The cuddliest black and white

With its round face, black eye patches and fluffy ears, the giant panda is one of the most recognizable and lovable animals in the world. A panda rug brings that gentle charm into a room: a round panda face filling a round rug, a sleepy cub curled up and cut to shape, a panda happily munching bamboo or a calm green bamboo forest. Its simple black and white also makes it one of the easiest animal designs to fit into any room. Ours are printed edge to edge on soft velvet, so the black stays deep and the white stays bright, and every rug goes in the washing machine.

Panda designs

Design	The look	Best in
Round panda face	Black ears and eye patches on a white circle	Nurseries, kids' rooms, reading corners
Sleepy panda cub	A curled-up cub, cut to shape	Beside a crib or bed
Panda with bamboo	A panda sitting and munching on bamboo	Kids' rooms, playrooms
Bamboo forest	Tall green bamboo stalks with a panda among them	Bedrooms, calm living rooms
Kawaii panda	A tiny, round, smiling panda	Cute bedrooms, dorms
Red panda	A russet red panda with a ringed tail	Woodland and kids' rooms

The round panda face

A panda's face is almost a perfect circle, with its round black ears and eye patches, which makes it a natural fit for a round rug. On a 3.3 to 4.6 ft (100 to 140 cm) rug, it's a sweet, graphic centerpiece for a nursery or a child's room; on a larger rug, it becomes a bold, playful statement in a playroom. Our round rugs page shows each size in a room.

Remarkable panda facts

Giant pandas live in the misty mountain forests of central China and spend most of their day eating bamboo, munching for many hours and getting through a remarkable amount of it. They have a special, enlarged wrist bone that works like a thumb, helping them grip the stalks. A newborn panda cub is tiny, about the size of a stick of butter and pink and nearly hairless, yet it grows into a bear weighing more than 200 pounds. A panda rug is a lovely starting point for sharing facts like these with a curious child.

A conservation success story

For decades, the giant panda was a symbol of endangered wildlife. Thanks to years of habitat protection and conservation work in China, it was moved from endangered to vulnerable in 2016, one of the great conservation success stories. A panda rug can be a hopeful way to talk with children about protecting animals, and our designs are always printed, never made from any part of an animal.

Panda nurseries

Pandas make a wonderful nursery theme: gentle, gender-neutral and timeless, with a black-and-white palette that's easy to decorate around. Pair a panda rug with white furniture, soft greys and a touch of bamboo green, and the room stays calm and fresh. Choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m², for tummy time; once your child is walking on a smooth floor, switch to Standard: 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m². Our kids and nursery rugs have more ideas.

Sleepy panda cubs

A panda cub curled into a fluffy ball, fast asleep, is one of the sweetest shaped rugs we make. Cut to its outline, in sizes from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm), it's a soft little friend beside a crib or a bed. Our shaped rugs page shows how they work.

Bamboo forests

A bamboo forest, tall green stalks and leaves with a panda peeking out, is a calm, natural design for a bedroom or a living room. It reads as a serene botanical scene, and it pairs well with pale wood, linen and plants. For more leafy designs, see our botanical rugs, and for calm, Asian-inspired spaces, our zen and spiritual rugs.

Kawaii pandas

Tiny, round, smiling pandas are a favorite of kawaii and cute decor. A kawaii panda rug in black, white and soft pink suits a cute bedroom, a dorm or a desk corner. For more sweet designs, see our cute rugs.

Red pandas

Despite the name, the red panda isn't closely related to the giant panda. It's a small, tree-climbing animal with russet fur, a white-masked face and a long, ringed tail, living in the forests of the Himalayas. A red panda rug, in warm rust and cream, is a charming choice for a woodland nursery or a child's room.

Black-and-white rooms

A panda's simple palette makes it one of the few animal designs that suits a grown-up, monochrome room. A minimalist panda face, or a black-and-white bamboo pattern, looks graphic and modern against white walls and black furniture, with a single green plant for contrast.

Kids' rooms and playrooms

For older children, a panda munching bamboo makes a cheerful bedroom rug, and a bamboo forest scene makes a play rug for toy animals. On a hard floor, choose Standard so the rug stays put. Our kids play rugs page has more ideas.

Why black and white?

Scientists have long wondered why pandas look the way they do. One leading idea is that the pattern works as camouflage in two settings at once: the white face and body blend into snowy slopes, while the black legs and shoulders fade into the shade of the forest. The dark eye patches may also help pandas recognize one another. Giant pandas don't hibernate, either; in winter they simply move down the mountains to warmer forests and keep eating bamboo, which makes up almost their entire diet.

Pandas and American zoos

In 1972, after President Nixon's visit to China, two giant pandas named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and pandas have drawn crowds at American zoos ever since. A panda rug is a sweet souvenir of a family trip to see them, especially as a custom design printed from your own photo.

Playful pandas

Young pandas are famously playful. They tumble, roll down slopes, climb trees and wrestle with each other, which is exactly why panda videos are so popular. A rug with a panda cub rolling, hanging from a branch or sitting with a bamboo stalk in its paws captures that cheerful, clumsy energy and makes children smile.

Twins and siblings

For twins or siblings sharing a room, a pair of panda cubs side by side is a sweet, matching design, or two sleepy panda rugs, one beside each crib or bed.

Baby showers and gifts

A panda rug makes a lovely baby shower gift: gentle, gender-neutral and machine washable. A custom panda with the baby's name and birth date becomes a keepsake that lasts long after the nursery years, and a kawaii panda is a fun birthday gift for a teen who loves cute things.

Hallways and entryways

Just inside the front door, a small panda rug gives guests a friendly welcome; keep it indoors, out of the weather. Down a hallway, a custom runner with pandas climbing along a row of bamboo turns a narrow space into a little forest walk. Choose Standard for both, for its grip on hard floors.

Bathrooms

A little panda rug by a kids' bathroom vanity is a cheerful touch. It's a printed velvet rug, not a quick-drying bath mat, so keep it by the vanity or the door, out of the splash zone, and choose Standard for its grip on tiles.

Colors

The classic panda palette is black, white and bamboo green, and it works almost anywhere. For a softer nursery, try charcoal instead of black with blush pink or mint; for a kawaii room, add pastel pink and lavender. A red panda brings warm rust, cream and forest green.

Pairing with furniture

Panda designs look lovely with white or pale wood furniture, grey and cream textiles and a few green plants. In a nursery, add a bamboo-green wall or a leafy print; in a monochrome living room, keep everything black and white and let a single plant bring the color.

Your own panda

Want a panda with your baby's name, a design in your nursery's colors or a rug from a photo of pandas at a zoo? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut it to shape. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned, so please check names and spelling before ordering.

Other animal friends

For more cuddly favorites, see our teddy bear rugs, and for the full range, our animal rugs.

Standard or Premium

Standard is best for playrooms, entryways and anywhere with a hard or slippery floor, because its non-slip back stays put. Premium is softer and warmer, best in nurseries and bedrooms. Both are printed the same way, so blacks stay deep and whites stay bright, and both go in the washing machine.

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 panda-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 your panda stays crisp black and white, wash after wash.

Pandas in ink-wash painting

In China, the giant panda has become a beloved subject for traditional ink-wash painting, known as guohua. Painters use soft brushes and black ink on rice paper to suggest a panda's round shape with just a few strokes, leaving the white of the paper for its fur, and adding pale green washes for bamboo leaves. The style is perfect for an animal that is already black and white.

A rug inspired by that tradition feels calm and artful. A panda resting among bamboo stalks, drawn in loose, flowing ink strokes on a cream background, suits a living room, a study or a Japandi-style bedroom. A mother and cub curled together in a few confident brushstrokes makes a tender nursery design, and a single bamboo branch with a small panda peeking out is a lovely, minimal rug for an entryway.

These designs pair beautifully with natural wood, rice paper lamps, stoneware and a few green plants, and they give panda lovers something more grown-up than a cartoon face. For a gift, they suit anyone who loves Chinese art, calm interiors or simply pandas in their most elegant form.

For families who have visited pandas at a zoo or a conservation center, an ink-wash design becomes a quiet souvenir of the trip.