Written Rug by Maartje Santbergen

This Writtenby rug from Dutch designer Maartje Santbergen is made from tiny rolls of paper, woven together to form a rug. Individual strands can be unwoven in order to read the writing traced upon the paper and create personalised patterns and textures.

Concept Interiors talks Flooring Trends 2010

This morning I spoke to Concept Interiors' head designer Samantha Morgan about her views on what trends we can expect in residential flooring for 2010. This article will feature in full in the February issue of Retail Floors magazine. "Spring is fast approaching and Samantha Morgan, head designer at Concept Interiors, has been looking at future home and interior trends. We asked her to give Retail Floors readers some advice on what materials, patterns and colour pallets will be featuring in homes over the coming year, with a particular emphasis on flooring.

Concept Interiors creates eye-catching and sophisticated living spaces for clients who want the very best in their homes. Says Samantha, “People are starting to opt for quality products in preference to cheaper alternatives for their homes. The current focus is on the more durable and eco friendly choices.” Samantha thinks 2010 will see high quality products and finishing touches such as black nickel curtain poles with lavish jewelled finials and oversized wool pieces such as knitted rugs or upholstered furniture featuring in our homes.

She explains that the two key interior looks for 2010 will be “English Kitsch” and “Eastern Glam”. Both use floral and organic shapes in their style and natural fibres. Weaves also feature in both looks.

English kitsch with the Ryalux william classics collection

Black will remain a signature colour in our bathrooms - but with more style than we’ve seen throughout 2009. Introducing luxurious purples into the theme will simultaneously soften the room and add to the glam factor. “Choosing the right focal point or element for each individual room is important,” Sam continues. “However, you’ll also need the other elements of the space to work with that focal point to complete your room design.” To help make this possible, dramatic flooring and statement lights will be hitting our homes to create a focal point for all of our rooms. Patterns such as stripes or a woven carpet, for example, will bring texture and an area of interest, while lighting can frame the room or highlight a specific element. Indeed, light fittings themselves can become features or the focal point - providing it helps to create an atmosphere.

In terms of wood flooring, Samantha is seeing a growing popularity of dark, chocolatey woods, especially wenge, a marked contrast to the walnut colours that dominated last year. Leather tiles are also making headway in living rooms and hallways, a material that only gets better with age and, like a favourite soft leather jacket, looks good even when worn and lived in.


leather floor tiles from alberta hardwood flooring

In the tile department, porcelain is making a comeback all across the downstairs areas, replacing natural stone as a favourite because of its ease of maintenance and durability.

wenge wood flooring from quick step

Concept Interiors have recently completed an installation of a large format tiled border (600 x 600) with an inset carpet, allowing a seamless flow from a tiled hallway into the living room. Whilst woods are getting darker in colour, carpets are remaining light and neutral, despite the explosion on colour and pattern at last year’s major flooring shows, it seems the consumer is not yet fully comfortable with bold, bright statement carpets in the home, a trend which may cotton on in a couple of years time.

Rugs are where the flurry of creativity remains in terms of pattern and texture, with homeowners more likely to choose a statement rug or a funky design no an item that can be moved or changed more readily than carpet or tile.

Forget Meatballs: Embrace Swedish Plastic Rugs!

I have a penchant for all things Swedish, from meatballs and pickled herring to Annas Peparkakors and gruesome, moody crime novels. These funky PAPPELINA rugs by Lina Rickardsson, made from plastics and vinyl are in bold bright primary colours, are minimalist but fun and can be bought online at the Scandinavian design centre.


BUY THEM HERE

Retail Therapy: www.beautifulflooring.co.uk

Beautiful Flooring online launched just a few months ago and is already popular with visitors with encouraging site monitoring stats to prove it.
The website is the brainchild of Paul Phillips and his team. Paul, who aside from overseeing his own shop, Sunniva Carpeting, in Tunbridge Wells which he opened in 1990, is Managing Director of Bond Retail Marketing Ltd. a sales, marketing and design consultancy serving the carpet and rug industry.

The first thing that strikes me as I log onto the website is how clean and unfussy it is. There are no pop-ups, no overabundance of information, just good quality photography, bold links and a clear interface. The style is reminiscent of a Homes & Gardens-type magazine, probably most appealing to a female client. This, of course, is a stroke of genius. A recent report on women’s online shopping habits, specific to the flooring industry, published in US trade mag National Floor Trends reveals that women are the predominant users of the Internet for domestic purchases. They are better at navigating sites and the majority choose the floor coverings they want to buy before even setting foot in a store, preferring to research and make a choice based on the information found online. In order to do this, they require strong visuals, the possibility of viewing a carpet in-situ, no “hidden cost” prices and inspiration. More than 50% of women visit a retailer’s website before heading to the store and tend only to visit the retailer whose website they find pleasing in terms of “look and content”. Looking good and giving relevant but simple information is key to tapping in to this huge emerging market of shoppers.
www.beautifulflooring.co.uk is designed to inspire above all, to allow the customer to save his/her choices for future reference, and it directs customers to the store, encouraging the consumer to communicate with the retailer for advice and the handling of the purchase.
This is not to say that the website would only appeal to female consumers, it offers such a simple, effective online ordering service and clear instructions that any consumer, male or female, even with a limited understanding of online shopping would be able to successfully purchase their desired floor covering using this website. Visuals and focus on design gives the feeling of buying into an entire lifestyle, rather than just a carpet or a rug, a complete online experience to match those offered by clothing retailers or interior design services.
Users can browse through three main sections: Rugs, Carpet and Other Flooring (vinyl, laminate, etc.), where they can make choices based on brand, colour or style. Again, good interior photography draws the customer in, encouraging them to linger on the site. The My Flooring option allows users to save their choices in a “wishlist” for future reference if they can’t decide on a particular floor. If you have made a choice, you can input the square meterage you require (for carpet), or choose from a variety of sizes and shapes (for rugs), receive an instant price quote before heading to checkout. Customers buying rugs automatically have underlay added to their shopping basket with the option of removing it before paying.

The Beautiful Flooring website becomes personalised to the client based on postcode input and a short message appears before heading to the checkout reminding customers that their local retailer can help with measuring and advice on underlays, runners, stairrods etc. subsequently driving customers into the retailer’s store and adding a human dimension to an otherwise complete online service.
The slide out Imagine Zone is designed to open up clients to new ideas and to showcase interesting designs under different “themes”. Like a mood board of sorts, I initially wasn’t sure I liked it, or understood what its purpose was, until I realised that the appeal of the Imagine Zone is precisely that: it incites curiosity and keeps you on the site.
Statistics reveal that visitors clearly love the look of the site and enjoy browsing, both the bounce rate and average page views beat the industry average. As time goes by, Paul will monitor statistics and gather data on search criteria by visitor to adapt and grow the appeal.
Beautiful Flooring /
www.beautifulflooring.co.uk

New Rug Designs 2010

RIMO Volume 1 Collection design 120-01

Although Britain is primarily a carpet-loving country, there is a growing trend for laminate and engineered wood floors. Many of Britain’s listed buildings also have exposed solid wood floors. The coolness and minimalism of a wood or laminate floor means that rugs have come into play to offer both a touch of warmth and comfort underfoot and acting as the focal point in a room. Rugs boast many advantages from a design point of view. If they are small, they can be moved around easily when you feel like rearranging furniture or you need to empty a room to clean the floor. A strong coloured rug can highlight details in curtains or a painting lending an air of harmony to a living or bedroom space. Rugs can hide stains, chips or markings on a wood floor and can help to bring a luxurious feel to a room even if you have a small budget. Splashing out on a special rug as your one big spend can lighten up a space and there’s nothing like sinking your toes into a soft rug as you lie on the couch or when you get out of bed in the morning. Other advantages, for people who have small children, or work from home, is that a rug can cushion a slip or trip and a really plush rug is a great place to lie down and do work on your laptop if you don’t want to feel tied to your desk. In recent years, interior design trends have seen a resurgence of natural fibre rugs such as jute, sisal, coir and hemp that add a clean, organic feel to a room and have sound ecological properties, being made as they are of natural and biodegradable materials.


Sisal Rug 'Mahale Weave' by Natural Rug Company

Sisal in particular is flame-retardant, very durable and has good sound absorbing qualities. Made by twisting and weaving the fibres of the Agave sisilana plant, a native species from Mexico, sisal now comes to us primarily from Brazil and China. It is low-maintenance and resists wear and tear. Because the fibres absorb dye so easily, it can offer the largest range of colour options for homeowners and designers. Coir mats and rugs make effective doormats or entrance matting as they are great for cleaning dirt and grit off shoes. Made from coconut fibres, coir is one of the most durable fabrics around. Natural fibre rugs look great in rooms with modern design complementing a natural-themed design or homes with a marine or seaside theme. Natural fibre rugs are also making an appearance outside the house, on patios and decking and in garden outdoor dining areas. Wool, of course, is the most popular of all rug fabrics and Britain has an immense variety of wools and wool manufacturers.



Left: Grading British Wool

We also import wools from New Zealand which produces many sought after varieties such as prized Merino. Wool rugs are great insulators, providing real warmth in winter and helping to cut down on heating bills. They are luxurious underfoot and help absorb humidity, ideal in our rainy climate. Again, families with young children will appreciate the anti-static and dust-retaining properties of wool fibres, making it easy to vacuum, and the fact that a wool stain can be generally be cleaned using soap and water, rather than harsh chemicals. The U.S has a vast tradition of independent rug designers and small artisanal workshops, a trend which is picking up over in the UK too. Homestead Weavers is a small artisanal rug weavers located in idyllic Brown County, Indiana where there is a strong artisan community. Chris Gustin holds workshops and produces colourful and quirky designs using recycled, reclaimed materials such as old sock and clothing yarns and plastic shopping bags. Artisans and new designers bring ecological concerns into their work, helping further highlight the concerns of consumers and focus our attention on the origins of our products. Speaking of her work, Chris says, “Recycling was a relatively new concept in the 1970s when I started weaving rugs. Looking for inexpensive sources of material, I used old clothing, sock toe-clips, denim and fabric roll cuts and anything else that would provide an affordable supply of fabric for my rugs. Reusing satisfied the environmentalist in me and helped me spread the concept of recycling. The idea to use plastic grocery bags (HDPE #2 in the U.S.) came from the disgust of seeing bags hanging in trees along the highways near where we lived. I was challenged to find a way to recycle the used bags to put them on the floor and get them out of the trees. I am still finding new sources of material for my "Recycled Rugs" from industry waste, although some of the sources have left the U.S. I feel that recycling is phenomenally important for the world. We need to reuse what we can and save something for the next generations.”

Left and Below: Rusts home with Chris Gustin's designed recycled rugs.














Jane Exley is The Woolly Rug Co.'s designer-maker of bespoke and commission hand-tufted Herdwick floor rugs. Jane is based in Ambleside, the English Lake District where she creates unique pieces from her living/work premises located by the river Stock. Inspiration is drawn from the immediate and uniquely beautiful landscape from the slate strata, colourful flora to the ever-changing colours and immutable forms of the skies then finally being translated into exclusive semi-abstract artworks for the floor. Her work recently featured at a Royal College of Arts exhibition, the rugs were commissioned by Littoral Arts to reproduce two of Kurt Schwitters' sketchbook ideas for his Merz barn in Elterwater, Ambleside. Moorland Rugs offers a bespoke service for the contract market although interior designers will also find everything here to suit all their client’s requirements. You can visit their combined retail shop and studio in Stanhope, Co Durham or make an appointment with their designer, Brian Sales, for a more detailed discussion on your requirements. Alternatively visit their website at www.moorland-rugs.co.uk which features many of their exciting ranges. The Moorland Rug Company offer stock and bespoke ranges to suit all budgets. Many stock items can be custom sized to your requirements. They offer 2 hand knotted qualities, featuring handspun Tibetan Highland Sheep yarn, that are both soft and durable. Alternatively they can supply handtufted wool qualities with your bespoke design incorporated into the overall effect. Existing designs can be recoloured or your own design can be adapted by their in-house designer to suit your scheme – almost any shape and size can be created. Brian has designed carpets and rugs for over 30 years and is well respected within the industry. Brian has an extensive design library containing 1000s of designs that can be used as a starting point for your rug and over 5000 colours in tuft form to match to. Working closely with your client, Brian will first produce printouts to show the design effect and where necessary he can then supply small trials showing how colours work together. Only when you and your client are completely happy will we then go into production. If you have ever hankered after a unique designer rug, or can rarely find quite what you are looking for off-the-peg, or simply prefer to express your own creativity …look no further than FLOR by heuga. With the exciting new Tonal Trends concept from the experts in stylish, versatile and ultra-practical soft flooring, you can design - and create - the rug that’s ideal for you.



Left: FLOR by Heuga 'Inspiration'

By selecting tile by tile from a carefully researched collection of on-trend colours and in either a neat cut pile texture (Puzzle Pieces/2) or a comfy high pile (Lazy Lounge/2), the possibilities are almost limitless. What’s more, it’s as easy to put together as it is to imagine using nothing more than our TacTile connectors, a sharp knife and a straight metal edge. And if you decide to change your mind you can just as easily change the design. Destined to be a well-loved creation that can be adapted to any home, your one-of-a-kind, bespoke FLOR by heuga rug could become the talking point of the room. When it comes to harmonising colours, the hard work has already been done for you. FLOR by heuga have worked closely with designer and colour expert Cenk to devise the Tonal Trends palette of warms, bolds, darks and neutrals that work beautifully with each other. The system is also great for solving tricky design challenges, especially when it comes to awkward shapes and sizes, as the dimensions and configuration of your rug are entirely up to you.

Interview with Rugmark UK

Emma Jamieson interviews Susan Towle, Director of Rugmark UK.
Rugs are an item of comfort, luxury, design and warmth. They are the result of talented weavers, creative designers and, in too many cases, child labour. For many countries in South Asia, rug manufacturing is an important and major industry. One such country is Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, a fact few people are aware of as it is featured in exotic tourism brochures and is renowned for its stunning beauty and rich culture. The rug trade is vital to the Nepalese economy and many factories “employ” children, some of them as young as five, in the making of these stunning creations.

Rugmark is a not-for-profit organisation which began in India in 1992 to tackle the problem of child labour in the rug industry, educate consumers and retailers and take steps to give independent appraisal and certification for the ethical qualities of rugs being exported to foreign markets.

Since 2001 it has had a UK branch, which is currently headed by Director Samantha Towle. Under her direction, Rugmark is relaunching its brand and label as GoodWeave, to reflect increasing standards within the organisation and changing consumer expectations and values. She took time out to talk to Retail Floors about the GoodWeave brand, the aims and activities of the organisation and explains how rug importers, retailers and interior designers can get involved.

EJ: Rugmark started in India, when did it open in the UK?

ST: The UK branch opened in 2001; there are also well established branches in Germany and the USA, which is a very big market. I’ve been the Director here for almost three years now and I hold regular discussions with the other branches. We host a telephone conference once a week to stay up to date with each other’s activities and brainstorm ideas. With the GoodWeave label about to be launched it’s important we all talk regularly.

RF: What are RugMark’s key objectives?

ST: There is a large child labour problem in many South Asian countries. Sometimes it is a case of children reaching the age of ten and then the families, already working on a rug-making factory, will then ask the factory director if their child can start work too. Unfortunately, in some cases children are separated from their families and sold into slave labour. Neither of these situations is positive as children who start work that young miss out on education, remain illiterate and devoid of many chances in later life. The key aim of Rugmark is to remove children from the work cycle and place them in education, in so doing increasing their opportunities in the future. An education provides them with work opportunities as an adult, informs them about their rights and how to negotiate a proper wage and contract; and helps them in the raising of their own children, when the time comes.

RF: Since its inception, what improvements have you seen in terms of reducing child labour and improving awareness of the issue?

ST: Well, broadly speaking, about a million children used to be employed in the rug industry in Southern Asia; this number is now around 300,000. There’s still a long way to go, but this is a big improvement. We have taken many children out of the work cycle and put them into education, which we subsidise, and we’ve reunited many children with their families. Where possible, we try and reunite a child with its family; we can also house them in a rehabilitation centre and we give them educational support. For those that show real promise we arrange for them to enter high school. Those who are not geared towards that can enter vocational schemes. The important thing is that they do not work as children and that they receive care and education.

The incidence of child labour has drastically reduced. This is due to a combination of increased awareness through the Rugmark programme and cultural shifts, as well as local government, in India, Nepal and Pakistan, coming under more and more pressure from markets, such as the UK, to bring about change.

RT: Tell us more about GoodWeave and what it means as a brand.

ST: For a long time, consumers were only aware of the child labour problem. However, with time, concerns have also emerged about the adults working in the industry, whether they too receive fair treatment and wages and the environmental impact of the industry. The environment is a bigger issue nowadays - people want to know about the ecological impact of their product, its origin etc. This is why we are introducing the GoodWeave label.

The GoodWeave label therefore reflects the broadening of the organisation’s outlook, our increasing standards, and is creating a fresh, new impetus.

We have already set up a pilot programme in Nepal for adults working in rug manufacture, providing adult literacy courses, free health checks and nurseries for mothers with children, to avoid having children growing up in a factory environment.

The GoodWeave brand will also allow us to broaden our labelling scheme to cover other woven floor textiles, such as coir/jute products and doormats. Rugmark as a brand was very rug oriented, whereas GoodWeave is a name which can encompass other products.


RF: You recently held a rug design competition for design students (see News section) to raise awareness amongst young people. Is this something you intend to do more of as an organisation in the UK?

ST: I would love to do more, absolutely. The design competition garnered a lot of interest, got students involved and really brought the issue into the realm of young designers.

As an organisation, we target individual rug importers and manufacturers and then inform retailers and consumers which brand names and products bear our label. In the high street we work with retailers such as Laura Ashley, B&Q plus many independents but I would like to increasingly target interior designers too as they are trend-setters with wide ranging contacts and have an enormous influence over a key sector of the market.

In the USA Rugmark attends trade shows and many designers, operating at the top end of the market, are very supportive and active [on the Rugmark International website www.rugmark.org.com you can view stunning images of installations of Rugmark rugs in high-end locations such as the set of The Apprentice TV show in New York]. The market in the USA is different and much bigger, but the interior design sector is one I’d like to encourage to become more involved, here in the UK. I therefore feel it’s important to communicate with the designers of tomorrow, and the competition is an excellent way to do that.

The USA also organizes a travelling photo exhibition, which takes a look at the rug weaving industry: the designs, the children who have been helped by Rugmark, where they go to school and the improved environment in which they now live. That’s a fantastic way to get a message across to the general public. We’d love to do it in the UK in due course.


RF: how does a manufacturer or retailer get involved with Rugmark, what is the application process?

ST: We license rug importers. To get a license, you simply contact me and apply. Each company pays a license fee, which then goes to fund our initiatives in South Asia including inspections, education, and welfare and rehabilitation projects. Rugs bearing the GoodWeave label are individually numbered, to avoid counterfeiting, and to enable easy tracing of the loom’s origin.

Through our organisation retailers can find out which importers and export manufacturers are licensed and where they can buy GoodWeave labelled rugs – importers are listed on our website or they can speak to me. We encourage retailers to become one of our Marketing Partners; this gives them excellent promotional opportunities, including a comprehensive profile on our website, which is visited by thousands of consumers each month looking for a GoodWeave retailer in their area or on-line.

So far 6 million rugs have been exported from South Asia bearing our label. To read more about our initiatives and how you can help, check out the UK website
www.rugmark.org.uk/.

Left: Florence Broadhurst Floral Trail from Knots Rugs