Mary Katrantzou Rug

The Rug Company — a New York-based luxury rug brand — is a leading name in contemporary handmade carpets. Combining exceptional quality with original designs, their skilled weavers employ heritage techniques to create superb carpets that are both precious and unique. Each rug is handmade by accomplished artisans in Nepal — a country renowned for its textiles — and involves the finest of materials. The studio collaborates with over 40 of the world’s most visionary designers, such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Paul Smith.

The Rug Company — also known as TRC — was founded in 1997 by British interior designer Suzanne Sharp and her husband, Christopher. In the early 1990s, the couple spent time in Saudi Arabia while Christopher was making commercials and documentaries. They visited the local marketplaces and were impressed by the artfulness of the hand-knotted carpets. They realized that the rug industry was ripe for innovation. Upon returning to London, they launched the company to produce Nepalese hand-knotted carpets in a contemporary style while utilizing traditional rug-making skills and ensuring superior and consistent quality.

Suzanne recognized the potential for enriching the company through working with acclaimed designers. TRC’s first collaboration, in the late ’90s, was with fashion designer Marni, which resulted in the company garnering several industry accolades. In 2000, TRC created its Designer Collection and teamed up with ten leading designers, like Nina Campbell, Nicky Haslam and Cath Kidston. The brand has now worked with an unparalleled list of designers, including some unexpected contributors such as art glass designer Dale Chihuly, ceramics designer Eva Zeisel and industrial designer Tom Dixon.  

TRC has an impressive client base, from luxury hotel chains like the Four Seasons and Claridge’s to private commissions for dignitaries and celebrities, such as former British Prime Minister David Cameron, former American President Barack Obama, Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker and Courtney Cox.

On 1stdibs, find The Rug Company’s Western European rugs, Central Asian rugs, carpets and more.

Good antique rugs and vintage rugs have made their way into homes across the globe, becoming fixtures used for comfort, prayer and self-expression, so choosing the right area rug is officially a universal endeavor.

In modern usage, “carpet” typically denotes a wall-to-wall floor cushioning that is fixed to the floor. Rugs, on the other hand, are designed to cover a specific area and can easily be moved to new locations. However, the terms are interchangeable in many parts of the world, and, in the end, it won’t matter what you decide to call it.

It’s well known that a timeless Persian rug or vintage Turkish rug can warm any interior, but there are lots of other styles of antique rugs to choose from when you're endeavoring to introduce fresh colors and textures to a bedroom or living room.

Moroccan Berber rugs are not all about pattern. In fact, some of the most striking examples are nearly monochrome. But what these rugs lack in complexity, they make up for in brilliant color and subtle variation. Moroccan-style interiors can be mesmerizing — a sitting room of this type might feature a Moroccan rug, carved wooden screens and a tapestry hung behind the sofa.

Handwoven kilim rugs, known for their wealth of rich colors and unique weaving tradition, are pileless: Whereas the Beni Ourain rugs of Morocco can be described as dense with a thick surface or pile, an authentic kilim rug is thin and flat. (The term “kilim” is Turkish in origin, but this type of textile artistry is practiced all across the Balkans, throughout the Arab world and elsewhere.) 

When it comes to eye-catching floor coverings, the distinctive “medallion” pattern of Oushak rugs has two types of rounded shapes alternating against a rich red or blue background created with natural dyes, while the elaborate “star” pattern involves large eight-pointed shapes in diagonal rows alternating with diamonds.  

If you’re looking for something unexpected, find a runner rug that pops in your hallway or on your stairs. Dig for dazzling geometric patterns in our inventory of mid-century modern rugs and carpets, which includes works designed by the likes of Swedish textile masters Märta Måås-Fjetterström, Marianne Richter and other artisans. 

Carpets and rugs have been around for thousands of years. Prehistoric humans turned to animal skin, wool and fur to craft simple fabrics to soften hard terrain. A 2016 study suggests that "cave lions" were hunted for exactly this purpose, and that decorating your cave with their pelts may have conferred strength and prestige. Although many of these early textiles are still in existence, tracing their precise origins is difficult. Carpets quickly became such a valuable trade commodity that the weavings could easily travel far from their places of origin. 

The oldest known carpet was found in southern Siberia. (It may have traveled there from Persepolis in Iran.) For the flat-weave floor rugs crafted by Native Americans, cotton was the primary material before sheep’s wool was introduced in the 16th century. In Europe, carpet-making was fundamental to folk art, and Asian carpets imported to European countries were at one time considered a precious luxury and not intended to remain permanently on the floor. 

With the variety of area rugs and carpets rolled out for you on 1stDibs — a collection that includes traditional, modern, minimalist rugs and other coverings of all kinds — things will be looking up whenever you’re looking down.