Synopses & Reviews
Handmade rugs are perpetual objects of desire, sought after for their expressive designs and intricate combinations of pattern and color. Whether hand-knotted or handwoven, their tactile quality completes any well-furnished interior. A rug often occupies fully a third of a room and, if antique, is also often its most expensive single item, yet there has never been a book presenting decorative carpets as an integral component of interior design until now.
Decorative carpet expert Alix G. Perrachon has, for the first time, compiled a book to guide all interested in placing handmade carpets in contemporary spaces—from individual homeowners to interior designers and their clients. Inside, thirty-two of America’s most celebrated designers—including Penny Drue Baird, Samuel Botero, Clodagh, Jamie Drake, David Easton, Thomas Jayne, Juan Montoya, Suzanne Tucker, Bunny Williams, and Vicente Wolf—discuss in animated terms how, and which pieces, they choose from the infinite array of handmade decorative carpets available in the market today. Their selections are illustrated with luxurious images drawn from their own work, revealing rugs ranging from Agras, Aubussons, and Axminsters to modern Tibetan and transitional designs in every style of interior from traditional to contemporary.
In addition to engaging, accessible text and 300 full-color illustrations, The Decorative Carpet provides purchasing and care essentials, presents the twenty most popular types of rugs used by designers today—along with a brief description of the defining characteristics and history of each—and includes a glossary and suggestions for further reading, providing all the tools necessary for all those eager to explore the intriguing, expansive world of handmade decorative carpets to begin.
Synopsis
More than any other element of a room, and as the largest and most expensive component of any design scheme, the effect a carpet has on a space is every bit as great as its size. Decorators have long recognized the importance of a fine carpet, its impact on the colors and textures of a space, its contribution to creating an atmosphere, its feel of luxury, and, with the best examples, its lasting worth.
Decorating with Carpets taps the extensive and remarkable archive of Stark Carpet for interior designandrsquo;s greatest examples.
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Over 75 years, Stark, the premier American carpet manufacturer, has worked with notable designers, from Billy Baldwin and Dorothy Draper to Sister Parish and Albert Hadley to Mark Hampton and Mario Buatta to contemporary leading lights such as Diamond Baratta, Victoria Hagan, Katie Ridder, and Stephen Gambrel. Illustrating their work, this definitive book on carpet, like its subject, captures great beauty and will have timeless value.
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About the Author
Alix G. Perrachon is a writer, speaker, and consultant to the interior design trade and private rug buyers whose career has spanned over thirty years. She has worked at
HALI: The Oriental Rug Journal of Oriental Carpets & Textiles; and
The Oriental Rug Magazine, later renamed
AREA Magazine. Her articles on oriental and decorative weavings and antiques have appeared in
House & Garden,
Art & Auction,
Antique Collector,
Art & Antiques, and the
New York Times, among other publications. She has lectured at numerous venues, including the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., and founded her consulting business, Alix Unlimited, in 1991.
Doris Leslie Blau founded her eponymous gallery 1965. Her collections of antique Oriental and European rugs are widely acknowledged to represent the most beautiful and historically significant pieces in private hands. Regular clients include museums, royal collectors, and art institutions, as well as top interior designers and architects.
Table of Contents
7 Foreword
Doris Leslie Blau8 Introduction
10 Thomas C. Achille
18 Charles Allem
24 Penny Drue Baird
32 Bruce Bierman
38 Samuel Botero
46 Leonard Braunschweiger
52 Ronald Bricke
58 Clodagh
64 Carl D’Aquino
72 Jamie Drake
80 Mary Douglas Drysdale
86 David Easton
96 William R. Eubanks
104 Charles Faudree
110 Glenn Gissler
116 Darren Henault
122 Jiun Ho
130 Terry Hunziker
138 Thomas Jayne
146 Robert Ledingham
152 Edward Lobrano
158 Suzanne Lovell
164 Robin McGarry
170 Juan Montoya
176 Matthew Patrick Smyth
182 Stedila Design
188 Stephanie Stokes
194 Suzanne Tucker
202 Irwin Weiner
208 Bunny Williams
216 Paul Vincent Wiseman
224 Vicente Wolf
Appendix
230 Purchasing and Care Essentials
232 Gallery
252 Glossary
253 Further Reading
254 Acknowledgments
255 Photography Credits
256 About the Author