apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've seen bright multicolored outdoor rugs sold in boutiques that seem to be made of recycled plastics, in jewel tones and patterned to echo traditional Oriental styles.

Anyone had luck with Mad Mats or Koko Trends? I feel like they might be awfully slippery and that's the last thing I need while sipping my mojitos porchside...

I don't think I've ever understood the concept of an outdoor rug - If you leave it out on a concrete patio it will trap dirt and become a home for bugs, etc. - and on a wooden deck, it will do all that plus trap moisture and accelerate rot.

For interior use, wool is of course more expensive, but it's also naturally fire-resistant, stain resistant, anti-biotic, and it's a renewable resource.

We have an outdoor rug on the covered portion of our patio (on pavers), and it's not even remotely a dirt/bug trap. It's a synthetic sisal and we love it.

The cats love it too - they scratch the heck out of it and haven't damaged it at all.

Plus, we were able to easily pressure wash it when we first got it (from someone whose cats peed on it) and it was good as new.

Whoa! Why have I never looked at World Market for rugs before? I think you just changed my life . . .

@vsheaffer, they have AWSOME rugs. They have a white textural one with paisly on it that I have obsessed about for eons.

Do you think one of these outdoor rugs would work in the breakfast area? Or would they be to harsh underfoot?

asinner --

You must be much more concientious about cleaning your patio than my sister and BIL are about cleaning their deck...

@vsheaffer: your words echo my excitement. i know where i am going after lunch!

We have indoor/outdoor rugs in our living room and dining room. We chose them because they resist cat clawing, they make it easy to clean up random cat puke, dirty paw marks, and food and wine stains, they don't hold dust and dander, and they actually look quite nice for a relatively low price.

The LR rug is from Ballard: http://www.ballarddesigns.com/Rugs/By-Color/Brown-Rugs/French-Leopard-Indoor-Outdoor-Rug/p/1401

The DR rug is an older Pottery Barn design. We love them both.

Outdoor rugs help prevent your dogs from tracking dirt, mud, pine needles, and misc inside the house.

The four I purchased (from a different site) did not tolerate seven months of weather, however. The centers split, parts that were under furniture turned green, and they didn't wash up as well as I'd hoped.

I did purchase a polypropylene rag-weave rug for the breakfast room and it has held up much better than any of the wool rugs I've tried. It's light enough to roll up and take out doors for a fast scrubbing and it dries quickly.

We have an outdoor rug that we bought from World Market last spring for our screened in porch (concrete floor) and we LOVE it! The price was very reasonable, we love the style, and it's much softer underfoot than I had expected. It's easy to clean and does not trap dirt underneath.

Using an outdoor rug indoors seems like a good idea to me, as long as it's made of recycled materials. God knows we don't need new synthetics brought into the world... although I've also heard that the recycling process is pretty toxic, too. What to do, what to do.

I've had an outdoor rug in my front hallway for years. I'm getting tired of its' tan-ness, happy to see the new colors and patterns.