How-To: Patterned Rugs

Decorating with statement rugs is often challenging, so here are some tips and tricks to help guide the process.

As we know from the Big Lebowski, a good rug can really tie a room together. And while solid color or neutral rugs are always a safe answer in decorating your home, there is just something about bold patterns that can take any room to the next level. Powerful geometric and organic patterns can easily become the focal point of any space, which often makes it a challenge to incorporate them in a way that doesn't overpower everything else. When used to their best advantage patterned rugs can have a harmonious effect, complementing other elements, rather than just drawing attention to themselves. We take a look at some Dwell homes that found the perfect balance in mixing colors, shapes and textures with their patterned rugs.

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The site-sensitive exterior belies an interior festooned with a kaleidoscopic mix of colors and an array of tactile materials. The Peter rug, Malibu sofa, and ceramics are Adler’s own designs. The tables, pendant lights, and rocker are vintage. Adler and Doonan used scaffolding from the house’s construction to build the bookshelf.

Shibata made the 10-person dining table using $130 sawhorse legs from Maruki Wood Products Company topped with a sheet of birch plywood. A hole in the sliding wall fits over the table, enabling it to be used in both the library and the meeting room. malki.jp A movable wall clad in wainscoting on one side slides along tracks in the dining-room ceiling, dividing the room into a meeting space and a library. The Shiro Simple Modern Pendant lights can be easily removed and reattached after moving the wall. vanilladesign.jp

A copper mobile by JF Jones hangs over a Leander crib and a vintage Moroccan rag rug in the nursery. The rocking chair is by Hans Wegner for Fredericia.

In this custom-built London guesthouse kitchen designed by Studiomama, lustrous vertically clad cabinetry achieves additional depth with the addition of the chairs, which were picked up for $15 each at a local market and powder coated in bright orange.

A pair of interior architects with a years-in-the-making furniture collection recast an old Belgian factory as a playful family home. Photo by Frederik Vercruysse.

The living room is five steps down from the kitchen and office space and features textured black slate tile from Olympia Tile, Voyage Immobile sofas with Farniente collection upholstery (a wedding present from Flanders’s mother) by Roche Bobois, and a rug from Turkmenistan the couple picked up in Jerusalem. The sliding glass doors are by Loewen and the glazing above is by Inline Fiberglass. Sawatzky relied on Wayne Arsenault for the custom millwork and carpentry.