Tilly is a women-owned online landscape design company that makes designing your outdoor living space easy. With their team of expert landscape designers, you can transform any lackluster backyard into an incredible oasis—all remotely, anywhere in the US, or whatever your style!

With Tilly you sign up online, upload photos of your property, and then have a video call with a designer that’s been matched to your local landscape and your specific design style. Tilly then provides you with a landscaping plan and a list of plants to purchase (and they can deliver the plants at below-cost pricing!), as well as helpful add-ons like 3D renders, lighting plans, and irrigation plans. Their design services start at just $375. Who knew doing landscape design online could be so simple?

Here at Rugs.com, we know rugs—and all rugs need a good home. We spoke to the team at Tilly about their favorite outdoor rugs that are perfect matches for backyards of every style. Keep reading to check out their favorite outdoor rug ideas and get a sneak peek at some of their beautiful backyard designs.

How Can a Rug Improve Your Outdoor Space?

You might be more familiar with rugs for your living room, but there are stylish and functional rugs made for indoors and outdoors. A good outdoor rug does more than just add a little bit of decor—it can help to shape the design of your outdoor living space.

It creates an intimate space

Laying down a rug under a dining set or a group of comfy adirondack chairs tells people that this is a place to gather! A rug creates a central area in your landscaping that captures the feeling of a room without any walls at all. It invites people to come together and get cozy.

It gives a space delineation

Inside your house, you have obvious rooms: dining room, living room, kitchen, etc. Outside, you have no walls to break up your space! Rugs can help to distinguish your dedicated grilling zone from the cushy patio area where you kick back to enjoy happy hour.

It tells people how to move through the space

It might not seem like a big deal at first, but it’s important to the outdoor design process to establish how people will move through your landscape. A long runner rug can guide people from your kitchen to your outdoor dining space, while a statement outdoor patio rug will help remind people that the patio is NOT the right path for muddy boots to come inside from the garden.

Outdoor Rugs to Match 8 Popular Landscaping Styles

Classic

Classic landscape design is all about embracing a clean, balanced aesthetic. Classic designs tend to use simple, neutral color palettes, symmetry, repetition, and clean lines. These designs have a place for everything and everything in its place to create a peaceful, distraction-free environment.

Rug tips:

• Choose a timeless rug
• Neutrals or a subtle print look great with a classic garden and allow the greenery and flowers to shine

Cottage

The signature of a cottage garden is a style that feels thoroughly lived in. They feature explosions of colorful flowers and abundant plants throughout the landscape and a combination of quirky objects and cozy gathering spaces nestled in among the lush greenery. Forget about meticulous organization and embrace an exuberant design made with lots of love.

Rug tips:

• A cottage garden is typically colorful and fun, so have just as much fun with your rug! 
• Prints or bold colors are a great fit for this style
• Use natural materials
• Keep it cozy! 
• Style with comfortable furniture

Eclectic

Throw out the rule book and mix together a little bit of, well, everything in an eclectic landscape design. This style allows you to mix colors, patterns, eras, and aesthetics together into a free-flowing design that reflects all your favorite things. Textiles can really help to bring the whole design together, so go wild picking outdoor cushions to complement your rug.

Rug tips:

• A rug can be a great focal point in a wild design
• Reflect a mix of styles and influences with your textiles
• Embrace the bright and colorful
• Most importantly, your rug should be a fun expression of YOU!

Modern

Say hello to sharp lines, sleek surfaces, and geometric designs. Modern landscaping designs bring a clean and polished style to your yard with defined rectilinear garden beds and a simple, repetitive palette of plants. Every piece of the design is deliberate and planned out to the tiniest detail—no stray dandelion out of place.

Rug tips:

• Black, white, and gray lend themselves to a modern look 
• Feature abstract and geometric patterns
• Don’t be afraid of stark contrasts—think a black area rug on a pale concrete patio

Tropical

Bold colors and lush plant textures bring tropical designs to life! Whether you’re planting a full jungle of greenery or strategically placing show-stopping tropical points as focal points of your landscape, you can still nail this vibrant style. Water features, tiki bars, and (of course) a pool are all features that can turn your tropical oasis up to 11.

Rug tips:

• Reach for glossy textures and vibrant colors
• Fun prints are your friend
• If you want to go neutral with your rug, jazz up your palette with colorful accent pillows
• Surround your outdoor patio rug with lush greenery in planters to complete the tropical feel 

Southwestern

The major signature of arid southwestern landscapes is minimal grass. Cut down on lawn space and embrace alternative ground covers! Use natural stone, expansive patios, and of course spacious area rugs to redefine your outdoor living space. Warm, neutral tones ground this style and pops of color and drought-tolerant plants bring it to life.

Rug tips:

• Match the sand and desert plants with a warm-toned palette
• Take advantage of textures to mirror the landscape
• Pair your rug with terracotta planters to embrace the southwest style
• Look to vintage-style ironwork and natural motifs to inspire your textiles

Formal

You might not own a huge historical estate, but your front yard can look like you do! Formal designs combine major statement pieces with classic landscaping details to create an outdoor space that’s sweeping and stately. Tidy and well manicured hedges look just-so surrounding a focal point like a tiered fountain. The curb appeal of a formal design tells neighbors that you appreciate the finer things in life.

Rug tips:

• Use a simple color palette—greens and whites will help to mirror the leaves and blooms in your plants
• Use your rug to create a striking backyard focal point
• Surround your rug with symmetrically placed furniture and plants

Naturalistic

Naturalistic designs fully appreciate the local plants and landscape and reflect them in your yard. They include plenty of native plants from your region which are typically low maintenance since they should thrive in your weather conditions. This style will benefit from being wild and free and letting your landscape do its thing—so feel free to take a weekend off from pruning.

Rug tips:

• Natural elements should feature throughout your design and be reflected in your rug
• The rug shouldn’t be the focal point, but it can complement and highlight the greenery around you

At Tilly, we’re all about turning a simple yard into a beautiful space to really enjoy outdoor living. Your perfect landscape is a place that makes you want to stay outside long after lunch on the patio is over. A rug helps to create spaces to relax, lounge, and really live outside—no wonder we love them.

That’s why it makes so much sense for the best rugs and the best online landscape design service to come together! If you want to spruce up your backyard (and who doesn’t?), Tilly is offering friends of Rugs.com $50 off your plan if you use RUGS50. This is your sign to get started on your dream landscape design.