I had one in my house in Texas. It was a beautiful carpet and the house was dry enough that the water issue wasn't a problem. The things to consider are...A how "wet" are you when you step out? I have long hair and tend to flip it into a towel before I step out of the shower (door open in the stall) so the heaviest water left on me is covered with the towel. So basically theres some drip but not much. Our shower also has a curb, so there's no residual splash water to consider. This was in a master bath, so no careless children running around dripping wet :)

If your house is damp already though, you'd want to think about how long it will take for any drips to dry in the bath. If it's a very damp climate, a carpet could stay moist for some time and cause mold issues, but in most climate controlled homes, or in dry climates, it's a non issue.

In houston you have to pick up your rugs or mats regularly anyhoo to ensure that evil buggies don't hide under there. I always hung it over the shower glass and let it dry completely, maybe once a week? We never had issues.

If it's hand dyed (very pricy) you might want to test for water safeness. Some of them run badly when wet. But if it's a normal wool or mixed cotton/poly etc., it would probably be fine!

By the way, I wouldn't tuck it right up to the sink. I'd push it back about 4" so that you have 4" on both the shower side and the sink side. If that makes sense. What's the worst thing that could happen? You could try it this week and if at the end of the week the thing is perpetually damp...it isn't a good idea so take up the carpet, let it dry and use it somewhere else :)

thanks, igloochic. We have a rather large shower curb, too, and while I'm not very drippy, I need to assess my husband! (We've been showering in our kid's little bathrooms for a few years saving up to the do the big master, but I think he's one of those guys that does a lot of drying off in the shower)

And yes, I wouldn't butt the rug right up to the sink.

I guess I need to try and figure out what kind of rug it is (hand-dyed or not).

oops. The 6 x 4 rug is great for the vanity, but the side edge of it would be about 16 inches from the shower curb (not 8). And that's centered, 4 inches back from the vanity.

So that means I need something separate for stepping out of the dang shower, right? And whatever it is, it will be practically touching the rug. Yuck.

I agree with igloochic. We have a beautiful old wool chainstitch rug that I brought back from India in our master bathroom (we also have wood floors, but that's another topic). We tend to dry off entirely in the shower, so by the time we step on the rug, our feet are only "moist" on the bottom. We have good ventilation. Two and a half years and the rug is doing great. I love it, because since it's a small bathroom (by today's standards) it is the rug for the shower, the tub, and the console sink.

I bought an oddball Baluchi rug on ebay for my bathroom and it looked nice and worked fine. But I have already taken it up for the summer, in favor of a white shag-style mat.
Casey

I love the idea.

What I'd do is get a small bath mat made of heavy towelling -- not the shaggy fluffy kind, but the kind that looks just like a towel. Then put it down right before you shower, and hang it up (to dry and hide) right afterwards.

I started doing this in the very small bath I am using right now (temporarily master suite-less), because if I didn't, there simply wouldn't be any other floor space. And I'm amazed at how much cleaner the bath mat stays (no one walks on it with dirty feet), and how much cleaner the bathroom floor looks without that lovely bath mat on it all the time.

So do both -- just not at the same time.

sweeby, I think that's what I'm going to do. I need something closer to step on to as the rug will be about 16 inches away. So, I'm thinking one of those thinner mats that hotels give you for the bath that almost looks like a towel. But where to hang it? We're doing two double hooks for robe and towels, not a towel bar. So now I have to solve that dilemma.

I do exactly what sweeby does: towel-like bathmat over an old wool prayer rug for when I shower so the rug is protected from my wet feet/dripping wet hair&glass shower door. When I'm not using the mat, it hangs on it's own over a concealed area of the glass shower surround to dry out.

I figure that if you have appropriate bath ventilation and use a mat, that a wool rug is fine in the bathroom. Plus, it looks pretty!

I use a heavy-duty 'chip-clip' to hang my bath mat from a towel hook on the back of the bathroom door... Not the most 'elegant' solution, but it sure is practical!