Budget Friendly Natural Woven Rugs
“What rug should I put here?”
Natural plant fiber rugs look great in so many places and spaces and are often the answer to this age old, tough question. The best part about this style of rug is that they do not have to break the bank!
Design by Studio Laloc, Photo by Lauren L Caron © 2024
Our Boston Terrace Project with a braided jute rug in the dining room. We decided on this rug in the dining room to be a moment for the eyes to rest. It helps to balance out the patterned wallpaper and chairs.
There are a few key differences between the various types of material that make up natural woven rugs that are very important to consider when making a selection. I often bring these up during my Expert consultations, because it’s easy to clump sisal, jute, and seagrass altogether when they are in fact quite different. So, how are they different?
As I mentioned before, there are three common fibers that are used to make up natural fiber woven rugs: sisal, jute and seagrass. Each serves its own purpose and is right for different spaces and needs.
Sisal
This room designed by Ben Pentreath has a sisal rug as the base layer, it looks to be installed as a wall to wall carpet with patterned rugs layered on top.
Sisal is the most commonly known material and is often what comes to mind when people say they want a natural fiber rug - “I’ll just throw a sisal rug in there.” I hear that time and time again. However, sisal may not always be the right choice.
Sisal is made from long leaves of the agave sisalana plant. The pros to using sisal rugs are that they are quite versatile. Because the fibers are strong and sturdy they can be tightly woven thin and flat or slightly thicker and into many patterns like herringbone, basket weaves and boucle. Sisal is often used as wall-to-wall carpeting as well and makes a beautiful neutral flooring backdrop to layered antique and wool rugs. Sisal can also be dyed into different colors which is nice if you prefer a different color from the natural beige/tan color that sisal inherently is.
A room designed by Maison Inc, has a natural sisal rug with cotton border that follows the outline of the room a fireplace cut-out, is a great example of how Sisal can be used.
The cons to sisal, which is what is most important in my opinion, is that sisal stains from anything wet, even water. Once sisal has dried and woven into a rug it can easily absorb colors and dye, which is also why it can easily stain. It is not good for humid environments as sisal can mold. When water reaches sisal it will often warp and leave rings or dye marks that are impossible to get out. The other major complaint with sisal is that it is coarse and rough to the touch. For this reason, we don’t recommend sisal for children’s rooms, playrooms or bedrooms as they’re the first surface you’ll touch when getting out of bed in the morning.
Seagrass
Design by Studio Laloc, Photo: Lauren L Caron ©2024
In our Normandy Park project, we used a woven seagrass rug in the informal dining room where family dinners with the kids are often held.
While sisal is known for being water absorbent its sister seagrass is the exact opposite. Seagrass is a grass harvested from the sea or near the sea (hence the name). It naturally does not absorb water and therefore it does not stain which makes it great for areas that can get wet like laundry rooms, dining areas and indoor/outdoor spaces. Because seagrass is not porous it does not take dye well, so you will only see it in its natural color or form. It also is very strong and works well in high traffic locations like hallways and living rooms. You’ll often see seagrass used as the fiber for woven baskets and lampshades as well.
The cons to seagrass is its limitation in color and because it’s a bit tougher and stronger there are less ways that it can be woven and therefore there are less pattern options and the weave is typically a little more open and loose. Most often you’ll see variations of patterns that are made from stitching together braided fibers of seagrass. One rug company that sells seagrass rugs even sells the rugs in 12” x 12” squares that are sewn together to create a whole rug. This is great for spaces where you can expect stains or accidents to happen. You can just remove the section that is damaged and replace it with a new one! Because of that, I love to put these rugs in dining rooms and hallways, and even bathrooms!
Studio Laloc Studio Shop, design by Studio Laloc, photo by Lauren L Caron © 2024
For our studio we have used natural fiber woven rugs in two spaces. In the front room which acts as our showroom and shop, we have set a seagrass rug by Rush House.
Another room designed by Ben Pentreath, with what I believe is seagrass as a wall to wall carpeting.
Jute
Design by Studio Laloc, Photo by Lauren L Caron © 2024
In our Brooklyn, NY apartment living room we installed a jute and cotton blend rug from the newest Loloi x Chris Loves Julia collection. I love how the subtle plaid pattern comes through the rug design and pairs nicely with our other furnishings in this space.
Jute comes from the stem as opposed to the leaves of the plants. The plant that jute is derived from is in the genus corchorus, from the Malvaceae family. The fiber is partially a textile fiber and partially wood, which makes it fall into the bast fiber category (skin of the plant). Jute feels softer on the feet, can be woven or braided into many patterns, and takes some dyes. Jute weaves well with cotton and wool, so you will often see blends of jute/cotton or wool rugs. It cleans better than sisal and is less prone to stains. However, if you don’t allow jute to dry properly after cleaning, it will show rings and watermarks, but generally speaking it is more cleanable. Because it can take dye it is not as stain resistant as seagrass. I like to put jute rugs in bedrooms, sitting rooms and living rooms. It is not as hard wearing as seagrass or sisal, so it is not great for high traffic areas. It is also known to shed, sometimes a lot, depending on the tightness of the weave. Like the other natural fiber rugs, jute looks beautiful layered under patterned wool rugs.
Design by Studio Laloc, Photo by Lauren L Caron ©2024
A close up of the same rug in our apartment living room.
I hope this rundown on the most common types of natural woven rugs will be helpful in planning for your next rug purchase. Do you have any additional questions, or information to add? Do you have a preferred rug type for your home? I would love to hear about in the comments!
Cheers, Lauren