x Heather Chontos Collage Rug

What happens when torn film posters and pages from vintage French magazines become a rug? Collage answers in tomato red, plum and blush, loose shapes drifting over a warm cream field and stitched together by fine lines of navy and aubergine. It reads like a painting laid at your feet, which is more or less what it is.

Give it a London mansion flat with high ceilings, white walls, a mid century armchair and a single terracotta pot, and let it be the main event. In a bedroom it pairs beautifully with crumpled linen. 180 x 270 cm suits a smaller living room or the foot of a double bed, 200 x 300 cm a sofa with two chairs. At 250 x 350 cm the composition has room to breathe, and 300 x 400 cm turns a large reception room into a gallery.

Heather Chontos is an American artist, and the original opened a new chapter in her practice. Layered has it hand knotted in Bhadohi, India, from 100% New Zealand wool with a deep pile of about 25 mm, using advanced dyeing to recreate the depth and shifting colour of her painting. It suits underfloor heating. Handwork brings small differences in size and tone. Some shedding is normal at first and settles with time. Switch off the beater bar when you vacuum, and blot spills right away.