Handmade Light Camel Grass Rug
The Cashmere rug is a light camel grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 308 x 245 cm. It covers 7.5 square metres of floor. The base is a soft camel, close to sand, and the pattern is worked in ivory, so the whole rug reads as a warm, quiet neutral.
The design up close
Look at this light camel grass rug from above and it seems almost plain, a camel field with paler ivory bands set in stripes across it. Come closer, or look along the pile at a low angle, and the pattern appears. Fine broken lines, small checks and tiny diamonds fill the stripes, and narrow chevron bands, like herringbone, run between them.
Each band has its own texture. One is a tight field of ivory dots on camel, almost like seed beads. Another is a ladder of short upright dashes, and another a lattice of small diamonds. The ivory is strongest in the checks and thinnest in the herringbone, so the colour seems to drift from stripe to stripe.
The pile has a sheen that changes with the light. In bright light the pale marks glow and the camel looks deeper. The ends are finished with a white fringe, and the back repeats the pattern in a paler tone.
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 light camel 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. Matte wool sits beside shinier fibre, and that contrast is what makes the checks and diamonds flash as you walk around the rug.
Sizing it for your room
At 308 x 245 cm, this light camel grass rug suits a large living room. Under a 3-seat sofa about 2.2 m long, about 44 cm of rug shows at each end of the sofa.
Under a bed, the 245 cm width fits a queen bed (153 cm wide) with about 46 cm on each side, or a king bed (183 cm wide) with about 31 cm on each side. Under a 6-seat dining table of 180 x 90 cm, it leaves about 64 cm beyond each end and about 78 cm beyond each long side, enough room to pull out a chair.
Looking after your light camel 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 light camel 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 light camel 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.
