Hi Marthavila - HereÂs the rug in my 85% finished kitchen.

Size: 3Â11" x 5Â 3"
Made by: Rugs America; Pattern: New Vision; Color: Tabriz Olive
Made of: Polypropylene
Store: BoscovÂs going out of business sale (60% off!) Paid about $100

I chose polypropylene because I read that "polypropylene fibers are stain-resistant and can withstand some of the nastiest spills and abuses. They are perfect for the kitchen that bears witness to a fair share of culinary challenges, and are also great in areas that support even the most active children. Polypropylene, rugs would be the top choice for a kitchen rug that will endure a lot of traffic, abuse and spillage."

I had narrowed down my selection to 2 choices. This one and one with a much simpler pattern. I was certain that this one was too busy. The salesman put one on hold while I took the other one home to test it. Once I put this one down, I knew it was THE ONE. It toned down the hot colors in the kitchen and it complimented the moss green cabinet I have in the room. The other rug would have been boring.

AND it would have shown crumbs! I vacuum this one about once a week and even then I can't see the crumbs. LOVE it!

Gardenburgher, I love your kitchen rug's colors, pattern and the fact that it is stain resistant. Thanks for sharing.

What species and stain is your beautiful kitchen hardwoood floors?

Um, no. I won't show it. Ew. I really like kilim rugs in the kitchen though, because they can be swept and they don't trip you if you're prone to tripping on rugs.

You do need to be careful with any rubber backing--if your floor is finished with, well, anything oldschool, you might get some marks.

Sorry I don't have the skills to post a picture. We are using a $15 Big Lots polypropelene (spelling?) fake New England rag rug, 9' x 30" that runs the entire length of the cabinet run that centers on the sink in our rental condo. The main colors are blue but its tweedy nature covers all sorts of spills. I've turned it over once because it started looking awful and was just thinking today that I might do one of those spray on rug cleaners and then hose it down a gas station. It looks amazingly good after 8 months of serious duty and I get tons of compliments on it which always makes me laugh because we have some expensive rugs that I love that don't get half the compliments.

I've had two. Now:

Before:

The current one is a good bit larger. The old one was too nice for a kitchen.
Casey

Thank you for the compliment, Lynn2006.

Our floor is Brazilian Cherry. Engineered wood, nothing fancy. I do love them, though. Brazilian Cherry sure beats the ugly blue carpeting that used to be in the kitchen. :-)

In regard to what Fori mentioned (about tripping and rubber backing), we use a vinyl rug pad. We were told that rubber or foam backed mats could discolor the floor.

Thanks for your responses!

Gardenburgher: I love that rug! That's the kind of rug I've had in mind for my own kitchen. Very nice to see that price. Now if only I could find a Boscov's going out of business in NYC . . . LOL! Seriously, though, thanks for all the information you provided. At least I now know what kind of rug material to be looking for as well as the type of padding. BTW, from that very minimal glimpse you are sharing of your 85& completed kitchen, it's looking mighty fine! With a teaser like that, I can't wait to see your whole kitchen!

Casey: I hope you know that, when I posted this question, you were definitely one of the people I had in mind. I frequently think of your gorgeous kitchen and all its wonderful details. Included in that is the rug of course. Outstanding! Question for you though: are your rugs classic Kilim area rugs that would be used in any room of the house? (Sure looks like it). Or are they made of a polypropylene, or some other special material? If the former, how do you manage to maintain them in your kitchen??

Flseadog: Thanks so much for the tip!

Fori: No fair on not posting photos! Especially since you've been such a master of charming and tricking me into sharing photos that I've been trying to hide all this time! It's your turn now! LOL!

Lynn2006: Hi there! And, thanks for joining the thread. That not only helped to bump it back up and, but also helped us to get even better info from Gardenburgher! :)

C'mon TKOs. I know there are some other wonderful kitchen rugs out there. Won't you please indulge us with a bit of show and tell on this subject?

Hi,
mine are both woven in Iran. The current one is wool on a cotton background, the "before" one is wool on wool. It's very soft, and I was loathe to ruin it in the kitchen. Both are ebay finds, less that 200 for either. Buy American, except for rugs.
Casey

Thanks Marthavila for welcoming my joining in.

I can't wait to do my floors and then pick out a new rug. I recently purchased a temporary red rug for my kitchen that has linoleum light beige floors (that I need to replace due to their age and wear and tear as well as the fact that I want a new look) and oak cabinets (wish they were cherry) and a cherry kitchen table (that I love) with a Stainless Steel French Door Refrigerator (that is only 2.25 years old and I love this also). I would post pics if it was not my busy season but this was a rug I bought knowing it would be temporary until I did the floors downstairs. It actually looks nice in my kitchen since my teapot is a candy apple red.

So far I have only had time to redo my foyer floors that were an engineered oak wood that got ruined by water damage from my air conditioner/heater failing and flooding my mudroom/middle foyer. Hence, I decided to have the front foyer match the other foyer area with Akoya Bone Porcelain Ceramic Tile that will be neutral enough to go with any wood I choose.

Gardenburgher, I really love Brazilian Cherry floors since every time I see hardwood floors that I love it seems to be many of the times Brazilian Cherry. Which engineered brand is it and what is the width since it really looks great?

All of those rugs are beautiful. BUT the one I have in front of my sink gets so dirty that I have to wash it frequently. It's tan - terrible color. And it's full of stains or whatever from rinsing and then loading the dishwasher.

So, how do you keep yours clean? or doesn't the dirt show up with the darker colors? Or is just my family messy?

Overstock.com has tons of nice looking inexpensive rugs. I just scrolled through what they had until I found something I liked. I chose red because (a) I like red and (b) I figured it would be best at hiding the things in my kitchen that would be most likely to stain (chili, spaghetti, red wine, etc.).

I don't have a pic of the rugs themselves, but here's an unrelated pic that shows them somewhat.

bump

Here's one I found on overstock - got the runner size for $57:
{{!gwi}}

I ran a similar question to this on the home decorating forum, and many suggested braided rugs. I ordered one in a coordinating color to go in front of my breakfast bar. HTH

Oh, and comments on the dec. forum persuaded me not to be afraid of wool in the kitchen:)

Thank you, Holligator and Suzatwork for the referral to Overstock. I went on there tonight and found several good candidates for my rug! And, I'm with you, Holligator, on your choice of color. By all means, the rug for my kitchen must have lots of red in it! And, Suz, that's an excellent tip to go check out the home decorating forum. I think I've been living on the Kitchen Forum so long I've forgotten I can ask a question like this --especially one that is more post-remodel in nature -- elsewhere on GW. :) If nothing else, I have to find out why they think you don't have to worry about maintaining a wool rug in a kitchen. Seemed to me that Casey was saying just the opposite. Hmmm. . . .

Lynn2006, my Brazilian Cherry floors are by TrafficMaster. We got them on Clearance at Home Depot. We werenÂt shopping for flooring yet, but when we saw the good price, we decided on the spot to buy them. Normally, I like to research things to death, but since DH was doing the installation, I let him make the decision. After about 6 months, weÂre very happy with them. I really like the variations in color. Oh and the width is 2 ½".

Datura-07, so far I havenÂt had any problems with keeping my rug clean. I have a crazed 4 year old and 3 cats, and IÂm not the neatest cook, so knock on wood. :-) I do find that IÂm more careful now. When I had my yucky blue carpeting, I just didnÂt care anymore. Now I pay more attention to what IÂm doing. So far, all IÂve done is vacuum once a week. As I said before, IÂm soooo glad we went with a busy pattern.

Sorry to go OT, Marthavila. And thanks for your kind words. IÂm not used to hearing nice things about my kitchen!

I donÂt think you MUST rule out wool in the kitchen. For me, it was about cost. The wool rugs were a lot more expensive. I wasnÂt willing to put something that valuable in the kitchen where it will surely get messy. IÂve got wool oriental rugs in my dining room and living room and love them.

Do a search on "rug materials" (or something like that), and youÂll see lots of info. I think there are pros and cons to each fiber, but the polypropylene worked for me!

Here is a link that might be useful: TrafficMaster Brazilian Cherry

So gardenburgher, do you cats sleep on the rug in front of the sink whenever you want to use it. Mine do every night after dinner and they won't move!!!

Mine is an all-wool rug from Homegoods.
{{!gwi}}\