Friends don't lie

A small Indiana town, a missing boy, a girl with a shaved head and strange powers, and a group of friends on bicycles who refuse to give up: Stranger Things turned 1980s nostalgia into one of the biggest shows in the world. A Stranger Things-inspired rug brings Hawkins into your home, with a wall of painted letters strung with blinking Christmas lights, the ashy red sky of the Upside Down, a map of town or the wood-paneled basement where every campaign begins. Every design is printed into soft velvet and goes in the washing machine.

Stranger Things-inspired designs

Design	The look	Best in
Christmas lights alphabet	Painted letters under a string of colored bulbs	Teen rooms, game rooms
The Upside Down	An inverted town under a red, ashy sky	Movie rooms, teen bedrooms
Map of Hawkins	A hand-drawn small-town map with the woods and the lab	Bedrooms, hallways
Basement campaign	Wood paneling, dice and a game board	Game rooms, basements
Red retro lettering	Glowing red serif letters on black	Home theaters, teen rooms
Bikes at night	Bicycles with headlamps on a dark road	Kids' and teen bedrooms

The show

Created by twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in July 2016. It begins in November 1983 in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, when twelve-year-old Will Byers vanishes on his way home and his friends Mike, Dustin and Lucas set out to find him, joined by a mysterious girl called Eleven who has escaped from a government laboratory. With Winona Ryder as Will's determined mother Joyce and David Harbour as police chief Jim Hopper, the series grew over five seasons into a story about monsters, friendship and growing up, ending with its final season at the close of 2025. The Duffers have spoken of their love for the films of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter and the novels of Stephen King, and you can feel all three in every episode.

The Christmas lights

In the first season, Joyce becomes convinced her missing son is trying to reach her through the lights in her house, so she paints the alphabet on her living room wall, strings Christmas lights above the letters and asks him to spell out his messages. It's one of the most memorable images in television. A rug with painted letters under a string of colored bulbs is a fun, recognizable design for a teen room or a game room, and a playful pick for the holidays. For more festive designs, see our Christmas rugs.

The Upside Down

The Upside Down is a dark mirror of Hawkins, the same streets and houses but cold, empty and covered in creeping vines, with ash drifting through a red-lit sky. An Upside Down rug, an inverted town under a stormy red sky, is a moody, dramatic design for a movie room or a teen's bedroom. Pair it with red LED lights and blackout curtains for the full effect.

Basement campaigns

The show opens with the boys finishing a ten-hour tabletop campaign in Mike's wood-paneled basement, and role-playing games run through the whole series, all the way to the Hellfire Club of the fourth season. A basement campaign rug, with wood-paneled tones, scattered dice and a game board, sets the scene under a gaming table. Under a gaming chair, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², which stays put and lets the wheels roll. For more, see our Dungeons and Dragons rugs.

Glowing red letters

The show's title sequence, red letters slowly sliding together over a black screen to a pulsing synthesizer score, borrows the style of 1980s paperback horror covers. A rug with glowing red serif lettering on black, spelling your own name or a word of your choosing, captures that mood for a home theater or a teen room. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; we don't print the show's logo.

A small-town map

A hand-drawn map of a small Midwestern town, with the woods, the quarry, the school, the arcade and the laboratory behind its fence, is a fun design for a bedroom or a hallway runner. A custom runner up to 10 ft long can trace the route from home to the woods. Choose Standard, which stays put as people walk by.

Bikes, walkie-talkies and the 1980s

Before smartphones, the kids of Hawkins got around on bicycles and kept in touch with walkie-talkies, and that freedom is a big part of the show's nostalgic charm. A rug with bikes and headlamps on a dark road, or a 1980s pattern of cassette tapes, walkie-talkies and arcade tokens, is a cheerful design for a kid's or a teen's bedroom. For more from the decade, see our retro rugs.

Arcades and malls

The kids hang out at the local arcade in the second season and at the shiny new mall in the third, both pure 1980s. An arcade-style rug with pixel art, neon and checkered floors makes a fun game room. For more, see our arcade rugs and Pac-Man rugs.

Music

The show has brought 1980s songs back to life more than once. In 2022, a Kate Bush song from 1985 that played a crucial role in the fourth season soared back into the charts around the world, decades after its release. A rug for a music lover's room, with cassette tapes and a Walkman, is a sweet nod to that moment.

Teen rooms

For a teen who loves the show, a Christmas lights alphabet or an Upside Down rug is the heart of the room. Pair it with string lights, a few posters and a beanbag for binge-watching. On a hard floor, choose Standard so the rug stays put. Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts.

Movie rooms and binge-watch nights

For a family movie room, a red-lettering rug or an Upside Down design in front of the sofa makes every rewatch feel like an event. A 4×6 or 5×7 ft rug fits most seating areas. Choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m², for a soft floor to sprawl on. Our home theater rugs page has more ideas.

Halloween

The show is a favorite Halloween theme, with costume parties full of Elevens and ghostbusting kids. An Upside Down rug inside the front door makes a great spooky welcome in October; keep it indoors, out of the weather. For more scary favorites, see our horror rugs.

Basements and rec rooms

So much of the show happens in basements, rec rooms and garages, and a Stranger Things-inspired rug is a natural fit for a finished basement. Pair a basement campaign or a 1980s pattern rug with a sagging sofa, wood paneling or warm lamps, a retro TV and a shelf of board games, and you've got your own headquarters. Choose Standard on concrete or tile floors, so the rug stays put.

Siblings and shared rooms

For siblings who watch together, a Christmas lights alphabet rug works for any age, and a bikes-at-night design is a sweet choice for younger fans who aren't ready for the scarier episodes. Two smaller rugs, one beside each bed, keep the peace in a shared room.

Colors

Stranger Things-inspired designs look best in black and red for the title look and the Upside Down; warm wood, mustard and avocado for 1980s basements; and the multicolored bulbs of Christmas lights against a pale wall.

Other series and films

For another small town full of secrets, see our Twin Peaks rugs, and for the full range of films and shows, our movie and pop culture rugs.

Gifts

A Stranger Things-inspired rug makes a great gift for a teen fan, a 1980s kid or a tabletop gamer. The Christmas lights alphabet is the most recognizable choice; a custom red-lettering rug with their name is the most personal.

Your own design

Want your name in glowing red retro letters, a map of your own town or a basement campaign design for your gaming group? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or as a round rug. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use. 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, and round rugs from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across. Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′, including long runners. 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 reds stay glowing, wash after wash.

Season by season

Each season of Stranger Things captures a different slice of the 1980s. The first, released in 2016 and set in November 1983, introduced Will's disappearance, Eleven and the Christmas-light alphabet. The second, set around Halloween 1984, added Dustin's pet Dart and the Mind Flayer. The third, set in the summer of 1985, moved much of the action to the brand-new Starcourt Mall, with its neon food court and an ice cream shop where Steve and Robin work.

The fourth season, released in 2022 and set in 1986, split the group between Hawkins, California and a Soviet prison, and introduced Vecna, the series' most terrifying villain. The fifth and final season arrived at the end of 2025, bringing the story back to Hawkins for its conclusion.

Each season inspires its own rug. A wall of Christmas lights with painted letters is the classic first-season design for a living room. A pumpkin patch at night with a menacing shadow over the town suits a Halloween room. A neon mall food court, all pinks and teals, captures season three's summer fun for a teen's room, and a grandfather clock with a crack across its face is an eerie nod to Vecna for a horror fan.

For fans who have watched every season, a rug that moves from Christmas lights to a mall sign to a cracked clock tells the whole story, and it's a great conversation starter during a rewatch.

For fans who host watch parties, a season-themed rug in front of the TV becomes part of the ritual for every rewatch.

Padrift is an independent studio. Stranger Things is named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Netflix or the show's creators.