog, musty odor. So I thought well I’ll deodorize it with a little soap and vinegar. No dice and hosing it off didn’t really clean the dirty fibers. So I contacted PB, they didn’t offer any consolation so I had to scrap the rug.
I actually purchased the Surya rug pictured above from RueLaLa, but the item became suddenly unavailable. RueLaLa cancelled the order but they were gracious enough to offer an additional credit for future purchases.
What did I end up with?
I settled on an 8×11 seagrass rug from Ballard Designs and it was on sale. I love the neutral color and the addition of texture. It is a little rough to sit on but it has held up beautifully and there have been some minor spills which we cleaned up with warm water and a little soap.
Here it is in my living room,
And in case you’re wondering…here is my post about my vintage club chairs and the garden stool is from One Kings Lane a few months ago.
Is seagrass really more resistant to stains than sisal? I thought all the natural fiber rugs stained easily. I’m on rug #3 in my den thanks to the canine, so I feel your pain. . .I love the look of your seagrass though!
So far Seagrass has been more stain resistant, I can’t speak for jute though. But water can leave a lasting mark on sisal. One thing I’m considering is faux sisal (outdoor rug) for my dining room because you can hose it off!
I’ve been considering the faux sisal as well! Just haven’t found quite the right one yet.
I own the surya rug… Purchased it last fall on overstock for dining area. Kids have made it disgusting but I don’t think that is the rug’s fault :(. Digging the sea grass!
Wonder if a professional cleaning would improve?
Eek! I hope my PB indoor/outdoor holds up ok. Now I’m a bit worried!
Your new seagrass rug looks great. Glad to hear it’s holding up.
Camille
I have an inexpensive Overstock seagrass runner going into my living room. The seagrass has held up surprisingly well over the past year under massive amounts of kid traffic. It really hides dirt. The khaki cotton binding, however, looks pretty bad! My hope is that someone will start selling attractive outdoor rugs in custom sizes at a reasonable price. They clean up very well with a gentle pressure washing and mild soap.
That khaki binding can get dirty, I’m gonna try some Folex on it and report back.
a little soap and water followed by Folex took red jello out of the binding.
I was searching for pictures of the Ballard Designs seagrass rug and came across your blog. I was trying to get a more accurate view of the khaki border– is that the color you chose? If so, would you say that it’s pretty close to the color of your chair in the photo above? I just don’t want the border to be too “golden” as compared to my more cream/natural colored dining chairs. It looks lovely in your space! Thanks!
1st- I’m very happy with the seagrass rug, I’ve had it for 2 years now, it just received a solid dose of partially digested red jello and cleaned up nicely. Cleaning the fibers is tedious but it comes clean. I did select the khaki. Those chairs are more of a gray linen and the border is more khaki. I’d say Ballard’s image is pretty accurate, the binding is neutral and really just blends in I wouldn’t stress over making the perfect match.
Great, thank you!