Boucherouite Rug Trend - Hot or Not?
Let's talk about a big rug trend, aside from the ever popular Beni Ouarains from Morocco and the over-dyed vintage or patchwork rugs from Turkey. The current craze that has the blog world rockin' are the Boucherouite rugs. You may have seen this photograph below from The Apartment (where you can buy them online) on some of your favorite blogs or over on Pinterest. It seems to be a popular room at the moment and it shows two stand out rugs, a Beni Ouarain (front) and a Boucherouite (back). Boucherouites are usually one-of-a-kind vintage recycled fabric rugs made in North Africa by Berber women who weave recycled wool and textiles together to create ribbon-like rugs.
I first spotted these bad boys in 2010 in Australian design magazines since I subscribe to a few and they always seem to pop up in Aussie homes. They started to appear in Europe in 2011 but only here and there... And I saw them when I was in Morocco then, too. In early 2012 when I was decorating my apartment for my book, one of the founders of HKLiving tried to entice me with a special offer to buy one from his lovely company but I wasn't feeling the deep reds, blues and yellows in his selection so I held back.
I was holding back for awhile because lots of the Boucherouite rugs were in palettes way to deep for my taste which was part of my resistance to their ever growing popularity. Lately though, I've been seeing them in remarkable colorways that definitely fit my palette in pink, melon, turquoise, black, mint and orange and I really love them. I imagine we'll see more and more in the months to come, especially since they look so fresh and summery. What do you think?
I found two gorgeous rugs on Rachel Ashwell's online shop. Wow, totally stunning. I'd own them both. I love seeing them on a polished concrete floor, I like the mix of industrial with soft and fluffy femininity. I also imagine these rugs on white wooden floors or ok, on my hardwood floors in my apartment (smile).
Here are some (above) from Beldi Rugs.
What do you think? I had rag rugs in my teens and twenties - my mother liked them - but once I moved out on my own I got rid of them and went more with the flat weave variety or cotton throws. Since moving to Germany though, I've been buying Turkish rugs - I have 4 currently - because we have some great Turkish rug dealers here but also I went to Istanbul in 2011 and was a changed woman - I loved what I saw in shops there. I also went to Morocco in 2010 to some gorgeous rug shops with Maryam Montague (see her home where I stayed here and read about my trip here) and that trip brought in a whole new level of appreciation for rugs that are handmade, vintage and colorful.
You can even buy these rugs on Etsy, Amber from BYOB carries tons of them.
For more inspiration, here is my Boucherouite pinboard that I made for you to drool over, enjoy!
What do you think of these rugs anyway? Love? Hate? Somewhere in between? Do you own one? Let's talk!
(images linked to their sources above)