InHabit Design Works:
Quality, Innovation, and Longevity.
By Jason Rodarte, EKKOnesters LLC | August 2026
Jason here with EKKOnesters.
Every great idea seems to get copied. Here’s why the original Inhabit mats are still the best.
Michelle and I wondered for years whether there was really that much difference between one woven-vinyl floor system and another.
When we owned our first Winnebago EKKO—TREKKO—we never purchased an Inhabit Design Works floor system. We knew about the company and had seen the mats in other vehicles, but honestly, we didn’t fully understand the value. We even looked at alternatives and considered making our own.
Find some woven vinyl, make a template, cut it to fit. How hard could it really be?
That changed when we purchased our Sprinter-based EKKO—SPREKKO—and finally lived with an Inhabit system ourselves.
What we came to understand is that this isn’t simply about making an interior look better. It is also about protecting the factory flooring underneath it—something that can be far more difficult and expensive to replace than most of us probably realize.
Think about what you're protecting
In many adventure vehicles, the original flooring is installed during the coach-building process, with cabinetry, fixtures, walls and other components installed over or around portions of it.
If that floor becomes permanently stained, gouged, torn or damaged, replacing it may be nothing like replacing the carpet or flooring in your house.
Is the original material even available as a replacement? How much cabinetry would need to be removed? Who would install it? And what would the labor alone cost?
Construction methods vary between manufacturers, but those are worthwhile questions to ask before the damage happens.
We travel with dogs. We spend time in mud, sand, snow, rain and desert dust. We carry bikes, tools, recovery equipment and all sorts of gear capable of making a mess.
We don’t own an adventure vehicle to keep it spotless.
We own it to use it.
Once we started looking at the floor system as a removable and cleanable protective layer, rather than simply an interior accessory, it began making a lot more sense.
But then we learned something else:
Woven vinyl is a category—not a specification.
Two products can look almost identical in a photograph and still be very different in textile source, yarn composition, backing, testing, fabrication, fit and long-term durability.
That distinction matters.
Chilewich is not simply another name for woven vinyl
Chilewich® is a specific textile manufacturer with its own materials, manufacturing processes, design history and technical documentation.
Chilewich states that its woven and tufted textiles are manufactured in the United States. The company also publishes environmental and technical information covering characteristics such as low-VOC emissions, heavy-commercial durability, chemical resistance, slip resistance and dimensional stability.
That is considerably more information than a product description that simply says “marine-grade woven vinyl,” “premium woven vinyl” or “heavy duty.”
Those phrases may describe characteristics of a product, but they don’t tell you who made the textile, exactly what it is made from or whether it has been tested to the same standards as another material.
We’re not saying another woven-vinyl product is automatically bad.
We’re saying that similar appearance does not establish equivalency.
So what makes Inhabit different?
Inhabit states that all of its vehicle floor mats use authentic Chilewich woven-vinyl textile and that its systems are designed and handmade in the United States.
According to Inhabit, the company is also the exclusive distributor of Chilewich for this specialized removable adventure-vehicle floor-mat application.
For Michelle and me, the important point is actually pretty simple: We know what the textile is, who manufactured it, and where it came from. And while we’re well aware that there are countless suppliers and manufacturers producing similar-looking materials, we make a conscious effort to support U.S. manufacturers whenever possible. Knowing the source, understanding the product, and supporting companies that design and manufacture here in the United States all matter to us when deciding what we personally use and what we’re comfortable recommending to others.
It isn’t an unidentified woven-vinyl surface being assumed equivalent simply because the weave looks similar.
That traceability is part of what you are paying for.
Six years of specialization
Inhabit Design Works was formed in 2020 specifically to develop removable woven-vinyl flooring systems for vehicles.
That makes 2026 the company’s sixth year specializing in this very specific market.
According to Inhabit, its products have now collectively accumulated tens of millions of real-world travel miles across customer vehicles.
To be fair, that figure is an Inhabit-reported estimate rather than an independently audited mileage total.
But the larger point is still important:
Time in service.
These aren’t products sitting in a showroom. They are being used in vehicles crossing deserts, mountain passes and freezing winter climates while dealing with dogs, kids, boots, bicycles, ski gear, mud, sand, snow, spilled drinks and everyday abuse.
A new product can certainly enter the market and be excellent.
But it cannot instantly duplicate years of actual customer use.
The backing matters too
This was one of the biggest parts of the system we originally overlooked because, like most people, we were focused on what we could see—the woven surface.
But what is underneath that textile matters too.
With over six years of experience, Inhabit Design Works as worked closely with Chilewich to develop and refine backing systems specifically suited to the adventure-vehicle market—prioritizing durability, water resistance, comfort and long-term performance while addressing the unique demands of its clients, their vehicles and real-world adventure use.
Inhabit uses different backing systems depending on the application rather than assuming one material is ideal for every location.
For areas where durability and resistance to compression are important, latex backing can provide a more substantial foundation and help resist indentation from heavy use or gear.
Other applications may call for different backing characteristics based on comfort, moisture exposure, drying time and how the mat will actually be used.
That approach makes sense to us.
One material does not necessarily do everything best.
The visible textile gets most of the attention, but the backing is an important part of turning that textile into a finished vehicle flooring system.
Industry adoption matters
Another part of the story is where Inhabit products are being used.
The company now produces vehicle-specific systems for platforms including the Winnebago EKKO and Revel, Storyteller Overland, Remote Vans, Outside Van, Tiffin, Airstream and numerous Sprinter, Transit and ProMaster conversions.
That doesn’t mean every company on that list installs Inhabit as standard equipment. There is an important difference between offering a vehicle-specific aftermarket system and being selected by a vehicle manufacturer.
But some builders have gone considerably further.
Storyteller Overland lists Custom Inhabit Design Works Floor Mats in the published equipment for its 2027 Grand Bohemian/GXV platform.
And according to Inhabit, Benchmark Vehicles includes a complete Inhabit mat system as standard equipment in every Benchmark vehicle.
There’s an obvious joke there:
The benchmark in woven-vinyl mats is standard equipment in every Benchmark Vehicle.
But underneath the wordplay is a legitimate point.
Professional adventure-vehicle builders spend a tremendous amount of time selecting materials and suppliers. Having recognized builders choose a product repeatedly provides another piece of evidence regarding how that product has been accepted within the industry.
Does that automatically prove every competitor is inferior?
Of course not.
But it matters.
What should consumers ask?
This is really where we think the conversation should go.
If someone tells you another woven-vinyl floor system is “the same thing,” “basically identical” or “just like Chilewich,” don’t argue about it.
Ask questions.
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What is the materials and backing made from?
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Who manufactured the textile?
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Where was it manufactured?
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What backing system is being used?
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What testing or certifications support the material claims?
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How is the system fitted and secured in the vehicle?
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How long has the finished product actually been used in customer vehicles?
If those questions can be answered with good documentation, great.
Now you have something meaningful to compare.
If they can’t, then a similar-looking weave in an Instagram photograph shouldn’t be enough by itself to establish that two products are equivalent.
Looking the same is not the same as being the same.
Where Michelle and I landed
Our takeaway isn’t that every alternative is bad.
It’s that we were wrong when we originally assumed every woven-vinyl mat was basically the same.
It isn’t.
Inhabit combines an identifiable Chilewich textile, U.S. fabrication, vehicle-specific engineering, application-specific backing development and six years of specialization in removable automotive flooring.
According to Inhabit, those systems now represent tens of millions of accumulated real-world travel miles. The company has developed applications across a broad range of vehicles, and recognized adventure-vehicle builders have specified Inhabit by name.
For us, that is the value we simply didn’t understand when we owned TREKKO.
The buyer isn’t simply purchasing woven vinyl.
The buyer is purchasing a known textile, a known manufacturing source, a developed floor system, vehicle-specific engineering and a body of real-world experience and supporting a US-based business that goes out of their way to source their materials from other US suppliers.
Would Michelle and I have understood all of that several years ago?
Probably not.
We saw a floor mat and wondered why it cost more than something we might be able to make ourselves.
It took living with the finished product, learning what goes into it and thinking seriously about what it protects for us to change our perspective.
So when someone tells us:
“I found another woven mat that looks just like it.”
Our answer today is still pretty simple:
Maybe it does. Show us the specifications, show us what’s behind it, and then we can make the comparison.