Collection: Floral Outdoor Rugs

Floral and tropical outdoor rugs

Pattern taken from plants, on a floor surrounded by plants. It sounds as though it should be too much, and it usually is not — for a reason worth understanding. A floral rug and a real border do not compete, because one is flat and stylized and the other is three-dimensional and untidy. The eye reads them as different registers rather than as two things saying the same thing.

Three quite different things under one name

• Botanical. Leaves, stems and sprigs, usually block-printed and usually two colors. The quietest option, and the one that behaves almost like a texture from standing height.
• Folk floral. Stylized blooms in a repeating grid, often on cream. Reads as cottage and farmhouse, and pairs naturally with painted wood and wicker.
• Tropical. Palm, monstera and banana leaf at large scale. Graphic rather than pretty, and the boldest thing in this collection — a tropical rug carries a plain terrace on its own.

Where a floral rug helps most

A terrace that is mostly hard landscaping with a few pots on it. That space is missing softness, and planting more is not always an option on a rental balcony or a shaded courtyard. A botanical or floral ground supplies it at ground level, where the eye is already looking.

There is a second, better argument: in February, when the border has died back and the pots are bare, a floral rug is the only planting left on the terrace.

Get the scale right

Large tropical leaves need a large rug. At 48″ × 72″ or 60″ × 84″ a monstera print reads as intended; at 24″ × 36″ you get a cropped fragment of one leaf. Small sprigs and fine botanicals are the opposite — they hold their character at every size, including the smallest.

Material and sizes

Soft polyester chenille, short dense nap, no-skid backing, overlocked edges. Water-resistant, mildew-resistant, fade-resistant and quick-drying. Spot clean only. Four sizes, 24″ × 36″ to 60″ × 84″.

Free US shipping, and 10% off any three pieces.