A room can have the finest furniture, beautiful art and immaculate lighting, and still feel like it is missing something. Often, it is the rug. Not the plain old rectangle that fills the space between the sofa and coffee table, but one that can change the way everything around it is perceived. Designers and collectors are increasingly turning to rugs for precisely that reason: to bring colour, scale, texture and a sense of character to a room. “The rug has moved from being a finishing element to becoming an important part of the overall design of a room,” says Kanika Takkar, founder, Ardhi Looms. Earlier, rugs were often chosen towards the end, once the furniture, walls and other elements had been decided. Today, architects, designers and clients are considering them much earlier, with the yarn, intricacy of the weaving, size and skill involved in making a piece becoming as important as its colour and pattern.
For interior designer Anubha Aneja, founder of HomAnAn, a statement rug does not necessarily mean a loud one. “Interestingly, I don’t think a hero rug needs to shout. For me, it is rarely about how loud it is, but about the presence it brings through its scale, composition, material, colour or craftsmanship.” Sometimes, the most powerful rug is monochromatic, revealing itself through an extraordinary weave, an irregularity in the fibre, a change in pile or an imperfection that speaks of the human hand.
The choices are broadening accordingly. Ardhi Looms is seeing interest in larger rugs, abstract designs, richer colours and more unusual compositions, alongside a renewed appreciation for traditional craftsmanship. Handloom rugs are sought after for their simpler design language, soft sheen and versatility, while traditional oriental hand-knotted rugs are seeing a revival, particularly in Indian, earthy colour palettes. But the shift is about more than how a rug looks. Obeetee is seeing strong interest in contemporary hand-knotted carpets, expressive colour, sophisticated geometry and designs with a clear point of view. “It would be too easy to reduce the shift to a list of trends. What is really changing is the customer’s expectation of what a luxury carpet should represent. There is an appetite for pieces that feel individual and have a story behind them, whether that comes from an archive, a particular geography, an artist, a material or an exceptional craft technique,” explains Angelique Dhama, President, Obeetee.
That sense of longevity is also influencing what clients consider worth investing in. “A collectible rug is one that has the potential to become an heirloom,” says Takkar. “It should be something that stays relevant beyond changing trends, moves with you from one home to another and grows more meaningful with time.” For Aneja, the appeal of handmade pieces lies partly in what cannot be made perfectly uniform. “With handmade pieces, perfection isn’t necessarily the objective,” she adds. A variation in the weave, an irregularity in a line or the density of a knot can reveal the time and hand behind it.
The conversation around rugs is also spilling into other creative worlds. PUMA India’s collaboration with Jaipur Rugs brings the tactile quality of suede together with Jaipur Rugs’ connection to Indian craftsmanship, finding common ground in material, detail and making. The collaboration came to life at Suede Sounds, a two-day Listening Room experience in Mumbai, bringing together music, fashion and design at a landmark venue.
Perhaps that is what makes the rug such an interesting design object now. It can be expressive or restrained, contemporary or rooted in tradition, but it has the ability to give a room its own point of view. And if chosen well, remain there long after a trend has passed.