Handmade Dark Brown Grass Rug
The Espresso rug is a dark brown grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 268 x 183 cm. It covers 4.9 square metres of floor. The base is a deep brown with a grey cast, close to dark chocolate in the shadows, and the pattern is drawn in a lighter brown and cream.
The design up close
From above this dark brown grass rug looks like a deep brown field with lighter streaks running in vertical stripes. Look along the pile at a low angle and the stripes turn into pattern, and the brown shifts towards a grey taupe. Lighter brown and cream marks sit on the dark ground in fine broken lines, small checks and diamonds.
The bands are easy to tell apart. One is a chevron band, like herringbone. Beside it is a band of tiny cream crosses, then short slanted dashes set like ladder rungs, then a checkerboard of small dark and pale squares. Thin upright lines and speckled zones of brown tie the bands together.
The pile has a sheen that changes with the light, so the brown looks darker from one angle and silvery from another. The ends are finished with a white fringe. Turn a corner back and the underside is a softer, mottled grey brown.
Indian weaving and this rug
India has a long hand-knotted rug tradition, with weaving centres including Agra and the Bhadohi and Mirzapur area of Uttar Pradesh. Indian workshops weave many modern and abstract designs, often to order, in a wide range of colours and sizes. Wool is the most common pile, and some rugs mix wool with bamboo silk, as this one does.
How this dark brown grass rug is made
The pile mixes wool and bamboo silk. Wool gives the rug its body and its soft, matte feel. Bamboo silk is a viscose (rayon) fibre made from bamboo cellulose, with a silk-like sheen. It is softer and less resilient than wool, so a rug with bamboo silk suits rooms with lighter foot traffic.
You can see the mix in the surface. The dark brown reads matte, like wool, while the lighter marks carry more shine. That contrast makes the pattern flicker as you walk past it.
Sizing it for your room
At 268 x 183 cm, this dark brown grass rug suits a bedroom or a living area. Under a 3-seat sofa about 2.2 m long, 24 cm of rug shows at each end of the sofa.
A 6-seat dining table of 180 x 90 cm leaves about 44 cm beyond each end and about 46 cm beyond each long side, which is short of a full chair pull.
Looking after your dark brown grass rug
Vacuum it on a suction-only setting, or with the beater bar switched off, so the brush does not pull at the pile. Turn it around every six to twelve months so sun and foot traffic wear it evenly. Blot spills with a clean white cloth and cold water rather than rubbing them in. When it needs a full clean, choose a cleaner who washes handmade rugs by hand.
Put a good underlay beneath it. It stops the rug sliding on timber or tiles, adds cushioning and takes some of the wear off the pile. Moths like wool in dark, quiet spots, such as the part of a rug under a sofa, so vacuum those areas often and lift the furniture now and then.
Rubbing spills can dull bamboo silk, so this rug needs a cleaner who handles that fibre by hand.
See it before you buy
Visit our showroom at 307 Penshurst St, North Willoughby, open every day from 11 am to 4:30 pm, to see this dark brown grass rug in person. If you would rather judge it in your own room, with your own light and furniture, book a home trial and we will bring a selection to you.
You can see this dark brown grass rug in our showroom or at home. Browse more Contemporary rugs, or ask about a custom made rug in your own size and colour. Read more about bamboo silk and viscose.
