Purple Moods
June 06, 2022
Pantone has selected Very Peri, for its 2022 color of the year. According to Pantone, the color expresses “carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit, inquisitive and intriguing . . . helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives.” read more
The Beguiling Woven Language of Moroccan Carpets
October 28, 2021
Glamorous, earthy, mysterious, Moroccan carpets have been a favorite with interior designers since the early twentieth century. Perhaps it is the way that the exotic, geometrical designs simultaneously look ultra-modern and ancient, or how the luxurious wool and rich textures add warmth to an interior space. read more
Rare Refinement: the Swedish Grace Movement
September 03, 2021
Swedish Grace was an exquisite, early twentieth-century design movement, that remains largely unknown today. Prior to the more famous, minimalist Swedish designs that were to develop in the post-war period, Swedish Grace developed in parallel with the more famous Art Deco movement. read more
Sahara Stars
August 05, 2020
In recent years, Tuareg mats have become much sought after by top interior designers. These handmade reed and leather mats woven by the nomadic Tuareg people can add a rustic and warm elegance to an interior. Either on the floor or hung on the wall, they give depth and texture to a room. read more
Green: The Countdown to Spring
April 08, 2020
With a new decade upon us and spring not too far away, there is something about the color green that seems particularly of the current moment right now. The color is something of an antidote to the modern world—even, you might say, a new way of life in the twenty-first century—and a green rug can add a balancing and transformative element to an environment. read more
ANDRÉ ARBUS
May 08, 2019
This usual and beautiful carpet was designed by the inimitable André Arbus, one of the most celebrated French designers of the twentieth century. His distinctive style blends the tradition of French neoclassicism with the bold modernism of second quarter of the century. In this carpet we see a truly characteristic work: intelligent and luxurious, with a bold, curvilinear design, charming details, and an audacious palette. read more
Why Gray Matters
October 31, 2018
“The single most important lesson of architectural color is that every color only appears to be what it is relative to its surroundings,” explains Donald Kaufman, the famed color consultant. This is a lesson long known to artists who value gray for its supporting role—in the Renaissance gray was the preferred portrait background to emphasize the richness of the sitters’ costumes, while the Impressionists and Fauvists, for all their love of color, often used gray to make their other colors spark with life. read more
Vibeke Klint
August 01, 2018
Vibeke Klint is Danish textile artist born on December 13, 1927. She is famously known for her wide variety of tapestries, carpets, silks and home textiles. Her designs were all initially inspired by functionalism, and often featured geometric motifs. read more
Maison Jansen-The Decorator's Decorator
July 31, 2018
At the culmination of Belle Epoque splendour, the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle was a fabulous showcase for dazzling creations, many of them designed by immigrants. One of them was Dutchman Jean-Henri Jansen, whose furniture store with its famously lavish window displays had opened on the Rue Royale in 1880, offering antiques and furniture of his own production. The spectacular Art Nouveau writing desk the firm presented at the exhibition is considered one of the supreme examples of the period. read more
Indian Decorative Carpets
June 01, 2018
In today’s market, the terms “Agra,” “Amritsar” and “Indo-Persian” are synonymous with types of highly decorative carpets, which were woven in India during the last decades of the nineteenth century. The art of pile carpet weaving was imported into India by the Mughals, descendants of the Central Asian Mongols, when they conquered the Indian subcontinent in the sixteenth century. Indian decorative carpets continue the Mughal heritage of fine craftsmanship and their designs feature diverse Mughal and international influences. read more