Columns Natural Rug

Think of a draughtsman's sheet, fine pencil lines ruled down pale paper, and you have the spirit of this rug in Natural. Columns of brown, taupe and dark grey rise from a raw natural ground, and because the weave is built in two layers, each stripe stands a fraction proud and catches a little shadow. The colourway is a nod to Otti Berger, the textile artist of the Bauhaus.

It feels very much at home in a Victorian terrace with stripped floorboards, where old pine warms the cream and the darker columns echo black iron grates. For a bedside or reading corner, 140 x 200 cm is plenty. 170 x 240 cm and 200 x 300 cm suit most sitting rooms, and 250 x 350 cm or 300 x 400 cm will hold a generous seating group or a dining table with every chair on the wool.

Two artisans weave it on a handloom in India, without electricity, from 80% wool and 20% cotton. It stands about 15 mm thick, or 10 mm in the two largest sizes, with a hand finished double layer and fringes on the short ends. Underfloor heating is no problem. This rug must never be washed: vacuum with the beater bar or rotating brush switched off, blot spills with a dry white cloth, snip any stray yarn with scissors, and leave a deep clean to a professional.