Be careful what you wish for

A bored, curious girl in a rainy old house finds a small door hidden behind the wallpaper, and on the other side is a world that seems perfect, until she notices that everyone there has buttons for eyes. Coraline is one of the most beautiful and unsettling stop-motion films ever made, and its handmade world has a passionate following. A Coraline-inspired rug brings that eerie charm home: a tiny door with a keyhole, scattered black buttons, the swirling blue tunnel between worlds, a garden glowing under the moon or a black cat slinking across the floor. Every design is printed into soft velvet and goes in the washing machine.

Coraline-inspired designs

Design	The look	Best in
Little door	A small arched door with a keyhole	Bedrooms, reading nooks
Buttons	Scattered black buttons on cream or pink	Teen rooms, craft rooms
Blue tunnel	A swirling blue and violet passage on a round rug	Movie rooms, gothic bedrooms
Glowing garden	Strange flowers glowing under the moon	Bedrooms, living rooms
Dragonfly	A delicate blue dragonfly	Girls' rooms, vanities
Black cat	A sleek black cat silhouette	Entryways, cat lovers' rooms

The book and the film

Coraline began as a 2002 novella by Neil Gaiman. In 2009, director Henry Selick turned it into a stop-motion film at Laika, a studio in Oregon, with Dakota Fanning voicing Coraline Jones. Every scene was built by hand: tiny sets, puppets with thousands of interchangeable faces and even miniature sweaters knitted with needles as thin as hair. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and has grown into a cult classic, returning to theaters for its fifteenth anniversary in 2024.

The little door

The small door, papered over and locked, that leads to the Other World is the heart of the story. A rug with a little arched door and a keyhole, set into a wall of faded floral wallpaper, is a mysterious, magical design for a bedroom or a reading nook, as if adventure were waiting just under your feet. As a shaped rug cut to the outline of a small door, it's even more intriguing. Our shaped rugs come in sizes from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm).

Buttons

Buttons are the film's most famous and unsettling motif. A rug of scattered black buttons on cream or soft pink is a subtle, stylish nod that fans recognize instantly, while looking simply quirky to everyone else. It's also a sweet choice for a sewing or craft room.

The blue tunnel

Behind the little door is a long, soft, swirling tunnel of blue and violet light. A round rug with that swirling tunnel spiraling toward the center is a hypnotic, dreamy design for a movie room or a gothic bedroom. Our round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across.

The glowing garden

In the Other World, the garden comes alive at night, with flowers that glow and move, and seen from above it forms a picture of Coraline's own face. A glowing-garden rug, strange luminous flowers in pink, blue and violet against a dark night, is a beautiful, otherworldly design for a bedroom or a living room. For more blooms, see our flower rugs.

The dragonfly

Coraline wears a little dragonfly clip in her blue hair. A single delicate blue dragonfly on a pale background is a gentle, pretty design for a girl's room or a vanity, recognizable to fans and lovely to everyone else.

The black cat

A wise, sarcastic black cat who can move between worlds is Coraline's unexpected ally. A sleek black cat silhouette is a stylish design for an entryway or a cat lover's room. For more feline designs, see our cat rugs.

The pink house

Coraline's family moves into an old pink Victorian house divided into apartments, surrounded by fog and rain. A rug of a tall pink house in the drizzle, with its windows glowing, is a cozy-creepy design for a bedroom or a reading nook.

A yellow raincoat

Coraline's bright yellow raincoat and blue hair stand out against the gray, rainy world. A color-block rug in raincoat yellow and dusky blue, with a few raindrops, is a subtle, cheerful nod that only fans will catch.

Made by hand in Oregon

Laika, the studio behind the film, is based near Portland, Oregon, and the story itself is set in the rainy Oregon countryside. Coraline was its first feature, and it went on to make ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link, all with the same painstaking handmade craft. A misty, rainy Pacific Northwest design is a quiet tribute to the place the film came from.

The patience of stop-motion

Stop-motion animators move each puppet a tiny amount, take a single frame, then move it again; a film runs at 24 frames per second, so a single animator might produce only a few seconds of finished footage in a week. Knowing that every leaf, button and raindrop in the film was placed by hand makes its world feel even more magical.

Hallways and dorms

Down a hallway, a custom runner up to 10 ft long with a row of faded floral wallpaper and a tiny door at the far end is a wonderfully mysterious design. In a dorm, a button or tunnel rug brings instant personality; choose Standard on hard floors so it stays put.

Pairing with furniture

Coraline-inspired rugs suit whimsical, slightly eerie rooms: an antique dresser, a velvet armchair in deep blue, a mirror with a carved frame, fairy lights and a jar of mismatched buttons on a shelf. Paint one wall dusky blue for the full effect.

Gothic and teen bedrooms

For a teen or a grown-up who loves the film, a button or tunnel rug is the heart of a moody, whimsical bedroom. Pair it with deep blue walls, fairy lights, a vintage mirror and a few odd trinkets. Choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m², for the softest feel underfoot. Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts, and for darker moods, our gothic rugs.

Spooky, but not too scary

The film is rated PG but has genuinely frightening moments, so it suits older kids, teens and adults best. Gentle designs like the dragonfly, the yellow raincoat or the glowing garden are safest for younger fans.

Movie rooms and Halloween

A tunnel or button rug in front of the sofa makes a perfect setting for a stop-motion movie night. In October, a little door or black cat rug just inside the front door is a spooky welcome; keep it indoors, out of the weather, and choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², for its grip. For more, see our Halloween rugs and home theater rugs.

Reading nooks

The story began as a book, and a little door or glowing garden rug makes a perfect base for a reading nook: a floor cushion, a lamp, a stack of spooky novels and a blanket for rainy afternoons. Premium is soft enough to sit on for a long chapter.

Colors

Coraline-inspired designs look best in dusky blue, violet, soft pink and black, with raincoat yellow and the glowing pinks and greens of the garden.

Other stop-motion and gothic favorites

For more handmade, gothic film worlds, see our Beetlejuice rugs, and for more films, our movie and pop culture rugs.

Gifts

A Coraline-inspired rug makes a great gift for a fan of the film or the book, a goth teen or a stop-motion enthusiast. A button rug is the most subtle; a little door is the most magical.

Your own design

Want a little door with your name on the keyhole plate, buttons in your favorite colors or a glowing garden sized to your bedroom? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut it to shape. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; film stills and official art belong to their owners. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across, and shaped rugs from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm). Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the colors stay dreamy, wash after wash.

The Other World, room by room

Behind the little door, the Other Mother builds a world designed to tempt Coraline, and each part of it makes a rug. Upstairs, the Other Mr. Bobinsky runs a circus of jumping mice, a dazzling show of tiny performers in red and gold under a striped tent. Downstairs, the Other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible perform in a glittering theater, with an audience of Scottie dogs and a velvet curtain.

The Other garden is the most famous of all. Seen from above, its glowing flowers and paths form Coraline's own face, a detail the film reveals in one breathtaking shot. A rug of that garden, with luminous pinks, purples and greens on deep blue, is magical in a bedroom and uncanny once you notice the face.

There is also the Other kitchen, with its endless feast and the moving dinner table, and the Other Wybie, silent and kind. For a fan who wants something less obvious than buttons, a theater curtain with little Scottie dogs, or a striped circus tent with leaping mice, is a clever, playful design that still carries the film's eerie charm.

Keep the room's lights low and warm, add a vintage lamp or a little door painted on a baseboard, and the rug becomes part of a corner that feels just slightly too perfect, which is exactly the point.

Fans of the book often prefer these quieter scenes.

Padrift is an independent studio. Coraline is named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Laika, Focus Features or Neil Gaiman.