Check Overstock, they frequently have varied patterns.

like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: rug

It seems to me that at least one of those Designers would know the manufacture of the carpet. I'll bet if you contacted their offices they could tell you the source. That's kind of what it's all about. I say dig deeper! Good luck!!!

Was it really seagrass? In every room? Or sisal? How big was the "pattern" would you say?

I found a picture I took with my phone. In the photo the rug looks like a basketweave, but it wasn't. Perhaps you can tell the scale from the photo. I'm guessing each "stitch" was about the size of the first joint of my thumb.

Whether it was seagrass or not, I'm not certain. It was summer time. I slipped off my sandals and tested it with my barefeet. It was very smooth. There was no roughness. Nor was there any "fuzziness" like you see with jute or sisal.

I am not sure I've ever heard of wall to wall Seagrass.

Given that it's wall to wall, my guess is that it is a "sisal look" rug made from wool or acrylic or a blend. Wool being far more expensive, doubt they'd use that all over for a showhouse.

Anyway, to me it almost looks Berber, given the texture.
I would take the photo to a carpet dealer. If they can't ID it my guess is they can find very similar.

I'm not sure where you live, but this is the store I'd go to in Atlanta. I'm positive that it's where my friends' wall to wall seagrass came from. They have more than what's listed on on their website. The 3rd or 4th slide on the home page has one that looks like it might be similar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Myers Carpet

Wall to wall seagrass has been around for a long time, you could check out the carpet dealers in your area, they'll know about it and have samples for sure.

porkandham, it was the Cashiers Decorators' Show House so it is highly likely that an Atlanta carpet store and whoever did the flooring in the house had access to the same stock! Unfortunately, I don't live close enough to Atlanta to go to Myers.

It wasn't a wool look-alike. The texture wasn't wool-like or sisal-like at all. The surface was very smooth. It was also rather hard. I've struggled with how to explain the hardness which may actually be an element of the smoothness. The best is to say that it was like a very thin, yet pliable, wood veneer over a nice rug pad.

mitchdesj, I went to the biggest carpet/flooring supplier in my area. No luck there.

Like caminnc suggested, I'm going to have to dig deeper. I have emailed the design coordinator. Cross your fingers that I get a response!

Here is a link that might be useful: CDS Participants

Any chance that it's apple or rush matting, popular in the UK?

Scroll down on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: apple/rush matting

nsm, thanks for the link. The rug in the CDS house was much more regular and refined looking than the apple/rush matting.

A very good source for reasonably priced rugs -- including seagrass -- is Natural Area Rugs, www.naturalarearugs.com. Why don't you contact them with your question and picture and see what they say the rug you saw is?

Joni Webb of the wonderful blog Cote de Texas loves seagrass rugs and talks about them often in her blog. Here's a piece she wrote about them & why she loves them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cote de Texas on seagrass rugs

I put wall to wall seagrass in the family room of my last house. I believe I put it in in 1992 since I know it was there in some pictures from my son's second birthday which was 1993!

Annette

Ashef, I have that same CdT article bookmarked. That is where I got the idea to have a seagrass rug in the dining room. I'll see what naturalrugs.com has to say about what I'm looking for. Thanks for the suggestion.

bocron, you've lived with seagrass. How did you like it? I am planning this for the dining room. It will not have much traffic and we have no pets or small children.

This is who I have purchased from as a designer for wall to wall seagrass & sisal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Merida Meridian

Thanks, beverly27. Mayon on page 5 comes the closest to what I'm looking for. It isn't seagrass, though. It is Abaca. I know nothing about Abaca. Wikipedia says it is mostly used for paper these days.

When you used seagrass in design projects, which pattern did you like best?

I'm still hopeful I'll hear from someone connected with the Show house who can tell me what they used.

That's interesting, because I was looking in the carpet dept at a retailer here and saw "true seagrass". I liked it , and was asking the salesperson about cleaning it.

He said about all you can do it shake it out? Which made me think seagrass wasn't used wall to wall...

Off to read CoteDT ...maybe I can use Seagrass after all.

Edited to add:
Ashef, thanks for the link! Of course I need to read about her other favorite things! I love the way she summed up seagrass+whiteslips+antiques. I agree its a great formula.

This post was edited by mtnrdredux on Mon, Feb 3, 14 at 22:44

Surely, you can vacuum it. Otherwise, you could never have a carpet bigger than a doormat! Joni Webb at CdT advocates not wall to wall, but having it cut in the shape of the room and bound. Nevertheless, it would be too big to pick up and shake.

I'll have to look into how to care for seagrass.

I vacuum my seagrass carpet, which is under the table where we eat all out meals. It's held up really well, almost liquid repellant and, after 3 years, still looks perfect. The edging gets dirty, and I clean it with fabric cleaner.
Oh, and I use a Dyson vacuum, which hasn't torn the seagrass out yet.

This post was edited by nosoccermom on Tue, Feb 4, 14 at 9:55

Bbstx,
Based on Joanie's' blog , I'm assuming the salesperson was just plain wrong! A little surprising given the caliber of the store , but go figure !

That's a gorgeous look. Do let us know if you locate it.

I bought my seagrass rug at Natural Area rugs. They also sell wall-to-wall but warn that one needs an experienced installer. Also, see their FAQ on cleaning the rugs. They do suggest vacuuming.

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs on natural rugs