New Wave Rugs

This spring’s burst of bold, colorful carpets and rugs at the International Contemporary Furni­ture Fair, in New York, echoed the popularity of patterned materials in the design world for the past few years. As hard surfaces continue to be the flooring of choice for houses and boutique hotels, the vibrancy of the latest area rugs belies their central sound-dampening role, both as a covering underfoot and as wall dec­orations. Rug Art, Tufenkian, Odegard, Ruckstuhl, and the Rug Company were among those exhibiting particularly energetic designs. Ruckstuhl’s Stripes collection, for example, includes rugs made with wool felt, black polyurethane, and contrasting bands of oiled oak.

Even contract carpet manufacturers are getting into the act. At this year’s Hospitality Design Expo, in Las Vegas, Brintons debuted a stunning collection of woven Axminster carpets with large-scale patterns of iguanas and thistles, designed in collaboration with the Scottish design duo Timorous Beasties. With dynamic compositions in everything from machine-made nylon to hand-tufted natural materials, these latest carpets and wall-hangings are about to make cold interior spaces a lot more hospitable.