Handmade Natural and Blue Grass Rug
The Blue Willow rug is a natural and blue grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 274 x 186 cm. That gives you 5.1 square metres of floor.
The design up close
Seen from above, this natural and blue grass rug looks like soft oatmeal and cream wool, streaked with blue and charcoal. The tones shift in loose, patchy rectangles, and the pattern runs in narrow bands along the rug. The ground is in natural wool tones, and the design is worked in blue.
This rug carries a finer, busier pattern than most in the Grass family. At a low angle the bands become clear: rows of nested diamonds, some with a small circle at the centre, narrow zigzags, little tree-like motifs in lines and wavy scroll bands. Charcoal draws most of the shapes on the cream ground, while bright blue and pale blue threads run between the rows like thin sparks.
The ends finish in a white fringe, and the sides have a narrow stitched edge in grey-green. Fold a corner back and the underside shows the same design in pale blue, grey and cream.
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 natural and blue grass rug is made
This rug is handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk. 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 two fibres working together. The wool stays matte and holds the cream and charcoal shapes, while the pale blue threads shimmer more as you move around the rug.
Sizing it for your room
At 274 x 186 cm this is a mid-sized rug. A 3-seat sofa about 2.2 m wide leaves 27 cm of rug showing at each end. That suits a seating group where the front legs of the sofa and the coffee table stand on the rug.
For dining, a 6-seat table of 180 x 90 cm sits on this natural and blue grass rug with 47 cm to spare at each end and 48 cm along each side. The chairs will pull out partly past the edge, so choose it for the table’s footprint. At 186 cm wide it is too narrow for an 8-seat table.
Looking after your natural and blue grass rug
Bamboo silk and wool need different handling, so a few habits matter here.
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 natural and blue 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 natural and blue 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.
