I’ve heard this statement too many times “This rug has too many colours and patterns for me” or “This rug is too busy for me. I don’t know what to do with it.” In the past decade or so, most of us have strived for a clinical look with blocks of colours in uniformity. So much so we had forgotten how to work with complex patterns and colours to achieve a sense of wondrous cohesion that cannot be replicated using blocks of the same colours.
We had the pleasure to deliver several rugs to a client’s house to try out. Textiles are best seen in situ because studio and warehouse lighting are intrinsically different from the lighting at home, which may obscure the colour somewhat. Like colourful farrow and ball paint, the colours of the rugs evolve throughout the day from the crisp morning light to the glorious evening sunset. It is always recommended to try out a few contestants at home before deciding which rug is the winner.
This was a beautiful house, most sympathetically restored with Victorian architecture, colour scheme and furniture. This was the perfect opportunity for a “busy” rug to rise up and pull in all the elements together. Like the final stroke in the painting, the rug managed to take all our breaths away.
This beautifully decorated room with the most fantastic collection of furniture, artwork and soft furnishings had been truly elevated into something spectacular through the clever use of a “busy” rug. All the colours are subtly echoed by the rug in the softest whispers. The rug sinks into the room like it had always been there and turns into a super communicator and gets all the element to talk and connect to each other. The eye can now easily glide from one element to the next without having to stumble through the separate spaces.
A well placed rug is the lubricator, the connector, the conductor of the orchestra. No rug is too busy or too colourful. The expertly weaved colours and patterns have been cherished for thousands of years for good reason!