Why treat your patio any differently than any other room in your home?
Beautiful furnishings, themed decor and traditional decorating accents can make your outdoor space a welcoming room that your family and guests will enjoy spending time in. In fact, a patio and backyard can often be more than one room, with different areas clearly defined by the furnishings, décor and patio rugs.
The traditional decorating tips for making the most of large spaces apply as well to the outdoors and your patio as they do to any large room in your home.
One of the most common decorating tricks to help set off an area of a room is to use an area rug to define the space. While the idea of using an area rug outdoors may seem strange at first, there are many designs and styles of patio rugs that are durable and weather-resistant. What sort of fabric should you look for when choosing an outdoor patio rug
to brighten up your outdoor living space?
Wool Rugs
Avoid wool rugs for outdoor patio areas. The natural moisture outdoors can collect in the fibers, encouraging mold and rot, and contributing to a musty smell. In addition, the UV rays from the sun will break the material down and fade colors quickly.
Sisal, Jute and Sea Grass
Sisal, jute and sea-grass may seem like good natural alternatives. After all, the plants grow outside! Unfortunately, the woven fibers don’t withstand weather very well. Even if your patio is completely enclosed, the likelihood of high traffic makes natural materials like sisal and jute a poor choice for a patio rug.
Cotton
If you want to use natural materials, cotton is one of your best choices. If the rug is small enough, you can toss it into the washer, or have it professionally cleaned, and if the day is sunny and the rug is light enough, you can dry it outdoors on the patio. The best choices for cotton patio rugs are those that have no pile, or that are tightly woven and flat, like a dhurrie rug with a colorfast design. The sun and weather will fade the colors rather quickly, though, so these are best on a covered patio or porch.
Polypropylene/Olefin
By far, the best material for an outdoor are rug is the synthetic polypropylene. First developed in the late 1940s and used for furniture upholstery, polypropylene has grown up to be one of the most versatile carpeting materials available. It dyes well, allowing bright and subtle patterns for accent, and modern manufacturing techniques have created versions of polypropylene that mimic many natural materials, including jute and sisal.
Patio rugs made of polypropylene are resistant to fading from the UV rays of the sun, which make acrylic rugs a poor choice for outdoors. It dries quickly, as the individual fibers are not absorbent. The same quality makes it easy to clean a polypropylene patio rug. You can simply hose it down with a garden hose and allow it to dry. Sturdy and attractive, polypropylene patio rugs are your best choice for a high traffic outdoor area.