Undeniably glamorous, gold has long been associated with the idea of luxury. However, in some parts of the world, such as Asia and many Islamic countries, gold is associated with spirituality and knowledge, and the colour is often the symbol of purity and wisdom. Gold also has a strong connection to Buddhism and is symbolic of enlightenment, purity and happiness.
Often referred to as a ‘neutral’ colour when using gold as part of a design, or within interior design, gold is incredibly versatile and quite simply goes with anything. One of the key elements to using gold is balance. The art of knowing how much – or how little – to use is vital in creating a design that is beautiful and harmonious, but still able to stand out from the crowd.
Wendy loves using gold, working with it to highlight design details, create impact, add balance or to ground bold colour combinations. It is a favourite neutral at the heart of many of her designs.
‘Most of our rugs feature gold in some way,’ Wendy explains. ‘Mount Orient, a wool & Tencel hand-tufted design, is a great example of why I like to use gold. The Oriental-inspired design has multi-colour florals set against a dark grey background. It also has white cranes in flight across the grey backdrop and colours of the flowers. The design is composed of so many colours, all of which are layered upon each other, I feel the gold grounds them perfectly.’
Highlighting each floral detail as well as bringing the cranes vividly to life, allowing every motif to stand out, the gold Tencel used here also adds a sense of elegance and luxury to the overall design.
Hand-tufted wool & Tencel rug Shanghai Blossom is another great example of using gold as a neutral. The bold, multi-colour herringbone design features a wool base with shimmering highlights in gold Tencel. The design combines beautiful chrysanthemums, lotus flowers and peony roses – all flowers that are full of positive symbolism in Eastern cultures – etched and highlighted in gold.
‘I love the combination of gold with lots of other colours,’ Wendy explains. ‘The colours in Shanghai Blossom might be too much with all the bright shades sitting next to each other, but highlighting each with gold grounds the individual colours, allowing them to work together.’
Gold features strongly in the lustrous yarns, Tencel and silk, used in our rugs. These yarns create a luxurious look and feel, and add to the understated glamour. A neutral that is easy to use in the home, gold works as a highlight or will happily take centre stage.
Art Deco-inspired Sunburst uses gold to create a dazzling rug that adds warmth and depth to interiors. Hand-tufted wool & Tencel rug Wisteria features droplets in shimmering warm gold as a wonderful backdrop to three hummingbirds in a beautiful shade of teal. Gold is also used to great effect in the imagery of Leopard Gold, which features a leopard in shimmering gold Tencel surrounded by foliage and fluttering butterflies. All neutral rugs with maximum impact that could be placed anywhere in the home.
Teamed with three other favourite neutrals, grey, teal and pink, gold is used to create a striking repeat pattern of butterflies and periwinkle flowers in hand-knotted wool & silk rug Renaissance. The gold silk used here shimmers and adds a wonderful lustre to the design.
In a change of pace, gold is used as a striking border that beautifully sets off the intricate details of Chinese Garden of Virtue. This rug combines bold design elements with neutral colours to create a statement rug that will draw attention, but never overwhelm.
In many of our rugs, including the exotic Zebra Leopard Palms, a complex design which combines leopards, palm trees, orchids, lotus flower and chrysanthemums on a zebra wool backdrop, gold is used as an outline, to ground the colours around it, enhancing and enabling bold colour combinations that may not work on their own.
Our ultimate design for gold lovers is quite possibly Kimono Gold. A bold, colourful design showing cranes in flight above peonies and chrysanthemums set against a stunning striped gold background. Gold plays a central role in this design, but is beautifully balanced with white to create the perfect backdrop for other colours. Maximalist and luxurious, this rug showcases one of our favourite neutrals in a glorious design that adds real wow factor.
A long-time favourite of ours, if you haven’t dipped a toe into gold-design waters yet, we urge you to dive in. This versatile neutral is perfect for lifting moods and interiors, adding a touch of luxury and a whole lot of joy.
