Herringbone is a classic design that adds a touch of sophistication and visual intrigue when incorporated into your home. It has a classic, timeless design while complementing modern interiors and withstanding the test of time. Herringbone carpets and rugs can bring a luxurious feel into your home, but you need to understand this pattern and use it correctly to get the full impact.
To help you understand herringbone carpets better, we’ve collated this helpful guide, answering everything you need to know. We’ll cover:
Herringbone is the pattern of the carpet. It is a unique zig-zagged design that resembles the structure of a herring fish’s bones. This sophisticated pattern brings visual intrigue, while remaining subtler than stripes or checks, and is a traditional and timeless choice.
The intricate pattern of herringbone brings visual intrigue into your home, adding texture and a sophisticated pattern. The timeless style means it can withstand decor changes and it adds a sense of symmetry and direction to your home. By introducing a herringbone carpet, your home will have a classic feel whilst keeping up with the latest trends.
Typically, classic herringbone rugs and carpets are made from natural fibres like wool, sisal, seagrass and jute. Wool is a popular choice because it is soft underfoot, durable and has naturally insulating properties to keep your home feeling warm and cosy. Wool carpets and rugs give your home a luxurious feel, creating a sacred space for you to unwind and recharge with loved ones.
The herringbone pattern should always follow a focal point. It is usually best laid parallel to the longest wall, with the chevrons pointing in the direction of the window. This can make the room appear bigger because of the illusion of movement within the pattern. Additionally, having the pattern follow the direction of natural light can give a harmonious and even feel throughout the room.
Much like if you are laying herringbone carpet in a room, if you are introducing it to a staircase carpet or runner, the same rules should apply. Herringbone should be installed in the direction of the foot traffic so the points of the chevrons should point up, and down the stairs, parallel to the longest wall.
Herringbone stair runners or hallway rugs can give your home a luxurious feel and make a classy statement to guests entering your home. Combining style with functionality, herringbone stair runners and rugs are a sophisticated way to introduce patterns and texture into your home.
Adding a border to your herringbone rug or carpet can add impact, however, you need to be considerate of the border pattern you choose. Pairing a herringbone rug or carpet with a herringbone border can look too busy and the patterns could clash if they’re different sizes and colours.
Adding a block-coloured border to your herringbone carpet or rug can create a clean finish and frame your rug with sophistication and finesse.
If you have low ceilings or a narrow room, herringbone carpet or rugs can make the space appear larger, as the chevron pattern can create the illusion that a room is wider or longer than it actually is. This is great if you want to make small spaces feel larger than they are because the pattern draws the eye outwards, creating the illusion of a larger space.
Overall, herringbone carpet is an excellent choice if you want to combine classic sophistication with modern design influence. It can give your space a timeless feel and even make it appear larger. Find your own herringbone carpet now or create a bespoke herringbone rug or runner using our rug builder.
A rug can pull a room together and create a cosy space to unwind or a sophisticated setting to socialise with friends. Rugs can add a touch of comfort and luxury to hardwood floors and create a statement within your home. To prevent your rug from fraying, a rug border is essential. So, we’ve put together a guide to help you understand all about rug borders and why it is essential to have one on your rug. We’ll cover:
A rug border is sometimes referred to as a binding. It wraps around the edges of the rug to prevent them from fraying but can also add style and character to your rug or runner. They are typically made from materials like cotton, leather, linen or suede and combined with piping to accentuate the rug and border.
Not only will a border make your rug look more aesthetically pleasing, but it will also help to protect your rug from fraying or unravelling at the edges. A rug with a border can also act as a design feature within your home. The colours within the border can create a cohesive look within your home if they complement the surrounding wall or soft furnishing colours.
A single border is quite simply one border that wraps around the edge of the rug. It is usually made from one fabric and is a plain, block colour.
A border and piping involves a single, block colour border around the edge of the rug but it is also accompanied by piping. The piping is often in a different colour and separates the border from the centre of the rug.
A double border is two borders around the edge of the rug, usually in two different colours to create visual intrigue.
A whipped border is also known as overlocking or binding and involves overlocking the edge of the carpet with yarn to prevent fraying.
A raw edge is quite literally the edge of a rug, without a border. This can be much more prone to fraying as there is nothing binding the fibres of the rug around the edge.
Border tape can be used for rugs or runners that have a raw edge. It is typically applied aftermarket by the user and can neatly lock in the fibres to prevent fraying.
A rug border can really bring your rug to life and frame it within your home. Not only should the colour of the border complement or contrast the colour of the rug, but the material of the border should work in the same way.
Choose a border colour to match or blend in with the body of the rug to give a chic, borderless appearance. Alternatively, you can choose a complementary colour or shade for a more delicate look. Or, identify a common colour in the room, like soft furnishings or accessories to tie the room together and create a cohesive look.
There is also a range of materials to choose from, each with different properties, to finish off the border of your rug.
Cotton borders are soft, suitable for all rugs and ideal for indoor use.
Linen borders are made from the flax plant. They are similar to cotton but add more texture.
Leather borders are a sturdy, high-quality and sophisticated choice.
Suede borders have a soft velvety texture that can bring warmth and balance into the room.
A colourful border and piping can really draw attention to an otherwise neutral rug. With our rug builder, you can create a rug or runner that is completely customised to your personal taste. From the rug and border material to the piping, size and colours, everything is completely customisable. Once you have selected the size of your rug and the inner material, you can choose from a single border, border and piping or double border.
Our rug builder gives you the freedom to create something that is truly unique using the colours and materials you love. Choose from daring patterns or muted plains and finish your rug with a soft border or a bold edge with contrasting piping. By creating your own rug, you can really lean into your personal style and bring it to life in your home.
With Crucial Trading, you can build a custom rug and choose the centre and borders, along with the piping, materials and colours of your rug. So, try the rug builder now and create something truly unique for your home.
From vast and spacious spaces to chic and classical or bold statement patterns, the decor displayed throughout your home can say a lot about you. With bespoke rug runners for hallways, you can set the tone of your home the moment your guests walk through the door.
To guide you through choosing the perfect runner, we’ll cover the following:
Finding a carpet runner that is suitable for the exact dimensions of your space can be difficult. If you have a long hallway, you may struggle to find a runner that’s the right length and doesn’t come up too short. Equally, if the space is wide, you don’t want a runner that is too narrow as it can look lost in an open area.
Ideally, the edges of the runner should be parallel to the walls to make a long, narrow space appear wider as it will draw your eye down the hallway. However, if you want to make the space appear shorter, choosing a runner that is between half and three-quarters of the length of the hall can help to achieve this. As a general rule of thumb, your runner should have a 10 to 13cm border of flooring visible around the edges.
The best way to ensure your hallway runner fits perfectly is to create your own bespoke runner. Our rug builder makes it easy to carefully craft a runner that is the perfect size, shape, material and colour for your home. Not only can a bespoke runner be an eye-catching topic of conversation, but you can take pride in knowing that it was designed and crafted, especially for your home.
The best colour for your hall runner will likely come down to your own personal taste and the overall aesthetic of your home. You may be drawn to something brightly coloured, daring and eye-catching. Or you may opt for timeless colour combinations that give the entrance to your home an elegant or regal feel. Ultimately, when you choose a runner, the colour you select should suit the style and practicality of your home.
You may want to lay a runner over a wooden floor and choose a colour to match the carpet in your living room or up the staircase for a cohesive look. Alternatively, you can use your runner to make a statement by choosing a bold colour or pattern to contrast against other design elements in your hallway.
For busy hallways and high-traffic areas, selecting a runner that can cope with lots of foot traffic is essential. However, you may prefer a touch of style and luxury over longevity.
Wool is warm, comfortable and soft underfoot so it makes a great hallway runner and acts as a natural insulator which is perfect if it is laid over a hard floor. It is long-lasting and can withstand lots of foot traffic so it is perfect for high-traffic areas of the home like the hallway.
If you’re looking to create a neural feel, alternative natural fibres are an excellent choice. Coir has a natural aesthetic that works well in transitional spaces whilst remaining luxurious and low maintenance. Meanwhile, sisal is robust and durable with beautifully structured weaves. Alternatively, sisool combines both wool and sisal fibres for a warm and durable rug that can easily withstand heavy foot traffic.
Patterned rugs and hallway runners are versatile enough to make a statement or seamlessly tie a room together. However, different patterns make a different impact.
Stripes are a classic choice that is not too bold or overpowering. Stripes along the length of the rug can make your hallway appear longer whereas the same pattern across the width can make your hall appear wider.
Geometric patterns offer a sense of modernity whereas Oriental rugs paired with traditional decor can give your home a regal feel. Finally, bright, patterns can make a neutral, minimalist space feel warm and homely.
Ultimately, if you are leaning towards a patterned rug, the right pattern will depend on your personal style and what you want to achieve within the space.
Not only does it look better, but it is more practical to lay your hall runner on a hard floor, rather than a carpet. Installing your runner over a carpet can cause the carpet to flatten due to the friction when you walk over it, so your carpet can wear easily if there is a lot of foot traffic. Not only that, but it can be difficult to keep a rug or carpet runner in place on a carpet.
Hard flooring options like stone, wood or ceramic tiles are all good options for flooring to lay your runner on. So, if you are completely redesigning your hallway to incorporate a rug or runner, hard flooring is the best choice. To ensure it doesn’t slip, you should lay it on top of the underlay.
Before buying a rug, you should consider the overall look and feel of the space first. Are you having a complete redesign or looking to freshen up an existing area? It’s important to remember that the style, colour and pattern that you choose can have a big impact on the space.
If you want a hall runner to be the first thing your guests see and the last thing they’re talking about, a bold runner may be the best way to make a statement. Bold colours or patterned runners can bring a warm and homely feel into minimalist spaces. They are eye-catching, daring and range from classic to modern designs.
You may want to create a cohesive look throughout your whole downstairs space. If that’s the case, we’d suggest using the same colour pallet throughout your hallway, lounge, kitchen and dining area. This doesn’t mean every wall, floor covering and surface should be the same colour. Instead, we suggest choosing the same accent colour for each room to cohesively bring the spaces together.
Patterns can create the illusion of a space being longer, wider or generally bigger than it actually is. So, if you want to give the illusion of your hallway being larger, striped patterns are an excellent choice.
Ultimately, the best way to find the perfect runner for your home is to create one bespoke. Our rug builder allows you to select all of the details from the material, size and pattern to the boarders and piping. Your bespoke rug will fit perfectly in your home and is sure to become a talking point among guests. Create your bespoke hall runner now.
A minimalist lifestyle is driven by simplicity. It utilises delicate, neutral colours like cream, beige, white and grey with the aim of creating a fresh, bright and uncluttered space. Minimalist living has an emphasis on what is truly essential and has a deliberate and intentional approach. So, when it comes to adding a rug to a minimalist space, it should be a necessary addition to the room without adding clutter.
With this in mind, we have created a guide to help you incorporate a rug into minimalist spaces, without being overpowering. We’ll cover:
Adding different textures to minimalist spaces can create visual weight and add dimensions to a space. Visual weight draws the eye to particular areas to act as a feature, making a room more interesting to look at. By simply adding a textured rug to a minimalist space, you can create balance without making the room look cluttered.
Minimalist rooms can sometimes feel cold and empty. However, you can overcome this by adding a rug for a warm and comfortable feel. Wool can act as a natural insulator so choosing a wool fibre rug can make your room feel warm and cosy, especially if you have hard floors.
Additionally, a rug can elevate the space by adding texture or drawing the eye with a captivating, yet simple, design. Adding a rug can also help to set boundaries within larger rooms if you want to create distinct areas.
Choosing a rug is easy but choosing the right rug can be more difficult, especially if you have a minimalist style. Don’t choose anything too bold or daring as this strays too far from your minimalist style. But simple patterns and muted colours can work very well.
A minimalist abstract rug or solid colours can add warmth without overwhelming the space. Meanwhile, patterns can add dimension and texture, making your space feel much more homely. Alternatively, a plain rug with a border and statement piping can add a splash of colour without overwhelming the space.
Size is also important to consider. A small rug in a large room can make the space feel small and cluttered. Meanwhile, a large rug in a smaller space can add depth and make the room appear larger. So, you should consider what effect you want the rug to have on the size of the space.
Coloured or patterned rugs are a great way to add a statement piece, or depth, to minimalist rooms. It is still possible to maintain a sophisticated, minimalist flare, by adding splashes of colour or a chic patterned rug.
A block-coloured rug can add a touch of vibrancy without being too overpowering. If your colour palette combines neutral tones like beige, cream or grey, a muted accent rug in pale pink, blue or green can add a splash of colour and add some contrast to the space.
If your room has monochrome tones, consider adding a patterned black and white minimalist rug. This will maintain the overall colour scheme of the room. A patterned rug can add visual weight to the room, drawing attention to that area. A black and white rug is a great way to make a statement without veering off track with anything too bold that clashes with other decor.
A patterned carpet can add visual intrigue to the room you are decorating. While minimalism is chic, it can lack dimension and balance if you only use one colour or tone throughout the space. A patterned carpet can create a statement in the room, with contrasting colours, or add textural dimension.
Additionally, you can create your own patterned rug with pops of colour that complement the neutral tones in your room. Or, when using similar shades, even muted patterns can add texture and dimension while maintaining a subtle, minimalist style.
It’s easy to make a space appear cluttered with cushions, wall hangings, ornaments, candles and other room decor. So, if you want to add another dimension to a minimalist space, a rug can make a room look more visually appealing without feeling cluttered.
If you have a neutral colour scheme, you can adhere to this by adding a plain, neutral-coloured rug. This will keep the space looking chic and sophisticated with a muted colour palette throughout the room. It works particularly well if you have hard flooring as the layering of different textures can add new dimensions whilst maintaining a minimalist feel.
Typically, a rug is placed in the centre of the room. This is especially true in a lounge where a rug is often placed beneath the coffee table, surrounded by the sofa and chairs. This can create a distinctive focal point for the room.
In the bedroom, you may prefer to add a rug beneath your bed to create a border. This works particularly well in smaller bedrooms to create a border around the bed. If you have a larger room, you should consider where you want the focal point to be. If this is at the foot of the bed, the rug shouldn’t be wider or longer than the bed.
For a cohesive look, consider placing at least a third of your rug underneath the sofas or chairs within the room. This helps to avoid separation within the space. Alternatively, if you have a larger room, multiple rugs can help to create definite boundaries to segment the space into defined areas.
Overall, adding a rug to minimalist spaces is a must for adding texture and warmth for a homely feel. If you are struggling to find a suitable rug to complement the sophisticated simplicity of your space, use our rug builder to create something that is truly unique to your home.
With the growing popularity of stair runners in recent years, it’s no surprise that this trend is still cascading into many homes. As well as dampening noise and protecting wooden stairs, stair runners are a beautiful design feature in your hallway that can make a lasting impression on guests entering your home. So, how can you incorporate a stair runner and seamlessly transition to a fully carpeted hallway or landing?
In this guide we’ll explore:
A stair runner makes for a delightful feature in your home, but for many reasons, it may not be practical to continue the runner throughout your landing or hallway. So, you’ll likely want to install full-width carpet in these areas.
The stair runner should flow to the top of the riser on the top step, just beneath the stair nose. Meanwhile, the full-width carpet begins on the top step. So, when measuring your carpet, you need to be sure that you’ve accounted for the carpet to begin around the stair nosing on the top step for a seamless transition.
To make the transition appear seamless, you should choose complementary colours, textures or patterns to create a cohesive look between the stair runner and landing carpet.
A stair runner is a stand-out feature of your home. So, we’d recommend selecting your stair runner first before finding a complementary carpet. First of all, you should think about the foot traffic on your staircase as busy areas will require more durable fabrics like wool that can withstand heavy footfall. This also makes flat woven stair runners your best option for enhanced durability.
Once you’ve settled on the material and weave for your runner, you should think about the colour or patterns you want. Stripes are a popular choice as they can make the space feel longer and bigger. However, you may want to pair a striped stair runner with a neutral or simplistic design so as not to overwhelm the space. Alternatively, you may prefer a plain colour with accents in the piping or stitching that you can bring out in other design features on the stairs or hallway.
Elevate your space with a bespoke stair runner. Bring your vision to life and design a statement runner that is truly unique to your home.
The carpet you choose should complement your runner to create a seamless transition from staircase to landing. So, whether you choose one solid colour, or continue with the same pattern from the stairs, the transition should be flawless.
If you have a striped carpet or piping, consider choosing one of the colours from the stripes or the piping as your carpet colour to create a cohesive look. The use of similar colours on the stairs and landing will make the transition appear more natural and pull the space together.
Alternatively, you may want to continue the same pattern used on the stairs, onto the landing. If you’ve created a bespoke runner, incorporating it into a landing carpet should be simple as the pattern should be available in full widths. However, for the flawless transition you’re looking for, stripes should follow the same lines and direction and other patterns should be correctly aligned so the design is fluid throughout the space.
As you make the transition from stair runner to full-width carpet landing, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure it is chic and seamless.
Stair runners make an excellent statement at the entrance to your home and can add dimension and texture by layering different materials and patterns. Keep the transition between the stairs and landing simple and choose complementary colours for a cohesive effect. For a truly unique look, create your bespoke stair runner now.
