Creating a Custom Rug for the Home

A beautiful rug completes a room — but a beautiful custom rug really makes a space sing! When we want the rug to play a starring role or if a space has unusual dimensions, we choose the custom route. The possibilities range from tweaking the size and colors of a manufacturer’s stock design to commissioning a one-of-a-kind creation based on an original concept. We’ve created and installed in clients’ homes numerous custom rugs over the years and the results never disappoint!

The Custom Rug Process

Like any fine work of art, a tailor-made rug can’t be rushed. Here are the steps involved:

• Draw a bespoke design or select one from the manufacturer’s collection
• Select the color(s) and materials — wool or silk, for example — for each element in the design
• Choose the rug pile (cut or loop) and pile height
• Request a strike-off (or small sample) in your chosen colors, materials and pile for approval
• If necessary, adjust the colors and request a second strike-off (hopefully you can skip this step)
• Order the rug in the size you need…and be patient.

Bespoke Rug Designs

I followed these steps to create a custom rug for a client’s dramatic foyer. Given the space’s curved walls, a circular rug would fit best. Finding the 8-foot-round size we needed off the racks would have been a challenge. Since the other elements in the space were going to be fairly quiet, we wanted the rug to introduce a bit of drama, by way of a rich palette and large-scale floral motif. So I created a bespoke design with flowering vines. Here’s the initial line drawing:

We began filling in those lines with an array of earth tones. As you can see, we selected the color poms (dyed yarn samples) we wanted to use for each element in the design.

An 8-foot mock-up allowed us to see how our design would translate in exact scale and how it would look in the client’s entryway.

Then we ordered a strike-off to get a true sense of the final product. A strike-off is crucial because the materials and pile you select will affect the way the colors read. So here, our hand-tufted strike-off was done in wool with a combination of cut and loop pile for added texture…just like the finished rug would be:

The production time for a strike-off is generally 10-12 weeks — and there is simply no short-cut.

Once we approved the strike-off, we ordered the full-sized rug. A custom rug can take about 12-14 weeks to produce. Here’s a glimpse of the final rug in our client’s grand foyer. By the way, a custom matching runner covers the stairs.

Pattern Placement

For a client’s Arlington living room, we created a bespoke rug design featuring cherry blossom branches, in a nod to our proximity to the nation’s capital.

The trick here was placing the branches on the rug just so. We didn’t want them to be covered up by the furniture and didn’t leave anything to chance. The wool and silk rug was hand-knotted by Tibetan artisans.

Colors, Materials and Pile

To create a custom rug for another living room, we started by choosing a geometric design from Kravet‘s collection and customized it by selecting the three colors we wanted to use from their pom library (every vendor has their own color-pom system).

As I mentioned above, the choice of fiber(s) plays a huge role in the overall look of the finished product. Take a look at how different the same color yarn looks in wool (both cut and loop pile) and viscose:

For this rug, we chose  a combination of wool and silk-like viscose. Here’s a close-up of the strike-off:

The hand-tufted beauty from Kravet provides a neutral yet playful foundation in our client’s living room.

Shimmer and Texture

I love the subtle shimmer that silk or viscose fibers offer. And we were looking to add a little extra shimmer to a client’s sophisticated dining room. Our wool and viscose rug does just that. This one also started with a Kravet design that we custom-colored.

The adjoining living room in this Arlington house also features a rug tailor-made from an abstract Kravet design.

This hand-tufted rug is all wool, with a raised pattern for added texture.

A Final Word on Strike-offs

Whether we start with our own bespoke sketch or use a manufacturer’s existing design, the process is the same. Either way, a strike-off is paramount.

In fact, for one dining-room rug, we ordered two strike-offs. We had selected a floral design from Tamarian, through our friends at Galleria Carpets & Rugs, and were deciding between two color variations. Receiving two strike-offs at the same time allowed us to review them side-by-side — without having to wait for a second sample if we weren’t completely sold on the first one.

We ultimately approved the version on the bottom left, with a purple ground, gray pattern, and softer green border. Here is the wool rug, hand-knotted in Tibet, in our client’s Washington, DC, dining room.

All in, a custom rug generally takes six months to create. I advise my interior design clients not to let the lead time scare them off. The process requires patience, but, if you ask me, the end result is worth the wait!