How to

Choose an Eco-Friendly Rug

Are you thinking about bringing some eco-friendly products into your home? Pottery Barn is here to help! This guide to choosing the ideal eco-friendly area rug shows you how to get started, and the process is so simple. Once you’ve looked into the eco-friendly materials used to create the rugs you’re considering, you can take a familiar approach to making your final choice. Your taste and practical needs matter most, so it’s helpful to keep your personal sense of style in mind as you shop.

Colorful Considerations

Eco-friendly rugs often use materials such as recycled polyester, organic wool and even recycled drink bottles to create vibrant, colorful fibers that look just like their conventional counterparts. In fact, some eco-friendly rug fibers hold on to their colors particularly well, so they stay vivid and cheerful for years and years to come (and work really well outdoors!) If you like bright pops of color, you’ll have plenty of options to consider, but it’s also easy to find neutral shades such as beige, cream and gray. In this sense, choosing an eco-friendly rug is the same as picking out any other kind of floor covering – it’s all about what you love.

Inside Out

One great thing about the recycled fibers that make up many eco-friendly rugs is that they’re often both colorfast and resistant to damage from exposure to moisture. This makes eco-friendly rugs a great choice for porches, patios and entryways because they stay fresh and beautiful, even if they happen to get caught in a rainstorm or they frequently protect your floors from muddy shoes that might make their way indoors. Indoor-outdoor eco rugs are also easy to care for, which can make this style even more appealing for use throughout your house, especially if you have kids or pets.

Pick Your Pattern

There are really no design limits on rugs in the eco-friendly category; it’s the way these rugs are made that sets them apart. You can find solid-colored eco-friendly area rugs in addition to a variety of patterns. From Moroccan-inspired tile and trellis designs to simple stripes and classic kilim patterns, eco-friendly rug design can go anywhere. You can bring a touch of classic cool into your home with a traditional Middle Eastern pattern or keep it fresh and modern with two-toned stripes.

Flip It and Reverse It

Many eco-friendly area rugs are fully reversible, so you can enjoy dual-sided decoration while making the most of your rug. The pattern may appear inverse on each side, meaning that if your eco rug has a blue-and-white trellis pattern, blue will be the most prominent color on one side and white will be the most prominent color on the other. This gives you the power to subtly switch things up in your decor scheme without making major changes. If you like to keep things fresh and make some little changes every now and then, a reversible eco-friendly rug can be the ideal solution.

Focus on Feel

Do you like the feeling of a plush carpet under bare feet, or do you prefer a smooth, flat surface to step onto? Eco-friendly rug pile depths can vary, so if you have a strong preference in one direction, check out the pile depth as you shop. Labels such as “flat weave” and “indoor/outdoor” typically indicate a minimal pile that doesn’t provide as much “sinking” when you step onto them. Eco rugs also may or may not feature border fringe, so if you prefer the look and feel of a clean-edge rug, it’s easy to find an option with a sleek border.

Pad It Out

Some eco-friendly rug styles work best with rug pads under them. For example, reversible styles often don’t have built-in traction. There isn’t technically a reverse side, so the rug may slide around a bit if it’s on a smooth flooring surface such as hardwood or ceramic tile. However, this is a simple factor to address with a rug pad; just pick out an eco-friendly pad to slip under the rug to provide extra stability and cushioning. The rug pad can also help extend your rug’s life by reducing wear and tear, so if reducing waste is one of your eco-friendly goals, this combination of rug-plus-pad is an excellent choice.