FLOR Carpet Contest Winners

I had a wonderful response to last week’s contest to win an Alexander Girard area rug from FLOR. The Name the Designer game was fun, and I hope this will be the first of many contests to come. And now, without further ado, here’s another look at the prize, followed by the winners. They are…

Melissa M is the grand prize winner. Congratulations! The runners up are: Lilla A, Nora W, Lori D, Casey I, and Dena O. Runners up receive Design Hole T-shirts. I’ll be contacting all the winners today.

For those of you who are wondering what the correct answers were, here they are.

Thanks to everyone for entering. Again, from the responses I received it sounds like everyone had a good time with this. I know I did.

This is the last contest post before I announce the winner of this cute 3′x5′ Alexander Girard area rug from FLOR. For all the details about exactly how to win, scoot over here. After that, scroll through the week for all the hints. Then, send me your entry, via email (bar on left) before the end of Sunday. The first 4 runners up will win Design Hole T-Shirts - that’s tight!

I promised I’d give out hints for this week’s contest. You can read all the details here about how to win a 3′x5′ area rug from FLOR. The first 4 runners up win Design Hole T-shirts. How cool is that?

Basically, match the chairs with their designers to win. Send your entries to me via the contact button (on the left column). I’ve been asked for some hints, so here’s another: Four of the manufacturers are: Moroso, Knoll, Thonet & Fritz Hansen.

Good luck!

These rugs from Twinkle Living offer a bit of whismical style to your summer decor. Twinkle Living encapsulates designer, Wenlan Chia’s fashion sensibility, her contemporary lifestyle, and a childhood spent amongst the expansive architecture of her native Taiwan.

Her home collection, including these toss rugs, can be found at Design Public. 

Speaking of rugs, don’t forget to enter the FLOR area rug contest. For all the details, go to my earlier post, here.

I promised I’d give some hints to help chair-designer-impaired win the area rug from . So here goes…..

Hmmm… Let’s see. What do I write about every day? That might help.

Remember, the grand prize is a 3′x5′ version of the FLOR area rug shown above (the color is Mandarin). The first four runners up will receive Design Hole T-shirts. The contest ends on Sunday, June 8th and the winners will be announced the next day. Good luck!

I’m so excited to be running my very first contest here at Design Hole. We can never have enough fun in our lives, right? So, I’m hoping this will add a little extra. And it had a great prize attached, which makes it all the better. This is your chance to win a 3′x5′ Alexander Girard area rug in Mandarina from FLOR (see earlier post) - a $160 value!

This is an example of the winning rug color & style. The actual size is 3′x5′.

Ready? Let’s go.

Below are eight chairs. Some are famous, others more mysterious. Can you name the designers? Be the first to email me with the correct answers and you’ll be the grand prize winner. The next four runners up will win fabulous Design Hole T-shirts.

The contest will run for one week, ending on Sunday, June 8th. Submit your answers via email to: Jennifermitchelldesign at gmail.com (or from the Contact Me link to the left). I’ll announce the winner on Monday, June 9th. No family members are allowed to participate because I said so.

Remember - I’m looking for the designer’s name. Good luck!

In the early 1950’s Alexander Girard fabric designs became part of the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and the Herman Miller cadre. Behind those fabrics, wallpapers and 300 other designs for Herman Miller, was a unique folk art-inspired aesthetic. Beginning today, FLOR is launching a new Alexander Girard line featuring his La Fonda del Sol designs. The rugs come in squares, but these are sold as rugs. They come in four colorways.

I’ve used FLOR carpet squares for several projects, including my office. FLOR is made by Interface, a company that manufactures mostly commercial carpeting (which I’ve also used). I love their sense of style. It’s modern and fresh. FLOR is a brilliant extension and done well. You become your own carpet designer by mixing and matching styles. It’s also easy to install. I did my office myself in a couple of hours.

Textile designer, Madeline Weinrib, has a new collection of carpets and textiles called Amagansett. I thought I’d stop by and see what else is new.

Her furniture pieces are one-of-a-kind. You can find them at her shop in ABC Carpet & Home.

Madeline began her career as a carpet designer. She’s expanded into textiles, and creates pillows, home accessories and furniture using her fabrics. Fashions are next. I hope wallpapers will follow.

To find shops in your area that carry her line, go here.

I received a note from Kathryn, a mother of two small children. She’s moving into Navy housing, with wall-to-wall carpeting in the dining room, which she can’t change. The carpet is a slate/clay gray.

Kathryn is concerned about keeping the carpeting clean with two little ones at the table. Her idea is to buy a bullet-proof area rug to place over the wall-to-wall. However, she’s concerned that the weight of the dining table and chairs will keep the rug from laying properly. Also, she asks, “Is it tacky to put down a large outdoor rug under the table that can be easily cleaned?”

The answer is - of course not! It all depends on scale and style.

Kathryn’s been shopping on-line and likes the Sunbrella Framed Outdoor carpet from Restoration Hardware. It’s only available on-line, so she can’t see it in person. It comes in several sizes and colors. A 9′ x 12′ sells for $800, plus $80 for shipping.

The Restoration Hardware rug is made of Olefin, a perfect material for indoor/outdoor use, as it can be washed down with a hose. The only issue is that, depending on the type of dye used, it can sometimes lose its color when washed.

Scale
The dining room is 9′ x 11′ and her dining table is 60″ x 40″ wide. It’s important to choose a rug that’s large enough to fit the chairs underneath. An 8′ x 10′ rug would fit perfectly in the room and allow for plenty of room for both the table and chairs. That size is standard. Chances are Kathryn will be able to use the rug again when she moves.

Restoration Hardware’s Outdoor Rug

Style
A sisal-style rug is a nice option that works with any style - especially when placed over a wall-to-wall carpet. Plus, since Navy personnel move a lot, a neutral style is a smart choice. As for color, I recommend that Kathryn look for a warm-toned neutral. That’s because the existing carpet is a warm gray. Warm tones looks better with other warm tones. Same thing with cool tones.

Shopping
No doubt the Restoration Hardware carpet is nice and their quality is great, in my experience. However, for this project spending $880 is about $300 too much. And for something that is guaranteed to take a lot of spills, that’s a lot of money.

RH’s rug costs $11 per square foot. Remember, that price includes an expensive binding. Nevertheless, she’ll be able to find a similar product for $3.50 - $5.50 per square foot if she goes to a regular carpet store (and I don’t mean Discount Carpet Barn). Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to shop - there’ll be sales galore. Don’t be afraid to haggle. I do it all the time.

Any carpet can be made into an area rug. Carpet stores offer various choices of binding - from tape, to a poly binding. Kathryn can find the perfect choice for her, with lots of colors to choose from, that she can see in person by taking this route. Keep this in mind, carpeting is usually woven in 12′ widths. If you want a 10′x 8′ area rug, you still have to pay for the 12′ width. Even so, this is still a less expensive option.

One last thing regards how the carpet will lay over the existing wall-to-wall. Kathryn is right in thinking that it will pucker if she uses it alone. Carpet shops sell mats and pads that are designed specifically for this purpose. They help the rug to lay properly and protect the carpet underneath from damage.

Kathryn, I hope this helps you out. Send me a photo of your final choice and I’ll help you choose the fabric for the dining room chairs.

Oh, and the first person to send me a photo of their finished products gets a free Design Hole T-shirt. I keep asking, now I’m resorting to bribes! :)

You know the old saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? (Sure you do, especially if you’ve seen “The Shining”.) Well, that old saw applies to design, too. After all, too much of one thing can make your room seem a little like a retail showroom or an all-decorated at once hotel. So, what do you do?

One solution is to mix diametrically opposed styles. (It’s not the only solution, of course, but it’s worth keeping in mind). Here’s what I mean. Look at some of the more modern pieces I’ve written about. Now imagine them on something “primitive” like these fabulous Tibetan rugs from Tufenkian Carpets.

This one is called “Crocodile”, obviously enough.

This one is called “Fish”, for equally obvious reasons.

Finally, a more “contemporary” style called “Inlay”

Mixing styles isn’t a novel idea, by any means. But I think it may be one of the best ways to express your individuality. After all, you’re not one-dimensional. Why should your home be, too?

Here are a couple of questions for you, dear readers. I think ‘modern’ and ‘primitive’ go great together. A) Do you? B) If you agree, why do you think these two styles go together so well?

Nanimarquina’s carpets are always a beautiful surprise. Her designs celebrate modern design, but with a sense of fun. This year was no different.

My top fave was Rangoli, which takes its name from the classic Hindu mosaics. These are typically found at the entrance of Hindu homes and are symbols are good luck. Rangoli comes in three sizes (each with a slightly different pattern), and two colors.

The aptly named Victoria is a colorful take on a classic, Baroque style. Partida is more minimalist – a series of dots that, from a distance, blend together to form a single color with a path in the center. (more…)

Carpet company, FLOR, has licensed designs from the great Alexander Girard to create a bold and colorful new line of carpet squares. Girard designed textiles for Herman Miller, and created Quatrefoil, one of my all-time favorites, for Maharam.

The bold look of Girard’s graphic designs can be mixed and matched with FLOR’s other lines. to create your own, individual look. It’s a great product for a kitchen (above) because it’s so easy to clean, as I can personally testify. I have FLOR carpet in both my office and very snowy (4 more inches last night - grrrrr) side entrance. You just pick up a square and give it a scrub.

The new line can be viewed on FLOR’s site, but it’s not yet available. It will be officially unveiled later this Spring.