Rugs - the natural starting point for room design

When we are asked about how a rug might best fit into a new decor scheme, our advice is always to start with the rug.

Choose a rug that you fall in love with, one you don’t want to live without, that will bring joy and happiness every time you look at it. Then be inspired by her style, colour and story, as well as size and shape, to create a space you love being in.

In the inspirational book British Designers at Home, by Jenny Rose-Innes, renowned interior designer Robert Kime explains, for him, that every room starts with a rug. ‘You have to start with something,’ he says, ‘and I always think a carpet is the easiest thing.’

It’s a way of thinking that resonates with Wendy, who agrees with Kime’s approach of starting a room with a rug, an idea that naturally makes sense when considering her colourful, intricate and motif-filled designs. Every rug Wendy designs tells its own unique story and is a focal point in a room, so makes an obvious starting point when styling or decorating.

In terms of Wendy’s personal experience, she feels the bedroom rug is a particularly good example of starting with a rug. With the bedroom rug she created, the design detail was placed around the perimeter of the rug, so it would not be lost under a bed, but seen around it. You can read about the journey to creating the Secret Garden design, a timeless bedroom rug that adds softness, luxury and glamour, here.

‘It is also important to bear in mind many of our designs are pictorial and often a statement piece,’ Wendy says, ‘which is where using the rug as the starting piece makes good sense to me.

‘Perhaps as a result of mostly creating pictorial pieces, I was particularly excited by the idea of an overall pattern of Eternal Toile and the idea that furniture could be placed easily without losing the essence of the design.’

Aside from being visually beautiful, used to warm and enhance your home, a rug can define a room, break up large or open-plan spaces, or create distinct zones. When it comes to styling, our neutral Leopards work beautifully with pinks and golds, adding a touch of luxury, while our vibrantly colourful rugs, such as the new Eternity, offer scope to work around one or two colours used in the rug as accent colours throughout your room. Picking up on a colour from the rug and using it elsewhere in the room creates a sense of cohesion, draws the eye and adds extra impact to your scheme.

When thinking about shape, our circular rug, the Okinawa, has been incredibly popular with customers looking for a rug to fit a bay-windowed area, create a warm welcome in a hallway, or to soften and add interest to an area that feels a little too straight edged or boxy. We shared our tips on how to get the most out of a circular rug in a previous journal, which you can find here.

Depending on the size of your room, position furniture around the rug’s border, not touching but framing it. If you do place furniture on the rug, place two or four legs – a single leg of furniture on a rug can make it appear to be falling off.

Runners are fantastic in narrow hallways, creating a visual path that leads you into or through the house, either from the front door or along landings or corridors once inside. They are also ideal for using along either side of a bed. Perfect for adding colour and interest, the right runner brings life to often-overlooked areas.

Our rugs are often described as art for your floor, lovingly handcrafted by artisan tufters. They add softness, interest, glamour and the wow factor, and are a creative way for you to express your own style. Whatever rug you choose, they are a wonderful way to introduce life-affirming pattern and colour to homes, elevate a neutral space and personalise a room. Our rugs are designed to fill your life with colour, character and personality – they are made to help you create a home you love to be in, so have fun designing with them.