How To Make Seagrass Carpets The Star Of Your Apartment Or Home

You'll love these amazingly durable carpets because they'll remind you of the sea.

Seagrass carpets are a wonderful way to bring the look and feel of the sea into your holiday house. With your bare feet on a seagrass carpet, you'll feel like you're living the ultimate beach lifestyle, even if you're miles from the actual sea itself.

What Is Seagrass, Exactly?

Seagrass (or sea-grass in Britain) is a type of grass which spends its entire life underwater. It is cultivated commercially in flooded paddies in many different parts of Asia such as China and India. Seagrass is relatively plentiful and is thus relatively cheap. Seagrass products such as carpets, baskets and placemats are therefore fairly inexpensive.

Which Colours Are Available?

Seagrass carpets come in all sorts of colours – from twine brown to coffee brown, and from stormy white to subway grey. It's simply a matter of choosing from the available stock in the carpet store itself.

Which Weaves Are Available?

There are many different types of weaves available. There's the “seabasket weave”, which is a carpet made up with many different squares in alternating patterns of horizontal and vertical grains. Next, you have the “seashore weave” which consists of rows of fibers with knots tied down at alternating ends. Finally, you have the “seashell weave” which is very similar to what we would call “zig-zag”.

Which Are The Best Spots In The House For Them?

Seagrass carpets are extremely versatile and durable. This is because seagrass fibres are practically impermeable, making the carpets naturally stain-resistant. For this reason, the carpets can be used inside and outside the house. Seagrass carpets survive better than most other rugs in high-traffic areas such as hallways, verandahs, balconies and patios.

How Should I Care For My Seagrass Carpet?

Seagrass carpets are very durable and hard-wearing. The fibres of the seagrass are almost impermeable, as mentioned above, making them naturally stain-proof. If a stain should blemish your carpet, it will usually blend in because of the mottled appearance of the carpet.

If you're looking for your seagrass carpet to last you for many years, perhaps you might consider investing in a longer-lasting version. Longer-lasting seagrass carpets have a backing made of the naturally occurring substance jute (or less-commonly, latex) to give it increased strength and traction. Long-lasting carpets also have a border made of leather, fabric or wool to prevent fraying.

Is A Seagrass Carpet Right For You?

A seagrass carpet can be right for your house or holiday house if you are trying for the 'beach look' or the 'hippie/ethnic look'. It will not work too well if you are going for the ultra-modern style of holiday house or if you are kitting out a house in a very cold climate.

Otherwise, seagrass carpets are very durable and look great. I recommend them if you like the idea of kicking off your Birkenstocks and bringing your beach lifestyle indoors.