Living Room Rug Ideas: Jute vs Sisal Rug Options

Are you considering a natural fiber rug for your home decor? I’m comparing jute vs. sisal rug options for our living room.

Natural fiber rugs such as jute or sisal make a great flooring choice for living rooms. Weigh the positives and negatives of these rug types to determine the best choice for your home.

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It’s funny how one simple decor change in a room can completely transform and brighten the look of the space. 

Often it’s a new paint color that does this job in a room, but today I’m sharing how our new sisal area rug from Ballard Designs brightens our living room and creates a fresh new look!

I shared all about our decision to replace the large area rug in our living room in this post. It’s full of information about choosing the correct rug size for your living room, and also full of ideas for layering patterned rugs over natural-fiber rugs. 

As you read in that post, we were in pretty serious need of a new rug for this living area. 

Our previous jute rug had lived its best life, but was literally falling apart. 

While I considered more traditional patterned rug styles for this space, I kept coming back to natural fiber rugs. 

I absolutely love the look of natural fiber rugs. They create a natural look and relaxed feeling in a room; they add great texture; and they work with a variety of design styles from traditional to contemporary. 

Natural fiber rugs are perfect for layering rugs on top, and their neutral tones are perfect year-round as your home decor changes from season to season. All of these features combined make a natural fiber rug a great choice for our family room area.

Some of my favorite patterned rugs for layering in our living room are linked here.

Comparing Natural Floor Coverings: Jute vs. Sisal Rugs

Natural flooring is a popular choice, but which type is best for you? When it comes to comparing jute versus sisal rugs, the key differences come down to softness and durability, and each rug type wins in one of these categories.

Jute rugs are made from the natural fibers of the Corchorus plant (a leafy plant similar to spinach). They tend to have a softer feel than sisal carpets, so they’re often preferred in seating areas or in a bedroom where you might often go with bare feet. However, this softer texture can make them more prone to wear and tear.

Sisal rugs, made from the natural fibres of the agave sisalana plant, tend to be a little more coarse in texture, but this actually lends to their durability and longevity which makes sisal the perfect rug choice for high traffic areas. If you’re adding a natural fiber runner to your stairs, sisal is a much more durable option for a stair runner than jute to hold up to heavy foot traffic.

Our previous living room rug was jute, and it was quite soft in texture. Unfortunately, however, our rug did not hold up well over time. The binding around the edges came loose in several spots not long after purchasing it, and the rug split and separated in several areas. 

When it came time to purchase a new rug, durability was the most important to me for our living room space since we use it so much. 

After reading a lot of reviews of the Ballard Designs Columbia rug, I learned that many people felt this particular sisal rug was much softer than most sisal rugs. 

Many stated this Columbia rug stood the test of time in their homes, and when it came time to purchase a new rug, they purchased this one again because it had held up so well before. 

So, combining that information — the relative softness of this sisal and its durability — it was obvious that I should give this rug a try!

And I am so glad I did! I just love the way it brightens our space!

Our previous jute rug was much darker in color, and when we rolled out this beautiful sisal rug the whole room brightened!

While not quite as soft as our previous jute rug, I do agree that this sisal rug is much softer than a lot of sisal carpets.

While we’ve only had our rug for a week, the tighter weave and quality of this rug is far superior to our previous jute rug. I think it was the perfect choice for our home!

Maintaining a Natural Fiber Rug:

Natural fiber rugs are easy to care for, and require little maintenance.

Regular vacuuming without the beater bar on your vacuum cleaner keeps your rug in great shape.

Neither jute nor sisal rugs should be used in rooms with high moisture, and it’s  important to clean up spills quickly. 

I’m so pleased with our rug purchase! I may layer a smaller patterned rug over the sisal at some point, or I may just enjoy the simple natural texture in the room.

Either way, the Columbia rug is a great new foundation piece in our living room! 

Do you love the organic feel of a natural rug? If you’re considering a new natural fiber rug for your living space, I hope these details help you make an informed decision to find the perfect rug!

Thanks so much for stopping by!