Designer Rug Blog - Interior Design Inspiration

 1. For an open living room comprised of multiple arched spaces and with wall art of enamel and gold Japanese screens, a lacquered grand piano and a black and gold Japanese cabinet in the hall, Thad Hayes selected a multicolored traditional decorator rug to pull together these many elements. The decorator rug also integrates the warm, soft peach tones on the walls with the cool grays and warm green of the upholstery and the architectural shapes of the chairs. We know this is the best rug for this living room because it so effortlessly knits together the three adjoining spaces and all the disparate elements in a wonderful interplay of color, shape and texture.

“People always ask us how do we begin every project - and I am going to give you an idea that will make this really easy – always, always begin with the living room carpet. If you think about it, the living room carpet is the largest object in the home and that is going to set up the logic and the palette for the rest of your home…” Elissa Cullman  in an AD video interview. Ellisa, always on the AD100 list is the go-to designer for Oprah Winfrey and Candice Bergen, to name just two from her celebrity client list.

1. Geometric decorator rugs are the height of fashion in any room, but especially in living rooms. Fashion photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank chose a cream and beige Greek key decorator rug as the foundation for contemporary sofas and chairs in neutral cream and beiges livened by vibrant accessories in red, pink, blue, turquoise, jade green and orange. Elle Decor image.

1. Jamie Drake shows you do not need a lot of red to create drama. You can start with just one red upholstered chair and increase the impact selecting a stunning contemporary area rug with white, taupe, gray and beige. If you have selected cool reds as in this chair and lamp shade, then add zip by using white, black, gold and wood tones in the the furniture, accessories and wall paneling.Image courtesy Drake Design.

An estimated 85,000 visitors are expected to tour the White House this holiday season and last weekend I was lucky enough to be one of them.  Decorated by thousands of volunteers and staff, the space was just incredible.  Enormous wreaths, yards upon yards of garland and upward of 35 Christmas trees adorn each room.  Being there I couldn't help but get into the holiday spirit!

Jeffrey Billhuber gives traditional sofa chairs an architectural look by covering them with gray banded fabric. The beige contemporary rug and yellow throw warm and balance the cool aqua, gray and white.  

Today we will study rooms with unique and innovative damask area rugs designed by seven interior design greats: Bunny Williams, Darren Henault, Elizabeth Dinkel, Ferguson & Shamamian, Suzanne Tucker, Timothy Whealon and Tobi Fairley.

The Swing  painted in 1766 by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, is considered one of the masterpieces of the rococo style, popular with the French aristocracy before the revolution. The painting is now in the Wallace Collection, London. It has become so familiar that it has shown up in advertisements, shoes, modern works of art, tiles and even a famous perfume named after Fragonard.

Interior Designer Susan Nelson  was selected by the Washington Design Center to do the interior design of the coveted living room in the prestigious DreamHome 2011. Susan chose a color scheme of yellow, purple, green, aqua, coral, lavender and pink that she derived from a favorite decorative rug by Asmara. Susan explains her design process in this blog post.

Don't throw away your traditional decorative rugs!

A highly respected Greenwich, CT rug consultant was bemoaning that many of her clients no longer want their traditional decorative rugs, nor can they give them to their children as both parents and children are enamoured with Restoration Hardware, and one by one they are all ending up buying the same look.