Collection: Floral Rugs
From English garden to graphic bloom
A floral rug finishes a room the way a bouquet finishes a table. Colour that moves with the light, a flower pattern you do not tire of, and hand-tufted wool that is soft underfoot.
Roses and poppies, blossom and tulips, acanthus leaf, ferns and willow catkins. Finely drawn or else large and graphic, in the faded tones of an English garden or in full indigo and ochre.
We have been choosing rugs since 1907. Free EU delivery on every order, and in our showroom near Antwerp you can lay them side by side before you decide.
Two Kinds of Floral Rug
A fine flower pattern fills the whole field and only gives itself away once you are standing over it. It belongs in a room with character: an old floor, wood, books, a sofa with a history. That is where it gets better.
One large stylised bloom works the other way round. One shape, two colours, big enough to be the first thing you see from the doorway. It asks for space and quiet around it, and gives back a room that looks finished.
If you cannot decide, look at the room rather than the rug. A full room wants the fine floral pattern. An empty room wants the big bloom.
Classic: The Fine Floral Pattern
The classic floral design comes out of the English textile tradition. Stems that interlace, leaves that fall across one another, here and there a flower opening. Drawn by hand rather than by a machine, which is why months later you still find something in it that you had not seen before.
The finest of these drawings are more than a hundred years old and still in production. William Morris drew his acanthus leaf in 1875 and his blackthorn blossom in 1892, and we sell those rugs in the official edition, hand-tufted in pure wool.
This is the flowered rug that whispers instead of shouting. It goes with old floors, wood and linen without being asked, and it is almost impossible to get wrong.
Modern: The Large Stylised Bloom
The modern side reduces the flower to its silhouette. One poppy, one blossom, one leaf on a stem, filled flat in two or three colours and then drawn large enough to carry the whole room.
This kind of floral print asks for a plain sofa and a quiet wall. Give it those and it is the most outspoken thing you can add to an interior without hanging anything up. Here too it is almost always wool, hand-tufted, with the depth of colour that only wool gives.
Flower or Leaf
A flower is round and open: a rose, a poppy, a tulip, a blossom. That reads soft and celebratory.
Leaf and branch are longer and leaner. An acanthus leaf, a fern, a willow catkin, a stem travelling across the field. That reads calm and graphic, and it suits anyone who wants the nature of a botanical rug without the romance.
If you want the pattern without the room turning sweet, choose leaf.
Colour: The Faded Garden or the Full One
The faded palette is the English garden: sage, dove grey, truffle, chalk, old rose, oatmeal. Colours that look as though they have already spent a summer in the sun. Made to live with, and better still as the light in the room turns.
The full palette is indigo, ochre, rust, poppy red and deep green. Here the floral rug becomes the subject of the room and everything else may stay quiet.
If patterned curtains are already hanging, take the faded palette. If the room is plain and calm, take the full one.
Where a Rug With Flowers Belongs
The bedroom is the loveliest place for this pattern. Hand-tufted wool underfoot, warm colour in the morning light, and a room where a rug has little to put up with. Here you can choose the most beautiful rather than the toughest.
In a living room a rug with flowers works just as well, as long as it carries the whole seating group. And some of our florals are flatwoven, which makes them suitable for a veranda or a covered terrace.
For a kitchen or a hallway with a lot of traffic you are better off with a washable quality. Say so and we will point you straight at those.
Round Floral Rugs, Runners and Size
Buy bigger than feels natural. Under a seating group the front legs of every seat belong on the rug, and with a fine floral design you want enough clear field left over to actually see the drawing. Under a bed two thirds works best: the rug starts a third of the way down the bed and runs past the foot of it.
Round floral rugs sit particularly well, because a flower is round itself. Ø 240 cm under a seating group, Ø 140 cm in a reading corner or beside a bed. And a runner with a stem travelling down its length is the best thing you can do with a hallway.
Order online with free EU delivery, or come and see us in our rug shop and showroom in Willebroek, in the Antwerp region, easily reached from Antwerp, Brussels, Mechelen and Sint-Niklaas. Bring the measurements of the room and a photo of your sofa or your bedding. We will lay them side by side and you will see it at once.
Frequently asked questions
What is a floral rug?
A floral rug is a rug with a flower pattern: roses, poppies, blossom or tulips, or botanical shapes such as acanthus leaf, ferns and trailing stems. With us that is almost always hand-tufted wool, either in a fine design or as one large stylised bloom.
What is the difference between a classic and a modern floral rug?
A classic floral rug has a fine flower pattern that fills the whole field, with stems and leaves running through one another. A modern floral rug reduces the flower to one large stylised shape in two or three colours. You read the classic close up, you see the modern from the doorway.
Does a rug with flowers work in a modern interior?
Yes, and best in the modern version: one large stylised bloom or a leaf silhouette in a quiet room. If patterned curtains are already hanging, choose the faded palette of sage, dove grey and truffle.
Which room suits a floral rug best?
The bedroom, because these rugs are hand-tufted wool and have little to put up with there. In a living room a floral rug works just as well, as long as it carries the whole seating group. For a kitchen or a busy hallway a washable quality is the better choice.
Are there round floral rugs and runners?
Yes. Round floral rugs come in Ø 140 cm and Ø 240 cm, and round works particularly well with this pattern because a flower is round itself. A runner with a trailing stem or a flower print down its length is the best thing you can do with a hallway.