One thing I love is when a client has a nugget of an idea and by chatting things over, something that neither of us would have come up with at the outset, comes alive. This unique rug design is a great example.

Rug Number One

My clients gave me this image as a reference for a colour palette that they liked for their new snug.

The reference is of a detail of an ancient Egyptian bath found at the British Museum.

At first, I wondered if we could incorporate the image into the scheme but as we talked further, our thoughts turned to whether this could become a rug.

I worked in Photoshop to create a graphic of what we were hoping to achieve, as well as specifying each colour in the rug. We worked closely with our rug manufacturer, Rug Your Way and this was the result.

The rest of the scheme was kept light and simple in order to enhance the rug design, rather than compete with it.

Rug Number Two

With the success of this rug, we turned our attention to the adjacent rooms, both of which have a beautifully patinated herringbone floor but needed rugs to feel more comfortable.

My client went off to have a think about what reference he might like to use.. and came back shortly with a book of illustrations by Egon Schiele. At first, I was a little surprised as if you know any of Schiele’s illustration of nudes, you would wonder how they might be featured in a rug! However, I learnt that he also drew the most unusual illustrations of landscapes. Phew!

This is the one we agreed to work with.

Again, I worked up a graphic in Photoshop and specified the colours whilst working on the scheme of the room at the same time.

As with the previous rug, we specified a mix of solid wool areas and areas ‘art silk’ which has a sheen to it and really adds life to the design.

Here it is being made in India.

And here it is in its new home in Oxfordshire. We even specified which way this design was woven so as to make the most of the light hitting the silk areas.

One happy accident was that the stylised trunk in the rug follows the line of the wooden column and beam in the room!

Rug Number Three

So rug number 3 (which can be seen from the living room above) needed to be less of a feature and more of a compliment to the Schiele rug.

Inspiration can come from anywhere… and for this design, I knew we needed a small pattern but not a uniform design. I looked at photos of leaves in sunshine and reflections in water. And then I stumbled across an image or rusted metal. Back to PhotoShop, I played around with the image and colours and created this design.

As with the others, we specified a mixture of wool and ‘art silk’ areas. I chose the tones to be more subtle on this rug so that it ‘sat back’ as a design.

And there you have it. That’s the story of three very special rugs that are the personification of ‘unique’!

If you would like to add a bespoke touch to your home with a unique rug design do get in touch. And for interior design projects please take a look at the services I offer here or get in touch via email at info@katelovejoy.com I’d love to hear from you!