THE SHAPED RUG - AN UNDENIABLE STATEMENT PIECE
Shaped rugs steal the spotlight, they’re a conversation piece on the floor and they make spaces exciting. Over 35 years we’ve designed a lot of rugs in abstract shapes so we’d thought we’d have a little retrospective. We chose five rugs designed in recent times and five rugs from our 90s archive. From the elegant to the eclectic to the practical, scroll down and enjoy them.
Creative Director Sandra Ciganic-McKinney has designed a number of rugs in unconventional shapes. “A shaped rug can be more dynamic in a space than a rectangle, adding a new shape inside of an already rectangular room,” she said. “A shape can be a really nice way to customize a rug without adding extra cost. It adds another layer of uniqueness to an already custom piece.”
Sometimes clients request a shaped rug for practical reasons such as working around fixtures or pieces of furniture. “I think shaped rugs with softened edges, either rounded corners or curves, work really well with the furniture currently trending - soft round couches and chairs. The curved rugs can accompany them beautifully,” said Sandra.
“To design a rug with a unique shape, we often create a mask on top of the artwork as a separate layer so that design can be moved around to ensure it works best inside the shape,” said Sandra. “Sometimes we need to make a paper template onsite if the rug is particular to a room or fixture.” As far as methods of production go, just about any construction will work - handknotted, handtufted, and handwoven. Even dye-injected carpet can be cut and bound into any shape.
“When we started the firm, shaped rugs became really popular,” said Carol Sebert co-founder of Creative Matters. “The handtufted method of production allowed for unusual shapes which wasn’t an option with off-the-rack rugs offered by retailers. Interior designers were able to convince their clients of these customized shapes which really showed off how customized their entire homes had become. For the really unusual shapes (like the second and third photos after this paragraph) we would create templates to ensure a perfect fit. With today’s computer-aided design, drawings are so accurate we don’t have to do that so often.”
If you imagine a unique shaped rug - or even a pop of whimsy - for your space, look no further than our designers. They love to create them.