Handmade Slate Blue and Charcoal Transitional Rug
The Verdigris rug is a slate blue and charcoal transitional rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 313 x 240 cm. It covers about 7.5 square metres of floor.
The design up close
The whole rug is a muted slate blue with a soft grey green cast, the colour of weathered copper. Over it lies a classical pattern drawn in charcoal: arches and pointed ovals in a lattice down the field, rosettes, palmettes and small flowers inside them, and curling leaves and vines linking everything together.
The pattern looks partly worn away. That faded, half erased look is what makes this a transitional rug: the layout is traditional, while the single colour and the soft drawing keep it modern.
A wide border of large flowers and leaves runs around the field between thin guard lines, and both ends finish in a cream fringe. A slate blue and charcoal transitional rug like this suits a room that mixes old and new, with grey or white walls, timber, linen and a few darker pieces of furniture.
Indian weaving and this rug
India has a long rug weaving tradition, with 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 other fibres, as this one does.
How this slate blue and charcoal transitional rug is made
This rug is handmade 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 it suits rooms with lighter foot traffic.
Here the charcoal lines have a different texture from the blue ground, so the pattern shows partly through texture as well as colour, and parts of it carry a soft sheen when the light falls across them. The back is a light grey blue with the pattern showing faintly in darker grey. A wool rug alone would look flatter; the mix gives the slate blue and charcoal transitional rug its gentle shine.
Sizing it for your room
At 313 x 240 cm this is a large rug for a living room, dining room or main bedroom. In a living room it can sit in front of a three seat sofa of about 2.2 m with 46.5 cm to spare beyond each end, and the front legs of the sofa and chairs can rest on it.
Under a 180 x 90 cm dining table it leaves 66.5 cm at each end and 75 cm along each side. Laid across the bed in a main bedroom, its 313 cm length leaves 65 cm each side of a king bed, which is 183 cm wide.
Looking after your slate blue and charcoal transitional 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. Rubbing spills can dull bamboo silk, so this rug needs a cleaner who handles that fibre 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.
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 slate blue and charcoal transitional 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 slate blue and charcoal transitional 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.
