Gray Outdoor Rugs

The middle ground between beige and black, and the closest match to weathered composite decking and poured concrete. Gray outdoor rugs let a patio look finished without introducing a new color to coordinate.

Light grays cool the space down; darker grays hide traffic patterns.

14 products

Gray outdoor rugs, and the one mistake to avoid

Gray is the easiest color to choose and the easiest to get wrong outdoors, and the reason is the same in both cases: almost every hard surface you might put a rug on is already gray.

Concrete is gray. Most pavers are gray. Composite decking weathers gray. Put a gray rug of a similar tone on top of any of those and it does not read as a rug — it reads as a patch where the paving changed. The space gets no benefit from it at all.

How to make grey work

Contrast is the whole answer, and you only need one kind of it.

  • Tonal contrast. Go markedly darker or markedly lighter than the ground it sits on. Charcoal on pale concrete, or a light dove grey on dark slate.
  • Pattern contrast. A grey and white stripe, check or geometric reads as designed even when the grey itself is close to the paving, because the white does the separating.
  • Warmth contrast. A grey with a warm cast — greige, mushroom, taupe-grey — separates from cold concrete without needing to be a different tone at all.

What it goes with

Everything, which is the point. Grey takes teak, black metal, white paint, galvanized planters and any planting without argument, and it is the safest ground when the furniture or the cushions are already doing something loud.

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.