The whole world, underfoot

A world map rug is decoration and education rolled into one: a child can trace the continents with a finger, a traveler can find the places they've been and a dreamer can plan where to go next. Ours are printed edge to edge on soft velvet, so coastlines, borders and labels come out crisp and readable, and every rug goes in the washing machine. Choose a bright political map for a playroom, a vintage chart for a study, a minimalist outline for a modern living room or a custom map of your own travels.

Map styles

Style	The look	Best in
Political map	Countries in bright, distinct colors with labels	Kids' rooms, classrooms, homeschool corners
Illustrated kids' map	Animals, landmarks and oceans full of sea life	Nurseries, playrooms
Vintage chart	Sepia tones, compass roses and old-style lettering	Studies, libraries, offices
Minimalist outline	Continents in a single color on a plain ground	Living rooms, modern offices
Watercolor	Soft, blended colors with gentle edges	Bedrooms, nurseries
United States	All fifty states with their capitals	Kids' rooms, classrooms

A political map is the most useful design for a homeschool corner.

Maps for kids

A colorful world map is one of the best rugs for a child's room or playroom, because it invites questions. Where do penguins live? Which ocean is the biggest? Where does grandma live? An illustrated map, with elephants in Africa, kangaroos in Australia, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and whales in the oceans, makes geography a game. There are seven continents and five oceans, and most counts put the number of countries at around 195, plenty to explore together. On a hard floor, choose Standard: 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², so the map stays put during play. Our kids play rugs page has more ideas.

Classrooms and homeschool corners

Teachers and homeschooling families especially love map rugs for geography lessons and circle time: children can sit on their continent, find countries in a story or trace a famous explorer's route. A 5×7 ft rug suits most reading corners; a custom size up to 5′11″ × 10′ gives a classroom a bigger map. For alphabet and seating designs, see our classroom rugs.

The United States

A map of the United States, with all fifty states in different colors and their capitals marked, is a favorite for American kids' rooms and classrooms. It helps children learn the states, trace family road trips and find exactly where relatives live. A national parks version, with mountains, canyons and forests, is a lovely choice for an outdoorsy family.

Vintage charts

For a study, a library or a home office, a vintage-style map, sepia oceans, hand-lettered names, a decorative compass rose and maybe a ship or two, has an elegant, old-world feel. It recalls the age of exploration, when mapmakers decorated their charts with elaborate cartouches and imaginary sea creatures. Pair it with leather chairs, dark wood, a desk globe and a shelf of well-worn travel books.

Minimalist maps

A minimalist map, the continents in a single soft color on a plain cream or charcoal ground, works in almost any modern room. It suits a living room, a bedroom or an office without ever feeling like a classroom. A navy map on cream, or a crisp white map on black, is especially striking. A 5×7 ft rug is our largest standard size and suits most coffee table areas. Our living room rugs page has more layouts.

How maps distort the world

Every flat world map distorts the round Earth in some way or another, without exception. The Mercator projection, created in 1569 for sailors, keeps directions accurate but makes places near the poles look far too big: Greenland appears about the same size as Africa, though Africa is roughly fourteen times larger. Many modern maps use compromise projections, like the Winkel tripel, adopted by the National Geographic Society in 1998, to balance size and shape. If you have a favorite projection, mention it when you order a custom map rug.

Travel maps

One of the most personal rugs you can own is a map of your own travels: a world map with the countries you've visited in color, a route of a big trip or pins marking every city you've lived in. Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′. It's a wonderful gift for a couple who loves to travel, a graduate setting off to see the world or a family that has moved many times. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned, so please check names and spelling before ordering.

Maps of home

A map doesn't have to show the whole world. A rug with a map of your city, your neighborhood or the lake where your family spends every summer is a meaningful keepsake. For kids, a road map of your own town, with your house and school, makes a play rug like no other.

Geography games

A map rug turns geography into play. Call out a country and see who can stand on it first; match small flags to the right continent; play I spy with landmarks and animals; or roll a die to plan an imaginary journey around the world. For older children, a blank outline map makes a challenging quiz: can you name every continent and ocean without labels? These games build knowledge without ever feeling like homework.

The age of exploration

For centuries, maps were treasures, guarded secrets that showed sailors the way. The first voyage around the world, begun by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 and completed in 1522 by the few survivors, changed what people knew about the shape of the Earth. A vintage map rug in that spirit, with old trade routes, compass roses and tall ships, is a perfect conversation piece for a history lover's study.

Anniversaries and couples

A custom map makes a thoughtful anniversary or wedding gift: the cities where a couple met, married and lived, or the route of a honeymoon, marked with small hearts. It's a rug that tells a story every time someone asks about it.

Hallways

A long, narrow custom map, a single continent or a coastline stretching the length of a hallway, turns a passage into a journey. Choose Standard there, which stays put as people walk by.

Round maps and globes

A round rug can show the Earth as a globe, the continents curving across a blue sphere, or a polar view centered on the North Pole. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across. Our round rugs page shows each size in a room. For the planets beyond our own, see our space rugs.

Star maps

Maps of the sky are just as beautiful as maps of the land: the constellations of the night sky, or the stars as they appeared on a special date, like a birthday or a wedding. For more, see our celestial rugs.

Fantasy maps

Readers and gamers love maps of imaginary worlds. If you're dreaming of a map of a fantasy realm, our custom rugs can print one from your own artwork, and our Skyrim and Dungeons and Dragons pages have game-world maps.

Nurseries

A soft watercolor world map, or an illustrated map in gentle pastels, makes a calm nursery theme that grows with your child. 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, Standard's non-slip back is the safer choice. Our kids and nursery rugs have more ideas.

Offices

A world map under a desk is a fitting choice for anyone who works with colleagues and clients around the world, or who simply likes to dream of the next trip during a long day. Under a desk chair, choose Standard in 3.3×5 or 4×6 ft, which stays put and lets wheels roll freely.

Standard or Premium

Standard is best for playrooms, classrooms, offices and anywhere with a hard or slippery floor, because its non-slip back stays put. Premium is softer and warmer, best in nurseries, bedrooms and living rooms. Both are printed the same way, so labels stay sharp and readable, 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. Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′. For a map with readable country labels, 4×6 ft or larger works best. 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 oceans stay blue and the borders stay clear, wash after wash, trip after trip.

Famous historic maps

Some maps changed how people saw the world. Ptolemy's Geography, written in Alexandria in the 2nd century, used a grid of latitude and longitude that Renaissance mapmakers revived more than a thousand years later. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published a world map that was the first to use the name America, after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci; the only surviving copy was bought by the Library of Congress in 2003. In 1569, Gerardus Mercator published the projection that still bears his name, designed to help sailors steer straight courses.

Those maps inspire rugs with a sense of history. A Renaissance-style world map with sea monsters, compass roses and decorative borders makes an elegant design for a study or a library. A map that shows the first naming of America, in aged parchment tones, suits a history lover's room, and a pair of hemispheres side by side, as on old school maps, brings a classic, scholarly feel to an office.

For curious kids, a rug that compares an old map with a modern one, showing how much the world's outline changed as explorers filled in the blanks, turns the floor into a geography lesson.

History fans will love it.