Handmade Denim and Brown Grass Rug
The Indigo Earth rug is a denim and brown grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 275 x 183 cm. It covers 5.0 square metres of floor. The base is a deep denim blue, with navy in the darker stripes, and the pattern is drawn in brown, tan and cream.
The design up close
From above this denim and brown grass rug looks like a blue-grey field with darker and lighter streaks running in vertical stripes. Look along the pile at a low angle and the blue deepens and the stripes turn into pattern. Brown, tan and cream marks sit on the blue in fine broken lines, small checks, crosses and diamonds.
The bands are easy to tell apart. One is a chevron band, like herringbone. Beside it is a lattice of small copper-brown crosses on blue, then short slanted dashes set like ladder rungs, then a checkerboard of small blue and cream squares. Thin upright lines and speckled zones of brown and blue tie the bands together.
The pile has a sheen that changes with the light, so the blue looks lighter and greyer from one angle and richer from another. The ends are finished with a white fringe. Turn a corner back and the pattern repeats on the underside in a paler denim blue.
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 denim and 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 blue and brown read matte, like wool, while the cream marks carry more shine. That contrast makes the pattern flicker as you walk past it.
Sizing it for your room
At 275 x 183 cm, this denim and brown grass rug suits a bedroom or a living area. Under a 3-seat sofa about 2.2 m long, a little over 27 cm of rug shows at each end of the sofa.
A 6-seat dining table of 180 x 90 cm leaves about 47 cm all round, which is short of a full chair pull.
Looking after your denim and 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 denim and 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 denim and 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.
