Tactile Textiles for Comfort and Nurture

We’ve talked about the practical nature of our rugs before – all of our handcrafted pieces are created for enduring comfort, as well as having individual, beautiful designs – but in the current climate, we’ve been reminded of just how much comfort can come from using soft, tactile textiles in our living spaces.

A lack of human touch and contact is hard to live with. It has made us think even more about how we use our own rugs at home. They are certainly there for warmth – blocking draughts and adding to a cosy environment, providing a safe, cocoon-like feeling and a space we want to retreat to – but lately, as we crave extra comfort, we’ve been drawn to just how reassuring a soft rug feels underfoot, or to hunker down on, reading, reflecting and simply relaxing.

Hand-crafted textiles naturally make you want to touch them, and the softer the feel the better. Wendy has always worked with the best materials and artisan makers, striving to create a rug that feels as good as it looks. Combining this tactile quality with colours that spark feelings of joy, happiness and contentment allows Wendy to create rugs that not only have a practical use, but have a positive emotional effect too.

Wendy’s intention has always been to design rugs that people fall in love with, that bring joy and happiness to homes, that make people feel good every time they look at them. But we’ve recently been reminded just how good it is to feel our rugs underfoot too, how soothing and comforting that soft sensation is.

We’ve chosen a few rugs below that we think are perfect for creating a comfortable, nurturing and inspiring space, combining aspects of nature in each design with colours that speak to particular senses.

Orange, the colour of joy and creativity, features with pink, the colour of love, nurturing green, calming blue and energising red, in our hand-tufted wool and Tencel Shanghai Blossom rug. The bold herringbone design is a joyful mix of colour with highlights in warm gold. The power and beauty of the natural world is captured in the floral details, including chrysanthemums, lotus flowers and peony roses.

Shanghai Blossom Rug

Nature, from the plant to the animal world, always plays a huge part in our designs. The natural world is somewhere Wendy turns to again and again, not just for design inspiration, but also to take time out, to recharge, and simply to enjoy and appreciate. And although travel feels like a distant memory just now, we can still let our imaginations take flight.

Birdsong Yellow, a chinoiserie rug in the colour that symbolises happiness and contentment, is influenced by the beauty and grace of Japanese culture, and brings a flock of exotic birds to life. The colourful birds are joined by equally bright and beautiful magnolias, orchids and chrysanthemums. The vibrant pops of pink, the colour of love, and green, a nurturing colour, are a wonderful way to lift the spirits, make you smile and be reminded of the beauty of nature.

Birdsong Yellow Rug

For anyone keen to create a cocoon-like mood, our Leopard Palms Dark is the way to do so with a touch of flamboyance. Inspired by film set interiors, the dark wool base of this rug is the perfect backdrop for roaming leopards, palm trees, and larger-than-life orchids, lotus flowers and chrysanthemums. Full of nurturing green and loving pink, we feel the dark base creates a sense of warmth and security.

Leopard Palms Rug

Peace, Love & Joy is a glorious celebration of orchids, lotus flowers and chrysanthemums set on an energising crimson wool base with a beautiful pink border. The gold highlights bring each bloom to life, with the floral details protectively surrounding the crimson block at the centre.

Peace, Love & Joy Chinoiserie Rug

What could be more uplifting than basking in the glow of the sun’s rays? Sunburst is quite literally Art Deco-inspired rays of golden sunshine for your home. The warm neutrals and golden details combine in a simple, bold and beautiful rug designed to bring light, warmth and joy to interiors. It can’t help but make you smile, breathe out and relax.

Sunburst Art Deco Rug

It feels like the right time to introduce a note of Good Fortune; our hand-tufted wool and Tencel rug brings together bold, dynamic red and warming gold, with a splash of pink for love, in a mesmerising tale of Chinese philosophy and symbolism. Featuring a dragon, the symbol of power, strength and good luck, a soaring phoenix, a symbol of harmony, a peacock, which represents dignity and beauty, as well as the crane. One of the most loved birds in China, the crane is seen as a symbol of noble character and longevity. It also has romantic associations; the monogamous bird, which stays with one partner throughout its life, represents lasting love and loyalty in marriage.

Good Fortune Chinoiserie Rug

Creating a home that is comfortable and makes you happy feels more important than ever at the moment. Rugs are one way to introduce warmth and comfort, to soften the hard edges of a room, to dull echoes and add a luxurious layer to floors, all of which will help to soothe and add to a sense of wellbeing.