• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

    Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • Houses + Sources
  • DIY Projects
  • My Shop
  • About Jenna Sue
  • About the Blog
  • Contact
Jenna Sue Design

Jenna Sue Design

DIY tutorials, home design and budget decor inspiration

  • Houses + Sources
    • Heights House
    • Riverside Retreat
    • Cottage House Flip
    • Modern Farmhouse
    • SEE ALL
  • DIYs
  • My Shop
  • About
    • About Jenna Sue
    • About the Blog
  • Contact
Home » Favorite Finds » My favorite neutral rugs under $200 from Lowe’s

My favorite neutral rugs under $200 from Lowe’s

September 11, 2019 | By Jenna Sue Favorite Finds

This post is part of a paid collaboration with Lowe’s Home Improvement. All opinions are my own.

It has been a while since my last kitchen update at the Heights House, but the last pieces of the puzzle have finally come together and it’s just about ready for its debut!

Pin

When designing this space, I knew right away that the rug would be a key element. The simple shaker style cabinets and neutral color palette would allow for the rug to dictate the overall feeling of the room through color and pattern. When it comes to more permanent choices like cabinets, I tend to go neutral so that I can easily change up the style through more affordable accessories like rugs.

Pin

With a blank canvas to work with, I could take this room in any direction so I began my search online at Lowe’s. I’ve ordered rugs through them before and knew they had an impressive selection (literally tens of thousands of options) so I felt confident I’d be able to find something that fit the bill.

Pin

First up: deciding on the size—this is always the first step when choosing a rug! I opted for a larger rug in the center rather than a runner in front of the sink, as it felt much more balanced (and once baby starts crawling around it’ll be nice to have a softer area for her to play on while we’re working in the kitchen).

With our floor space measuring 8’ wide, a 5’ rug was perfect to fill the space nicely without crowding it. The length didn’t matter as much—both the standard 7’ and 8’ would work.

With the size determined, I began to narrow down my search criteria. There were over 9,000 options in those two sizes alone, but I wasn’t done narrowing down.

Pin

Next, and perhaps most important in my book: price. As much as I love a vintage one of a kind rug, I can’t bring myself to justify spending a fortune when there are so many affordable and stylish options out there—especially when you like to switch up the look of a room as much as I do. I set a max budget of $200, which still gave me over 5,600 results!

Pin

Now is when you grab a tall mug of pumpkin spice coffee, put on some music and enjoy a little “me” time (that’s what online shopping is for me, at least ?)

I spread it out over a few days, but eventually made it through all 131 page results. Normally I’d narrow down by color as well, but I didn’t have a very specific look in mind and wanted to see what caught my eye. My preference was to find something relatively neutral with a subtle (ideally vintage-esque) pattern, but with enough color to contrast with the beige and white and bring a little personality into the room.

After my exhaustive search, these were the top five contenders:

Pin

From my experience, rugs are one of the most difficult items to shop for online because they’re not only very tactile objects, but the colors almost always look different on screen than they do in person (even when comparing to the ‘real life’ customer photos).

Just like you’d never want to choose a paint color without putting samples on the wall first, I wouldn’t commit to buying a rug unless I had access to samples first or it had an easy return policy. Fortunately, Lowe’s offers free shipping AND returns, and you can simply return online purchases to your nearest store instead of having to ship them back.

Rather than trying to narrow it down to just one, I thought it’d be fun to share my top five budget-friendly vintage style rugs from Lowe’s. Who’s ready for a rug fashion show?!


Option 1: Allen + Roth Brookford Charcoal/Ivory Rectangular Indoor Handcrafted Area Rug, $198
Pin

This wool rug was the thickest and heaviest of the bunch, and super soft underfoot.

Pin

The overall color was a bit more beige than how it appears on my monitor, which has somewhat of a green/yellow tint.

Pin

It’s a lovely design with a high quality feel, though it has a more traditional look vs the vintage style I’m after, and the beige wasn’t providing much contrast to the cabinets and floors.

Option 2: Safavieh Brentwood Surat Cream/Gray Vintage Area Rug, $80

Pin

Coming in as the most affordable option, this rug is on the thinner side (0.3” pile height) but very smooth and soft. The coloring is quite a bit cooler in person (at least in my kitchen) with slate blue-gray and ivory tones.

Pin

The polypropylene fibers make the colors shift at different angles—you can see in the first photo it appears to be a very subtle light gray, but the color and pattern really jump out when you’re standing directly above it.

Pin

I love the subtle design of this rug and the neutral hues, and it’s a great choice if I’m leaning towards cooler/blue tones.

Option 3: Safavieh Valencia Jiles Gray/Cream Vintage Area Rug, $176

Pin

This rug had a similar weight and feel to Option 2 with a 0.25” pile height, though the material is a woven soft polyester. I didn’t notice much of a color shift from different angles, which I like.

Pin

The coloring is a neutral gray with green and light brown detailing, which I thought was a nice complement to the beige cabinets.

Pin

This rug is definitely neutral enough to last through different seasons/decor styles or move around to other rooms in the future.

Option 4: Safavieh Vintage Mosed Gray/Multi Rectangular Vintage Area Rug, $186

Pin

Made with power loomed viscose yarn, this rug is most vintage looking of them all. The fibers are smooth and soft, almost like velvet, so when you rub your hand across it the color will change.

Pin

It also looks quite different from every angle, as you can see in the photos. The coloring is bluer in person than the warm gray displayed on my screen, although when I had it unrolled in the living room it read as more of a cool gray.

Pin

I really liked the faded vintage pattern, but would have to decide if the blue and lavender tones were the direction I wanted to take for this kitchen.

Option 5: Kaleen Boho Patio Taupe Rectangular Vintage Area Rug, $199

Pin

The most expensive of the bunch, this polyester flat weave rug is suited for both indoor and outdoor use.

Pin

It’s one of the thinnest at 0.125” pile height, but there are no shiny fibers which means the coloring is consistent at every angle. With the lights on, the rust/burgundy tones are more prevalent in person than depicted online, though at certain times of day it does read as a neutral taupe overall.

Pin

This rug was the most realistic looking vintage option, in my opinion, and great for hiding stains. It’s also the boldest color so I’d have to be fully committed to the warmer tones.


And there you have it, a complete review of my favorite neutral rugs at Lowe’s! Which one is your favorite, and which one do you think I chose? I’m looking forward to sharing the winner in the kitchen reveal soon!

Hopefully this post will save you time searching online if you’re in the market for something that won’t break the bank. And since Lowe’s makes it super easy (and free) to return without question, don’t hesitate to order a few rugs (or more) at once—it’s always better to have options than to settle!

Stay tuned for more kitchen updates next week,

Related posts:

Fall Stem and Floral Roundup
Father's Day Gift Guide
Mother's Day Gift Guide
TwitterFacebookEmail1Pinterest
1
SHARE
Previous Post: « Esmé Rose: A Birth Story
Next Post: Our Newborn Family Portraits »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shelby says

    November 2, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    Beautiful! Could you link the flooring or the blog post about it?! I saw this pic on your IG and I’m scrolling through your blog looking for it but I can find the post about it! LOVE that floor!

    • Jenna Sue says

      November 5, 2019 at 9:29 pm

      Hi Shelby, you can find more details on the floors in this post! https://www.jennasuedesign.com/2019/06/heights-house-full-tour-moving-in/

  2. Jenny B. says

    September 14, 2019 at 12:33 pm

    Love the video of them all rolling out. So fun! I am in the market for a large (9×12) natural fiber rug for under $400, so I’m going to look at Lowe’s! I don’t know yet if they’ll have something perfect, but I love the idea of returning it for free to the local store! What a great option. Thanks for sharing!

    • Jenny B. says

      September 14, 2019 at 12:34 pm

      P.S. I like rug #1 the best. 😉

  3. Lilly says

    September 13, 2019 at 8:12 am

    #5 is the winner for me!! I think it looks great with the floors, walls and cabinets. Can’t wait to see what you chose!

  4. Lottie says

    September 12, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    Number 5.

  5. TB says

    September 12, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    The last one!!It will hide the dirt best in the kitchen too:)Solid dark colours can be stressful as it shows anything.This is what I would have chosen for my living room had I not been gifted a different one.

  6. Gretchen Brown says

    September 12, 2019 at 1:45 pm

    Definitely the Kaleen Boho! I would not invest in viscose since it doesn’t wear well.

  7. Irene Tur says

    September 12, 2019 at 10:21 am

    Option 1!!! Love the color contrast with thr kitchen

  8. Gracie says

    September 12, 2019 at 9:02 am

    Option 2 or 4!! Leaning more towards two because I feel like the whole changing colors thing on the dark one would possibly bug me. They are all beautiful though!!

  9. Kari says

    September 12, 2019 at 8:38 am

    I like 4 and 5 because of the higher contrast. Since #5 is indoor/outdoor, it should be easy to clean with hosing it down. As I’ve learned with kitchen rugs, they get dirtier than other rooms due to drips and drops as you walk around. So that would be a big factor in my decision.

« Older Comments

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Jenna and I’ve been designing and DIY’ing my way through homes since 2008. Join me as I learn, share my experience, and hopefully encourage/inspire you along the way!

As Seen In

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Jenna and I’ve been designing and DIY’ing my way through homes since 2008. Join me as I learn, share my experience, and hopefully encourage/inspire you along the way!

JOIN THE FUN

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Shop MY HOMES

  • Heights House
  • Riverside Retreat
  • Cottage House Flip
  • Modern Farmhouse

Shop MY AMAZON

As an Amazon Associate I earn
from qualifying purchases

Recent Posts

  • Fall Stem and Floral Roundup
  • DIY Reeded Glass Door
  • 40+ Sage Green Kitchen Cabinets (with Paint Colors!)
  • Modern Mediterranean Kitchen Reveal
  • How to DIY Floating Kitchen Shelves
  • DIY Venetian Plaster Fireplace
  • How to Make a Sink Drip Rail

Subscribe via email

Footer

Shop My Homes

  • Heights House
  • Riverside Retreat
  • Cottage House Flip
  • Modern Farmhouse

Connect

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Youtube

Information

  • Contact
  • About Jenna Sue
  • About the Blog
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Jenna Sue Design Co. · All Rights Reserved ·

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL: