Designer Rug Blog-Interior Design Inspiration

8 Stunning Interiors: How to Decorate with Oushak Rugs, Grey Rugs

4 Tips for Decorating with Oushak rugs that have Grey, White, Taupe and brown.

1. Oushak rugs with grey background and accents of white, taupe, brown and blue give you tremendous decorating flexibility.

Oushak rugs with this color palette have a balance of warm and cool colors- grey, white and blue are cool colors and brown is a warm color. This balanced color palette will work with a very wide range of fabrics. This means you will be able to easily freshen up the living room in the future by changing the fabrics and wall colors.

2. Oushak rugs with grey background and taupe accents allow you to give a contemporary look to traditional rooms.

Many of the interiors pictured below have traditional furniture, yet they look modern because they have tonal grey, white and black fabrics and wall colors on an Oushak rug in soft greys with taupe accents.

3. Avoid Oushak rugs that have been chemically washed.

A chemical wash turns all the colors yellow- the greys become brownish-grey , the whites turn into dirty yellows and the blues become greenish blues. This color change limits your ability to use blue and whites fabrics in the room.

4. Mixing contemporary furniture with Grey Oushak rugs creates a more sophisticated contemporary interior.

Oushak rugs in tonal grey colorations combine the ancient (the Oushak pattern) with a contemporary colors (tonal greys). Whenever you combine traditional and contemporary elements you get a more interesting look than when you use only contemporary rugs with contemporary furniture or traditional rugs with traditional furniture. Great interior decorators have unique ways of mixing traditional and contemporary elements as you will see in the eight interiors below.

1. Celerie Kemble chose an Oushak rug in soft tones of grey and white to create a modern traditional living room with blue fabrics and black and white accents.If the Oushak rug has small touches of blue or gray blue, it makes it easier to use blue fabrics. Image courtesy Lonny Magazine

2. Mariette Himes Gomez chose an Oushak rug with grey, taupe and brown accents for this Los Angeles living room. Brown wood tones in the furniture and in the cathedral ceiling tie in with brown in the Oushak rug and the taupe ottoman and pillows sit beautifully with the taupe accents in the Oushak.  Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

3. Eric cohler derives the color palatte for this bedroom from this Oushak rugs grey background, dark grey and taupe accents. The grey fabrics and wall color gives the tradtional furniture a modern look.

4. Kara Mann chose and Oushak rug with cool shades of grey and white for this Chicago living room. The dark grey brick wall and the medieval chair add texture and drama. The white trim in the sideboard create movement.

5. Image courtesy of Belclaire House blog and theenchantedhome blog.

6. David Easton, created a traditional living room on an Ousshak rug with a tonal soft grey coloration. The pale apple green wall color goes and green ottoman and chair fabrics bring unexpected color and look beautiful. This shows us that grey rugs provide a neutral background that allows almost any color to be used in the room effectively. Image courtesy theenchantedhome blog

7. Laura Day's Oushak rug has soft brown and taupe accents on a grey background. This living room has a contemporary feel even though the furniture has traditional shapes. Image courtesy Lonny Magazine

8. Kara Mann creates a modern traditional living rooom for the Lake Forest Showhouse on a grey Oushak rug. The blue, green and taupe in the painting and accessories enliven the room . The greyImage Courtesy Kara Mann.

This Oushak rug by Asmara has a tonal grey background with accents of blue, brown, white and taupe. It has not been chemically washed so the blue and white accents are true colors.

AD's 10 Best Living Rooms with Decorative Rugs in Grey, Black, Taupe

Here are my picks for Architectural Digest's 10 best decorative rugs in living rooms with a grey, black and taupe color scheme. Make sure you look at #10 which is a visionary 1970's living room by Parish Hadley that anticipates todays fashions in decorative rugs and grey, black and taupe color schemes.

1. Kelly Wearstler's black and white decorative rug holds together numerous dazzling patterns in this stunning pied-à-terre. Numerous large, medium and small scale patterns are quietened by a common color palette of black, gray and white. Lustrous silks and velvets are juxtaposed against the matte surface of the decorative rug. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

2. Charles Allem's decorative rug in silver and taupe has a swirling silk damask pattern that brings dynamic energy to this lavish Manhattan penthouse. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is covered in silver leaf. Image courtesy Architectural Digest

3. Diane von furstenberg's black and white decorative rug holds together many colorful patterns, paintings and photographs. The dining table does double duty as a desk. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

4. Pierre Yovanovitch's grey decorative rug has a high and low texture that gives a feeling of deep cushioned comfort to this Paris apartment. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

5. Thomas Pheasant chose a decorative rug with a quiet geometric pattern in shades of grey to balance the large square patterns of the screens in this high ceilinged Las Vegas living room. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

6. Suzanne Rheinstein's decorative rug shimmers in the light from the floor to ceiling French windows in this Northern California living room. The rug's swirling pattern in tonal greys holds the square and rounded shapes of the chairs and sofa. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

7. Karin Blake chose a decorative rug with a dense floral pattern in gray and black to anchor contemporay furniture and a portfolio of 10 photographs by Edward Ruscha in this Los Angeles residence. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

8. Martin Kemp chose a decorative rug in a geometric pattern in tonal greys to anchor contemporay furniture and a silk floral hand painted wall covering in a Holland Park, London living room. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

9. Martyn Lawrence-Bullard designed this private seating area for Cher in neutral shades of white, grey and black on a zebra rug. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

10. Parish Hadley anticipated today's fashionable decorative rugs with this zig zag patterned painted floor and African fabrics in taupe, brown, black and white. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.

6 Decorating Tips: Aubusson Rugs in French Empire Interiors

2. The Empire Aubusson rug in the seating area of the Empress's bedroom has soft green, taupe and blue background sections, all overlaid with flat two dimensional neoclassical motifs. Note that Napoleon's decorators were unconcerned that there is no hot pink in the Aubusson rug and liberally used hot pink on the chairs and on the walls in the bed alcove. Image Courtesy Kenski1970 on Flickr.

2A. Another view of the Empire Aubusson Rug in the Empress's bedroom. All the colors are cool. Even the gold has a cool cast to it. © EPV.

3. An Empire Aubusson rug or an Empire Savonnerie rug in the family room of Louis-Philippe. The cream background of the Aubusson rug is overlaid with a circular medallion and corner sections in purple with blue and yellow accents. The liberal amounts of lemon yellow silk brocade on the chairs and wall unify the color scheme. Image © EPV.

3A. Another view of the family room showing the calming effect of using yellow silk brocade fabric throughout. Image courtesy harwoodgruss.blogspot.com

4. Empire Aubusson Rug in The Particular room. Cool greens and yellows predominate the color scheme. The same green silk brocade fabric is used on chairs and wall. © EPV, Jean-Marc Manaï

5. The Room of Mirrors has an Aubusson rug with cool red and gold on a cream ground. All the chairs are in blue silk to unify the decor.

5A. Another view of the Room of Mirrors. Image courtesy kunst-fuer-alle.de

5B. The Aubusson rug provides the drama in the Room of Mirrors © EPV, Jean-Marc Manaï

6. Aubusson or Savonnerie rug in the room of Malachites. The cool fuschia color predominates the fabrics and is not found anywhere in the Empire rug © EPV, Jean-Marc Manaï

6 Decorating Tips: Needlepoint Rugs with Blue, Yellow, Green, Coral

1. Select a needlepoint rug in colors that will create the mood you desire.

Keep in mind that different colors have different effects on the emotions.  For example red makes a room feel energized and a deep plum gives off a feeling of richness and sophistication.  Blues have a calming effect and that is why they are so popular for bedrooms. Today I would like you to consider using blue in a main living space.  Imagine coming home after a long day and feeling instantly relaxed upon entering the living room.  In honor of Mother’s day I designed this living room scheme with stressed, overworked moms in mind. 

2. Select a needlepoint rug with a pattern that is consistent with the mood your wish to create.

Nature has healing powers and historical patterns reassure us. The floral and vine pattern of this needlepoint rug is inspired by a historical Chinoiserie embroidery so it gives the feeling of nature as well as of history. This needlepoint rug will give the room a feeling of peacefulness and welcome.

3. Choose different textures with the needlepoint rug, fabrics and furniture.

The needlepoint rug has a thick, grainy, wool texture that feels soft underfoot. This is balanced by the smooth blue silk on the chair and the medium texture of the gray fabric on the recamier. The brown wood tones, the luminous cobalt blue lamp bases, the metal in the chandelier provide a rich variety of textures that makes the space feel interesting.

4. Select those colors from the needlepoint rug that will produce the mood you desire.

If you wish to create a high energy room, you can select brilliant yellows and corals that work with these tones in this needlepoint rug. But today we wish to create a peaceful and inviting ambience so I chose various shades of blues, grays, brown wood tones and creams.

5. Select furniture and accessories with stylish shapes that work with the needlepoint rug.

I chose furnishings that make the space peaceful, approachable yet stylish. The curved shape of the blue chair and the straight modern lines of the recamier creates a stylish mix with the traditional vine pattern of the needlepoint rug. This living room is a stylish yet very personal haven from life’s less tranquil moments.

6. Select sturdy needlepoint rugs, furniture and fabrics so you can relax in the room.

I chose a needlepoint rug which is handmade with durable wool. I would recommend a good quality rug pad to increase the comfort level. The furniture is well made and will withstand regular use by the family.

Sources:

Blue, yellow, green and coral needlepoint rug; Recamier; Danish lounge chair on teak frame; Mid-century round teak ottoman/coffee table; Green Tole ceiling Light Fixture; Chest of drawers in the Gustavian style; Pair of spun acrylic ball shape table lamps ; Gray Paint; Blue Paint;

 

The Five Qualities of Beautiful Savonnerie Rugs

In recent posts we have been exploring the fascinating story of Savonnerie rugs and carpets. Some consider Savonnerie carpets to be overly grandiose and a challenge to decorate with. But there are many beautiful Savonnerie carpets and it is hard to tell how beautiful they are until we see them in their proper setting in a room created by an interior designer who understands how to make the best use of them. The 10 dazzling rooms will help you in seeing which Savonnerie rugs would be the most beautiful choice for your interiors.

Last September the New York Times reported that Mayor Bloomberg and his decorator Jamie Drake had chosen Savonnerie carpets for the mayor's townhouses in New York and London. Hre are two images of these rooms.

1. Interior Designer Jamie Drake used great imagination and courage in mixing an Empire Savonnerie carpet with vibrantly colored modern prints and fuchsia upholstery on gilded French period armchairs creating a modern living room for New York's visionary Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

2. A tan, gold and brown Savonnerie rug in a more traditional living room for Mayor Bloomberg by interior designer Jamie Drake. The color palette is in subdued tans, golds and beiges with a blue silk sofa creating pop.

A Savonnerie rug may be historically very important and rare, and priced in the millions of dollars, but if does not make the room look exceptionally beautiful, it is not interesting from a decorating point of view.

So what makes a Savonnerie rug beautiful and desirable? Here are the five things I look for in a Savonnerie rug:

The Five Qualities of Beautiful Savonnerie Rugs:

1. The most beautiful Savonnerie rugs do not have overly grandiose designs

2. The patterns of the most beautiful Savonnerie rugs have a natural flow and are not perfectionistic in every detail.

3. The most beautiful Savonnerie rugs have pleasing colors that create a vibrant energy in the room.

4. Great Savonnerie rugs surprise us with the originality of their design and colors. Often they contain a color we do not expect to find. A perfectionistic viewpoint could lead to one missing out on a great decorating oppurtunity with an exceptional Savonnerie rug.

5. The final test of beauty in a Savonnerie rug is if it makes a room look gorgeous.

Here are 10 exceptionally beautiful interiors with savonnerie rugs.

3. The vibrant blue, gold and red colors of this Savonnerie carpet could pose a great decorating challenge. But the early 20th century Parisian decorator understood how to place this exceptional Savonnerie rug it in a fabulous setting in the Salon des Huets in the Musee Nissim de Camondo, Paris.

4. This red and gold Empire Aubusson rug is the key to the drama and majesty of the "Room of Mirrors" in the The Grand Trianon in the Palace of Versailles, France. Aubusson rugs have the same patterns as Savonnerie rugs, but have a greater clarity of design because of their finer thread count and flat surface. Note how there is no blue in the Aubusson rug, yet the blue silk fabric on the chiars looks fabulous. Image © EPV, Jean-Marc Manaï.

5. An Adams style handmade English Axminster Rug* in shades of brown, gold and tan with red, blue and white accents. This Axminster rug was chosen for the Green Room of the White House during the Kennedy refurbishing.. This picture was taken in 1963. Even though there is no green in the Axminster rug it is an inspired choice with the fresh green wallcovering.

*English Axminster rug weaving was stimulated by the arrival of in England in the early 1700's of two apprentice weavers who had fled from the Savonnerie Carpet workshop in France. Axminster rugs were woven in the same Turkish knot used to make French Savonnerie rugs.

6. This priceless Savonnerie Carpet was woven in France in 1680 and is now in the Wrightsman Collection, Metropolitan Museum, New York. If the Met had not created this beautiful setting, this Savonnerie rug would have looked grandiose and unworkable from a decorating point of view.

7. It is hard to tell how beautiful a Savonnerie rug is until we see it placed in a well designed interior as in the detail picture below from the Musee Nissim de Camondo. The above Savonnerie carpet was made in France in the mid-17th century and is in the Metropolitan Museum New York, Wrightsman Collection.

7B. A similar Savonnerie rug  to the one in the Wrightsman Collection in the Metropolitan  Museum New York shows it full beauty in this room in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris.

7C. A fuller view of the above room shows three Savonnerie rugs of similar patterns placed artfully to create three seating areas in the Musee Nissim de Camondo, Paris.

8. This Study in the Musée Nissim de Camondo shows the interior decorater's mastery at placing a Savonnerie rug in it's proper context. Image courtesy Musee Nissim de Camondo.

9. An Empire Aubusson rug anchors "The Particular Room" in The Grand Trianon, Versailles Palace. Note that there is no chartreuse green in the Aubusson rug, yet lots of this color has been used on the walls and chair seats. Image © EPV, Jean-Marc Manaï

10. A navy Savonnerie Carpet made in 1729-38 in a bedroom setting in the Wrightsman Collection, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

10 Best Rooms with Decorator Rugs in Traditional Home Magazine

For the first time in their history Traditional Home Magazine called upon the top Interior Design Bloggers to nominate their favorite New Traditional Designers out of which the Magazine created the 10 NEW TRAD Designers. There work appears in the first Digital Edition of Traditional Home Magazine. I am very impressed by the 10 NEW TRAD's modern take on traditional design and many of them made it to my list of the 10 Best Rooms with Decorator Rugs.

If you have not done so already, I highly recommend the new Digital Edition of Traditional Home Magazine. You can view it on any computer. It is fun to flip through the pages by clicking arrows. You can also zoom in to see more detail. Lonny Magazine has already shown the advantages of Digital Magazine and I suspect others will follow Traditional Home with Digital Editions.

I was pleasantly surprised to find several dining rooms among the 10 Best Rooms. This is a refreshing change as dining room are too often lacking in vitality, but it does not have to be this way as the stunning examples below testify.

1. Mara Miller and Jessie Carrier of Carrier and Company create a symphony of warm yellows cool purple, lavender and cream. There is an artful mix of patterns from the large scale leaves in the decorator rug to the medium scale leaves in the art to the small scale print on the upholstered chair fabric.

2. William Wick's living room is an artful composition of modern and traditional furniture, bold greens and burgundy all pulled together by a cream and coral Oushak rug.

3. A beige geometric decorator rug pulls together pops of hot pinks and lime green on white upholstery balanced by dark wood tones. Note how another seating area has been created in the far end of the room with another decorator rug.

4. A taupe, gray and beige Oushak rug completes this sophisticated dining room. The curve of the dark wood dining chairs sit elegantly on the softly colored decorator rug.

5. Gideon Mendelson chose a cream and beige geometric decorator rug to ground a sectional sofa and upholstered chairs in beautifully rounded shapes. The brown, taupe and moss green color palette is soothing. The abstract painting brings colorful energy. 

 6. The bold sweeping white pattern on the chocolate brown decorator rug brings powerful energy to the dramatic colorations of chocolate walls trimmed with white with burgundy colored silky upholstery.

7. Melanie Turner introduces energy and movement with a large scale geometric decorator rug in white, gray and black. She mixes it up with an intricate pattern on the bedside table and a large scale zebra fabric on the bench.

8. Grant K. Gibson chose a decorator rug with a contemporary take on the zebra pattern to create lyrical movement in a dining room that has very comfortable traditional dining chairs and dining table. The gray tonal coloration and the contemporary decorator rug gives this beautiful dining room a contemporary feeling even though the furniture is very traditional.

9. Palmer Weiss created a stunning color combination with luminous blue and and orange- brown in this stunning decorator rug that really makes this dining room. The dark blue velvet dining chairs add texture and their curving dark legs play beautifully with the ancient geometric motifs in the decorator rug.

10. Katie Leede has created a beautiful composition with dark and medium blues and a shimmering beaten copper Moroccan table. There is a lyrical interplay between the geometric pattern of the wall covering and circular blue motifs on white in the decorator rug.

 

 

How to View the Hand Making of Savonnerie Rugs in Paris

Did you know that Savonnerie rugs are still being made by hand in Paris in the same way they were woven in the 17th century?

Savonnerie rugs continue to be hand made in this imposing workshop in Paris ever since its founding in the 17th century. Called the Manufacture des Gobelins, you can reach it easily by the metro. Make sure you call ahead to book a fascinating 90 minute guided tour in French or for groups of 25 in English.

Next time you are in Paris, a short ride on the metro to the Les Gobelins station can take you back 350 years to the time when Louis XIV first set up rug making in a converted soap factory which has given these rugs their name Savonnerie rugs, literally meaning "soap factory" rugs.

Make sure you book a tour ahead of time as you cannot do it at the premises. When you come up from the metro station walk over to the imposing building at 42 Avenue des Gobelins called the Manufacture des Gobelins, now run by the the French Ministry of Culture and open for guided tours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.

Today the workshop employs 30 weavers who manage to complete just three or four Savonnerie rugs and tapestries in a year. On my last visit they were making a Savonnerie rug to replace one at Versailles. The artist pointed out the very vibrant original colors they had found through research. We are so used to seeing colors that have faded over time that we believe antique rugs always had muted colors. Just the opposite is true.

Today the Le Gobelin artists no longer produce copies of Louis XV Savonnerie rugs. Instead they create contemporary Savonnerie rugs and tapestries but still weave them with methods developed in the 17th century. Over the years the workshops have made works by Alexander Calder, Sonia Delaunay and other famous 20th century artists.

This video gives a tour of the workshop in French:

Manufacture Nationale de tapis de la Savonnerie by ParisEvous

 

The large courtyard of Les Gobelins in the 17th century.

Eugene Chevreul a chemist and professor at the College de France was director of the dyeing studio until he was 83. In 1838 Chevreul developed the color wheel which has since been digitized into NIMES, a color classification system of 20,000 colors that are identified by a colorimeter and are used by the Savonnerie rug makers. 

Until the 19th century natural dyes were made from weld (yellow), madder (red), indigo (blue) and cochineal (purplish red). Today chemical dyes are used and the yarns are skein dyed in stainless steel tanks that have replaced the original wooden vats.  

The colors are classified according to the NIMES system of 20,000 colors.

A Savonnerie rug being hand woven on a vertical steel loom. Each of the wooden spindles hanging from the loom carries several yarns of different colors that have been plied together to form a complex shade. Such complex shades cannot be achieved by dyeing a single yarn.

Another view of the loom and weavers weaving a savonnerie rug.

This "colored yarn combinations method" of coloring gives Savonnerie rug weavers the ability to introduce thousands of subtle shades into a single Savonnerie rug. This method is not found in oriental rug weaving and is probably a French invention.

Asmara has pioneered the use of the combination coloring method into other types of rugs and today Asmara's Savonile rugs, Needlepoint rugs and Oushak rugs are all made with the "colored yarn combination method" which is a hallmark of Savonnerie rugs.

 

 

Why Young English Women Are Learning Needlepoint Rug Making

Why are young Englishwomen so interested in learning the ancient arts of needlework and needlepoint rug making? Did these women secretly hand stitch and hand embroider Kate Middleton's wedding dress in London?

The CBS video tells the remarkable story of London's Royal School of Needlework and how it is keeping the ancient arts of needlework and needlepoint rug making alive in England today. The School is housed in beautiful Hampton Court Palace, a favorite of King Henry XVIII, who it is said, himself did needlework while contemplating marriage number four.

Henry VIII dressed in golden embroidery reflects the fashion of his time when royalty and aristocracy literally wore their wealth. Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger (1498-1543).

The quotation below is from a June 1539 letter written by the French ambassador after the death of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour and before he married Anne of Cleeves. This letter is the basis for the claim that Henry XVIII himself learnt to do needlework embroidery.

"The King, who in some former years has been solitary and pensive, now gives himself up to amusement. He evidently delights now in painting and embroidery, (having sent men to France, Flanders, Italy, and elsewhere for masters of this art, and also for musicians and other ministers of pastime). All his people think this is a sign of his desire to marry if he should find an agreeable match".

A young needleworker at London's Royal School of Needlework restoring a piece of needlework embroidery originally made in 1889 by Alexandra, Princess of Wales and her two daughters.

The Royal School of Needlework was founded in 1872 with the goal of keeping the arts of fine English needlework alive. Today young women from all over England come to the RSN to learn the ancient arts of needlework and needlepoint rug making.

A detail of the embroidery being restored by the needleworker above. It was originally made in 1889 by Alexandra, Princess of Wales and her daughters Louise Victoria and Maud.

Three labels on the back of the needlework document its history. Says the Royal School of Needlework: "Recording the history of significant textiles like these adds another dimension to our enjoyment and enables future generations to make the right decisions on the care of the piece, and so we have added our own RSN label to the set"!

The RSN needleworkers, including existing and former staff, tutors, graduates and students, with the youngest aged 19, worked secretly for months hand stitching the needlework for The Duchess of Cambridge's Wedding Dress which attracted more than 600,000 visitors when it went on display at Buckingham Palace.

Glove-wearing women worked on the dress in such secrecy that they did not know the identity of its designer until moments before the announcement that it was Sarah Burton, of Alexander McQueen.

It was reported that the needlework embroiderers washed their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean. The needlework extended from the veil all the way down to the shoes!

How to Decorate with $4 million Savonnerie Rugs- 10 Sumptuous Rooms

A Louis XV Savonnerie rug sold for $4,406,000 at Christies New York in November 2000. It is woven after the design by Pierre-Josse Perrot, circa 1740-50 and is in size 18ft. 8in. x 19ft. 10in.

If you are fascinated by rare Louis XV Savonnerie rugs you will love the Musee Nissim de Camondo a sumptuous private mansion next to Parc Monceau in Paris that preserves exactly how a cultured early 20th century Parisian family lived with antique furniture, tapestries and priceless Savonnerie rugs, some of which were originally made for the Louvre and Versailles Palaces. For those interested in learning how to decorate with the best Savonnerie rugs there is no better place to visit in the world than the Musee Nissim de Camondo.

The New York Times calls it "perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful museum in all of Paris". The museum is housed in the former home of the Camondos a Ottoman-French Jewish banking and art collecting family. The home was built in 1911 by Moise de Camondo who bequeathed it upon his death to the French State in honor of his son Nissim de Camondo who was killed in combat in WWI.

Most Jewish art collections were plundered by the Nazis during their occupation of France, but the Comondo was saved because it had already been incorporated into the union of French museums that includes the Louvre. While this saved the extraordinary art inside the house, it sadly did not protect the Camondo family- a memorial plaque tells of the members killed at Auschwitz.

What sets the Camondo more delightful and rewarding to visit is that unlike the Louvre or Versailles it shows how a wealthy and highly cultured French family actually lived. You cannot learn how to decorate with Savonnerie rugs by visiting Versailles or the Louvre because the scale of these two palaces is too big and the rooms do not feel anything like a home, but the Camondo definitely does.

The design of the Camondos house was patterned on the Petit Trianon in Versailles, but with all the accouterments of modern life, including kitchens, offices and bathrooms. The home, which is fully preserved in its original condition, offers an opportunity to discover the taste of a great collector and to get a glimpse of the everyday life of an aristocratic home.

The rooms pictured below show how the Camondos decorated with Savonnerie rugs, each of which would fetch millions of dollars if they were ever to come on the art market.

 

The salon des Huet has a bold over scale Savonnerie rug in vibrant reds, golds and blues.

 The Grand Salon has a Savonnerie rug that was made in 1678 for the Grand Gallerie of the Louvre Palace.

The central mythological scene in the above Savonneire rug in the grand salon.

 The grand bureau or study has a savonneire rug with a reddish brown background overlaid with medallions and vibrantly colored flowers and strong blues that are picked up in the chair fabric and vases.

Another section of the study  has a different Savonnerie rug with dark and pale blues.

Le petit bureau or small study has a very unusual Savonnerie rug with a neoclassical center surrounded by a Louis XVI floral border.

A close view of the neoclassical central medallion in the Savonnerie rug in small study.

The dining room Savonnerie rug has a blue trellis pattern overlaying a dense floral background. The dining table is covered by a fine Aubusson tapestry.

The modern kitchen

The beautiful paneled library has a savonnerie rug with a gold background overlaid with flowers.

An example of how to use multiple Savonneie rugs in a room. Each Savonnerie rug is in a different pattern, but they are pulled together by their navy colorations.

 

A close view of the main Savonnerie rug in the above room showing the dense profusion of flowers on the navy background.

The blue salon has a magnificent Empire Savonnerie rug with architectural medallions.

Moise Camondos private room has a gold Aubusson rug and a beautiful red fabrics.

 

The garden designed by Achelle Duchene (1866-1947).

A view in the nearby Parc Monceau.

 

Gorgeous Design Scheme for Needlepoint Rug with Gold, Green, Red

I like this needlepoint rug's enchanting border and flexible, wide ranging color palette. This will make it easy to select colors for adjoining spaces. Sources are at the end of this post.

A trend in today’s homes is open concept design. Gone are the days of formal living rooms dedicated for holidays or just for welcoming guests. Instead, great rooms have becoming more popular. They have multiple functions- kitchen, dining and living spaces. This trend poses a special challenge to interior decorators. It is not easy to fashion three defined spaces that blend seamlessly with one another and appear neither too formal nor too casual out of a single, enormous room. The key is to start with one of two high quality furnishings that marry beautiful design with practical materials.

This is why I started with this needlepoint rug. It is a statement piece that immediately brings character to the living area. I like the enchanting borde and the sage green vines with rose, brick-red and white flowers on a wheat gold background. Having a broad range of colors in the needlepoint rug makes it easier to select colors for adjoining spaces. The darker hues and intricate color shading makes this needlepoint rug very practical for everyday use. I specially like the fact that the needlepoint rug has not been chemically distressed to give it an antique appearance which means it will not intoduce harmful chemicals into the home.

I have chosen a tan velvet fabric for the chair and a teal blue brushed cotton for the sofa. I like the multiple wood finishes, from dark walnut to white washed pine-they add charm and character. This gorgeous living area is sure to make everyone feel comfortable and stylish at the same time.

Sources:

Needlepoint Rug in gold, green and red; Swedish Art Deco/Moderne Armchairs; Table Lamps signed Romeo Rega; Neoclassical Occasional Tables by Edward J Wormley; Sofa by Frits Henningsen; Swedish Modern Slat Table; 20th Century Painted Tall Cabinets.