powell brower at home: natural fiber

I just replaced my jute rug in my living room after 3 years. I was pretty impressed it lasted that long after initially picking the wrong color (ivory) and raising a few pups (which can wreak havoc on any kind of rug). I'm definitely going back for more!

For a relatively low price point, natural fibers provide exceptional layering power and a pretty heavy-hitting surface. We recommend sisal, jute or seagrass in just about every project we do because it brings the element of the outside in.

Lauren referred me to Fibreworks a while back for wall-to-wall installations and their site gives a really good definition on each fiber's attributes. I put together a little eye chart with their definitions.

By now, there aren't many strangers to the natural fiber rug, but there are a lot of people keeping a look out for the best deal, like myself. I love jute for its knobby appearance and softer texture so I just upgraded to a nice braided one! For my household, the looser weave on the jute rugs is more forgiving to stains and spills and can withstand a good scrubbing without changing the appearance. The tighter weaves can be a bit harder to spot-treat.

Our favorite natural fibers for UNDER $200: