Design Centre Stories

Tag: Carpets & Rugs

Slimline Design

Fine lines can be traced across autumn's new launches, creating a look that manages to be both strong and visually light.

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Fade In

Stark has added to its Sapphire collection of silk and wool designs, made in India. 'Halina', 'Zoella' and 'Levan' have a distressed finish, and traditional patterns that fade into a subtle colour palette that provides a contrast to crisper contemporary furniture.

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Nordic Meets Nepalese

The Norse collection is Tufenkian Artisan Carpets' tribute to Scandinavian design's simplicity, minimalism and functionality, with a particular focus on mid-century modern style.

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Warm-Hearted Orange

The Design the Rainbow installation is currently brightening the Design Avenue with its pop-up spaces for all seven colours of the rainbow. Reflecting the rule-breaking, expressive interiors of the seventies, the orange scheme also conveys the sense of escapism that many of us are craving, with orange's exotic associations with tropical fruit and spices from far-flung lands.

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Woven Through Time

When Pierre Frey acquired esteemed French decorating company Braquenié in 1991, it also inherited a new expertise: rug-making. Today, an archive of more more than 5,000 documents means that it has vast resources to draw on, either for its own collections or for its bespoke rug-making service.

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Blue Skies Ahead

The Design the Rainbow installation has transformed the Design Avenue into an uplifting spectrum of colour. Delve into the detail of the blue scheme, from artisan ceramics to chinoiserie wallcoverings and a perfect chaise longue.

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Rug Regeneration

Élitis' second collection of accessories includes rugs made from 88% recycled PET, which includes post-consumer waste from plastic bottles. It gives each one a slightly different and irregular appearance, a uniqueness that is enhanced by the fact that they are finished by hand. 

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Handmade with Pride

Each roll of Jacaranda's handmade carpet passes through at least 130 skilled hands, across 208 hours, over approximately 26 days. Co-owners Lucy and Richard Meager created a photo series that shows the painstaking journey of a 'Santushi' rug in India.

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Open by Appointment

As restrictions ease, many showrooms are now operating on an appointment-only basis. The picture is changing all the time, but here are the showrooms that have stated they will be open by appointment for the week commencing 1 June.

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Regency Revival

Design practice Albion Nord has brought a John Nash-designed London terraced house up to date, reinstating grand period features but keeping a more eclectic approach with the interiors – with input from Kvadrat at Home, Vaughan and Samuel & Sons, among others.

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Matter of Taste

Easy on the eye and pleasant to the touch, a matt white finish has a softness that feels just right for a troubled world. Several new launches at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour are exploring this theme, from sculptural lighting to silky-smooth baths and tactile fabrics.

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A Tailored Approach

Celebrating its dual heritage in the worlds of both tailoring fabrics and interiors, Holland & Sherry’s 9-10 Savile Row collection is named after the esteemed address where the company still operates its apparel atelier.

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Keep in Touch

With daily digital overload, enhanced tactility has never been more important. From textured wallcoverings to woven leathers, thick bouclé carpets and incredible embroidery, it’s all so much more interesting than swiping a screen.

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Right Here, Right Now with Marc Sacco

The founder of Sacco Carpet talks flooring trends: tactile surfaces, bright colour – and the very highest quality bespoke materials, from silk to merino wool.

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Craft, Elevated

  In an ever-more-machined world, this season we are celebrating makers and artisans. Their commitment to the creative process, rare skills and great endeavours are elevating craft to luxury status. Nothing is standard; everything is fastidiously considered. Just a handful of examples include (pictured from top to bottom): On the Fringe, a new range by Tai Ping, an exploration of hand-tufted craft. …

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Look East

In our daily lives of information overload, design can help us escape. There is a cosmopolitan charm to design this season with a shift from the subdued to more expressive patterns that have a playful, visual language and a strong narrative. Design houses have long been inspired by different cultures and far-flung locations. For spring, many have looked east. Pictured …

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Channelling the Masters

Art history's greatest names have long been a source of inspiration in design, with inventive results that channel the spirit and ideas of the original masters rather than borrowing directly. Paolo Moschino at Nicholas Haslam Ltd's slender 'Nicolae' floor lamps (pictured top) are made from layers of chalky white plaster, a material favoured by masters such as Giacometti and Serge …

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Fringe Benefits

On the Fringe by Edward Fields from Tai Ping is aptly titled: its yarns have been freed to go beyond the outer edges, encouraging their use as both wall tapestries or more conventionally on the floor. The 12 abstract designs include 'Twilight Haze I' (pictured). Tai Ping, Fourth Floor, Design Centre East

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More is More

As the late Postmodern architect Robert Venturi once said: "less is a bore". These days, highly individual interiors keep adding, layer on layer: artfully clashing patterns, unusual surface finishes from flocking to foil, and an abundance of finishing touches such as trimmings, lamps and decorative objects all contribute to a feast for the senses. Create an environment that surprises and …

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Long-Lasting Legacies

Old has never looked so right now, as we look to heritage and tradition to ground us and make sense of a fast-paced world. Just as the Burberry trenchcoat is subtly reinvented season after season, designers are showing their appreciation for what has gone before, but nearly always with a twist that makes the pieces right for today. The clean …

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Crayola Colours

Paint-box brights bring a sense of hope and confidence to interiors, but bold, playful colours shouldn't equal a lack of sophistication – these are approachable, mature and chic. Whether used as accents or all-over for a saturating effect, colours such as pink, teal and orange are very powerful, with an irresistible vivacity. Texture and colour are inseparable, with saturated velvets the …

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Mother Nature

Bring nature indoors with birdlife – feathers, eggs and all – and other native creatures. A soothing palette of duck egg, turquoise and soft grey brings calm, serenity and comfort. From left to right: ‘Gesso’ vase with handles and ‘Gesso Seated Bird’, both Julian Chichester. ‘Deco Monobloc’ lever basin mixer, silver, Perrin & Rowe. ‘Satin Nickel' finial (F298), McKinney & Co. …

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Tai Ping Fernando Mastrangelo rug

Fractured Geology

Fernando Mastrangelo’s sculptural work, elevating every day materials such as salt and sand into works of art, has garnered much attention recently. The same spirit of consideration can be seen in his new Reverence rug collection for Edward Fields, available at Tai Ping. “I wanted it to articulate the visual language of nature and to convey a sense of wonder and …

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Art that Endures

Artwork once found in a gallery is now durable enough to survive the messiness of modern life. American abstract artist Sam Glankoff’s work has been translated into a hand-knotted rug using solution-dyed acrylic yarn; called ‘Visionary’, the piece faithfully details the artist's subtle colour blends and technique of using overlapping panels of paper. Find out more at Sutherland Perennials Studio. Sutherland …

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Rock Stars

Rocks, minerals and semi-precious stones make for a distinctly elemental take on design: the palette is earthy, shot through with jewel tones such as lapis lazuli and amethyst. Explore the geological trend via products such as Tai Ping's 'Density' rug (pictured top), and Wired Custom Lighting's 'Machine' chandelier (pictured centre), whose rough-hewn crystals are a contemporary alternative to cut-glass drops. The Silk Gallery's …

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Bring the House Home

How many homeowners have embarked on a bold bedroom refurbishment having been inspired by a stay at a Soho House? The members' club group has properties from Chicago to the Cotswolds, and at each one, the interiors – comfortable and luxurious without being flashy, and with great attention to detail – is irresistible. Now there is Soho Home, Interiors from Soho House, the retail arm …

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Out of Focus

Blur, Tai Ping's latest collection, was inspired by vintage photography techniques. Its abstract aesthetic manages to be both dreamily nostalgic – evoking memories of an era before the arrival of smartphones – and refreshingly modern. The serene 'Bokeh II', pictured, is named after the bokeh effect, where the lens renders out-of-focus areas as blurred spots of light. Tai Ping, Fourth Floor, Design …

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Bountiful Botanicals

Botanical-themed interiors are taking on a lush, jungle-like quality. 'Kala' by Manuel Canovas, from Colefax and Fowler (pictured top), is an embroidered linen with a design of exotic foliage and a slubbed weave to lend the fabric a hand-woven appearance. Samuel & Sons' ‘Heko’ embroidered border (pictured centre) was inspired by the designs of traditional Japanese obi sashes: in fresh …

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Breaking the Surface

The Japanese art of kintsugi – repairing broken pottery with metallic lacquer in gold, silver or platinum – was the inspiration for 'Nouvelle Spectrum' (pictured), one of James Tufenkian's latest rug designs. The piece takes a painterly approach that is full of depth, with the sheen of bamboo silk creating a metallic shimmer. James's global travels have proved fruitful for other pieces …

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First-hand Accounts

Rug designer Zoë Luyendijk (pictured top) flew in from British Columbia to greet visitors to Front Rugs at Focus/16 – yet the showroom was full of reminders of home. Her work (such as ‘Ur Na’, pictured above) is often inspired by the scale and detail of the water, rocks, trees and mountains that surround her: “It relates to the landscape – which is …

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