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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
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Sisal vs. seagrass vs. jute: Banded natural fiber rug comparison, and what's best for little kids!

I have an exciting experiment to share with you! I’ve been wanting to use a natural fiber banded rug in our living room for a while now, but I couldn’t choose between the options for different fibers and wasn’t sure which would be softest and best for our family (with little kids crawling around). I love the traditional, dressed up look these have while still being so natural and adding great texture, plus I have a goal to only use natural fiber (wool, jute, etc.) rugs in my home moving forward. (See my post on my favorite vintage rug source here.) Patterned rugs like vintage aren't for everywhere, but classic natural fiber rugs are so affordable and come in a lot of different sizes. But it’s hard to choose! So I’m breaking it down: I compared six different weaves and fibers of natural fiber banded rugs, and I’m sharing each with you!

These rugs were all provided for me for this comparison from Rugs USA, though this post was not sponsored.

We may also layer a vintage rug over ours, but I wanted a comfortable base for the edges and in case we choose not to!

Jute vs. sisal vs. seagrass: Rug comparison


OK, onto the rugs! These are all available from Rugs USA in a variety of sizes. Most of these are the smallest available, 2‘ x 3‘, which would also be great for a small entryway.

1. Maui Checker Weave Seagrass Natural Rug


Seagrass, cute checker weave. I absolutely love the look of this seagrass rug. I’ve seen it done in a dining room adjacent to/sharing a large opening with a living room with two of the same rug--so classy, looks so intentional! Seagrass has a bit of a green tint to it and a very faint natural grassy scent that I imagine will fade with time. It is actually very soft, where are the weave is straight. There are a few nubby bits that I wonder about getting caught on toys, though.

2. Maui Seagrass with Border Beige Rug


Seagrass, classic weave. This one has the same color and scent as the above, although it’s not as smooth in any places because the weave is more interrupted.

3. Bucolic Mirona Sisal Chino Rug


Sisal and cotton. This one is obviously a much lighter color, and has a unique bouncy softness to it. It’s soft in the sense of padding underfoot. It’s not super scratchy on bare feet and hands, but the bumps and ridges interrupt it and also I worry about things getting caught in it. The color I think is also too light for our living room. This would be really nice in a bedroom!

4. Oak Sisal Rug


Sisal/jute. I really love this one. It is a lot like a jute rug that we’ve had before--large, basket-like texture--but, it leans more traditional because it has the banded edges. It is actually pretty soft (I would put this one as number two for softness). This is a top contender for our living room rug for sure! It has some little rogue bits of fibers but it is not scratchy or pokey.

5. Maui Sisal Border Beige Rug


Sisal. I love the look of these. It looks like a really high-end installed carpet. I also love the color. Warm, little variation to it. Unfortunately, this is the scratchiest of the bunch. It feels kind of like walking on an exfoliating sponge. I think it feels good actually! But little toddler hands and feet and knees, maybe not so much. Bummer because I really really like this one!

6. Maui Jute Beige Rug


Jute, but in a the same weave as the sisal. This one is so cool! It also looks like a high-quality carpet, and would be great for layering. It would also be great in a really really large room where you want to cover almost all of the floor but can’t handle that much pattern of a patterned rug. This one has the same cool tight texture of the sisal one, but because it’s made of softer jute, it is actually quite comfortable and soft. This one might be the winner for our living room! I do worry a little bit about stains showing more on this one because the color is more uniform. Maybe I will do a small test on this little sample one!

Note: one thing that all of these rugs have in common is the backing. They all have a felt backing for softness, with little rubber nonslip dots, so you don’t need a rug pad. (That is a huge relief on a massive rug, because as we know from laying down other 9 x 12s in our living room and bedroom, it never goes perfectly the first time and you are always lifting and straightening and unrolling.)

I think it will make a huge difference to get something natural and uniform in our living room! Aside from the wall color, the rug really makes the most massive difference in how a room feels, and our living room has been itching for an upgrade and a few finishing touches for a while, that I hope the rug will kick off for us.

I hope this comparison was helpful! Next time you want to remember jute versus sisal versus seagrass… Come on back here! You can pin this post for later!

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