painting boot area

Decided to tidy up the boot area as it's always been a bit naff in my Disco, with a 70's looking piece of blue/grey carpet.

Anyway started by opening a can worms with taking off the plastic trim thingy which was half loose anyway, and hey presto found it rusty underneath (the screw mounting lugs had rusted away hence you couldn't screw the trim down)

Now the boot floor was replaced a couple of years ago and last year a patch was put in on the side piece, so overall it's not too bad. I thought of ditching the carpet and painting the whole boot area, including the newly discovered rust area and putting a rubber mat down, what do you think?

Any advice of what kind of paint to do the boot area, I was thinking along the lines of a sort of stone-chip finish?

With the look of these bits, see the attached pic, arrowed areas, I'd look at doing a lot more than just replacing the strip. I'd take the bumper off and look at the cross-member and probably the rear body mounts ...

Looks like the new floor panel is starting to rust already Check for leaks round the back windows and alpine panels . The water runs down the inside and sits on the floor panel , rusting it from the top side beneath the carpet. I just rubbed it down and painted with hammerite.

Get rid of the carpet in the boot. The underlay holds water like a sponge and only serves to ensure there is a constant source of moisture in contact with the boot floor.