Client Project + I Love Persians (rugs that is!)

I’m working with a lovely client to pull together her family room. The room has great bones – high coffered ceilings and great natural light. She says everything can go except, of course, the wide leather sofa from Restoration Hardware which was a splurge. The clients had already purchased it before I started working with them. As you know, I am not a fan of leather but this sofa with its modern styling, 2 seat cushions and depth is both stylish and super comfortable.

You can probably spot what’s not working in this room. The area rug is too small, the ottoman is too small and not the right shape and the overhead lighting is a bit too small as well. There is too much leather and too much brown – the chair in the corner is definitely going.

So what are we doing? We have already ordered a custom ottoman with more generous proportions in a durable indoor/outdoor fabric in a charcoal colour (not the leather showing in the moodboard.)

A modern wing back chair upholstered in a linen look outdoor fabric will replace the leather one. (The client has two young, active boys and wanted the fabrics to be almost childproof – outdoor fabrics fit the bill.) A media unit from West Elm is being painted a lovely grey (it will go on the right side of the room underneath a wall mounted TV which is out of view.) I have always loved the clean lines of the unit and the shelf that you can style with books, etc. Brass/gold round end tables like these which have been discontinued will add additional warmth and glam to the room.

We debated what style of area rug to purchase and I kept coming back to the idea of a Persian rug as I thought it would be a good counterpoint to the modern, leather sofa. As you can see from the rug that was there before, this wasn’t difficult for my client to buy into. It would have been too predictable to do a more modern rug with say, a graphic print.

So we paid a visit to one of my favourite rug vendors and after looking at a number of rugs, we brought this baby home.

It’s what’s referred to as a semi-antique Persian meaning it is around 50 years old, not 100 (according to my “rug guy.”) My client loved that it was a lot thinner than some of the “Persian style” rugs we had seen via other suppliers and retailers. It is hand-knotted wool with a large number of knots per square inch. This type of rug may have taken months or even years to make. (The higher the number of knots, the more work was involved in weaving it and hence a higher price tag.) This red is more vibrant than say a burgundy or rust colour which appealed to my client. We had looked at some in more muted beige tones but with the large brown leather sofa, the room just looked blah. This rug really adds personality and much needed colour.

PS The rug above is a 17th century Persian which recently sold for $33.8 million at Sotheby’s – can you believe that? I think I like my client’s much better! :)

Stay tuned for the reveal once the new furniture etc. arrives in a few weeks.

In the meantime, here are a few rooms I pinned with Persian rugs (they may actually be from India, Turkey or elsewhere but the style is similar.) You can see how they add charm, colour and interest to the spaces.