5 Best Kid and Pet Friendly Area Rugs

About a year ago, we bought this gorgeous 8X10 area rug for our playroom. It’s a shag style rug and it’s white with light grey designs. I somehow convinced myself that despite the fact that it sits directly in front of the sliding-glass doors that our dogs come in and out several times a day that we could handle keeping this (mostly) white rug clean.

When we first bought it, I regrettably didn’t get a great picture of the entire rug, but here’s a snap of part of it.

It was soft and fluffy and SO white! And then a year later (thanks to large dark-haired dogs and toddler food crumbs) our rug looks like this.

The rug is all matted together and maybe that’s what a shag rug is supposed to do, but it also doesn’t look white either. The grey lines have faded and the white part now looks like light grey. Even after multiple rounds of vacuuming and using the rug cleaner, this rug constantly looks dirty.

I have been rug-browsing for about 6 months now and I’ve come up with a pretty good list of options for kid and pet friendly rugs and what I would (will) do differently the second time around.

And the winners for the best kid and pet friendly rugs are…

1. Dark Rugs
   
   If your space has high foot traffic and especially if you have dark-haired pets (like we do), then a dark rug may be a good option. It won’t keep the stains/dirt/hair away but it will hide them in between cleanings and keep your house looking fresh.
2. Patterned Rugs
   
   Similar to the dark rug, patterned rugs will help hide small imperfections including pet hair, dirt and any number of things your toddler gets on your rug. Plus these rugs just bring so much depth to your space, they are a good choice whether you have kids or pets or not.
   
3. Washable Rugs
   Yes, you read that right. I said “washable”- as in, you can throw these in your washing machine! If you’re not a fan of the dark and bold and you just can’t kick your love of that clean white trellis style rug, all is not lost. You could always get one of these fully machine washable rugs from Lorena Canals. Seriously, the only reason I haven’t purchased one yet is because I can’t decide which one to buy (I want all of them). They also make really fun and playful rugs perfect for kids rooms or playrooms.

   

4. Vintage Rugs
   Vintage rugs are totally in- always! You can make them work in nearly every type of space from traditional to bohemian to modern and you would be surprised what some people will pay for a beat up vintage rug these days. The good thing about vintage rugs is they are usually very well made and hold up well against pet nails and all that is kids and if you like the vintage used-rug vibe, then you don’t have to panic when your 3-year-old tips over her grape juice because it’ll just add character – that’s how it works right?
5. Floor Mats
   
   I know that a floor mat isn’t technically a rug but it serves the same purpose with the added bonus of some extra padding for your littles and an easy mop-able surface (mop-able: adj. – something that can be cleaned with a mop) Yes, I just made up that word. And when you hear the term “floor mat” it may bring about visions of multicolored foam complete with letters and numbers and predominantly primary colors, but floor mats have come a long way. The mat shown above as well as the one below is from Skiphop.
   
   Little Nomad also sells floor mats that can almost be disguised as a rug.
   
   Little Nomad mats have seamless designs that make it hard to even see where the floor tiles connect. It makes for a stylish kid and pet friendly mat and rug alternative.
   This is my list of options for our next kid and pet-friendly rug/floor covering. Now comes the hard part- picking just 1 of these! Which one is your favorite?

📷: Cover photo- @rowanberry_lavender; Post photos from top to bottom- Design Sponge, www.styleandcheek.com, www.sarahshermansamuel.com, Coco Lapine Design, www.lorenacanals.com, www.youaretheriver.com, www.skiphop.com (2), www.little-nomad.com (2)