Are you brave enough to send a photo of your home to a famous interior designer to judge and tear apart? This was the question I was asking myself as I snapped shots of my rental for designer Matthew Williamson to help me choose a rug for my living room from his new collection with Ruggable.
Matthew Williamson is an award-winning interior designer who has collaborated with everyone from Pooky to John Lewis. He's also often known to grace our screens as a guest judge on Interior Design Masters. Known for his love of pattern and colour he has teamed up with Ideal Home's favourite rug brand, Ruggable, to launch a beautiful, vibrant collection.
As I met Matthew I was mentally prepared to have my living room torn apart to see which piece from the new Ruggable collection he'd recommend for my home. Thankfully, I had nothing to fear as he was kinder than he needed to be about my blue living room ideas. However, instantly he spotted that I'd been making a huge mistake with my current rug - it was far too small.
'You've got a gorgeous room. It feels quite classical, I love the high ceilings and I love the dark, intense wall that you've got,' he explained. 'I'd probably pick that colour and run with it and maybe suggest you look at a dark rug, perhaps the Twilight Forest, which has quite a lot of black in it anyway, so it would pick up on the wall.'
'I would say go bigger than the rug you have at the moment, at least double, if not bigger,' he added.
Matthew explained that he hates seeing people choose too small a rug for a space in their home.
'You don't want it to look like a little mat,' he explains. 'Always think bigger than what you perhaps first thought. So take your measurements and then maybe just double check can you add another half a metre that way or another few inches that way, things tend to look better on bigger rugs.'
This is a rug sizing tip that will work in every room of the home and is sure to make your home look more expensive and stylish to boot.
Matthew Williamson recommended that the Twilight Forest Midnight rug would work in my living room. I'm glad he gave me a recommendation as there are so many gems within the six designs in the range it would've been hard to choose between them.
The star of the collection is the Helios gold rug which Matthew confesses he 'selfishly' designed because it was the rug he wanted in his own home. Another highlight is the unique Serpent Border rug available in coral and azure. Matthew explained that with both 'I wanted to have a sense of pattern but not overwhelm the space.'
For pattern lovers, there is plenty more to choose from with rugs inspired by his travels and a stunning peacock feather-style number. The prices start at £109 and all feature Ruggable’s 2-piece system made up of a washable rug cover and a non-slip rug pad.
Shop the collection
Just as I thought the rug was the only thing I needed to fix in my living room Matthew left me with the parting words: 'If you don't mind me saying, I think it's aching for a gallery wall behind your sofa.'
That's my weekend project sorted.
