How Color Affects a Design

Here is our Starburst rug design in several different colorways.  It never ceases to amaze me that color can be so influential.

Colors selected by Debora Haughton, interior designer in Winchester, VA

Colors selected by Maud Duggan, Union Place, interior designer in Minneapolis

Colors selected by Katie Liverman, Simply Sage, interior designer in Washington, D.C.

Colors selected by Judy Pickett. Design Lines, interior designer in Raleigh, NC

Colors selected by Autumn Muldowney, interior designer in Minneapolis

Variation on the Star Burst design in a flat weave rug

Spring Market at Highpoint

We finished setting up our exhibit at Highpoint market today in the Modern History furniture showroom at 430 N. Wrenn.  We will also have several rugs on the floor in the furniture vignettes. Hope you will stop by if you are coming to market!  Lunch is served daily on the patio...hoping for beautiful weather!!

Our Rugs are Heading to Consular General's Residence in Middle East

We couldn't be more excited as 4 of our rugs are heading to a Consular General's Residence in the Middle East.  This has been a fabulous opportunity to work with the design team at the U.S. State Department. Thank you to our wonderful team in Nepal.  I think the images below reflect the amazing attention to detail of our associates there.

Hand-tufted wool rugs from New York to Minneapolis

We always enjoy and appreciate receiving install photos from our interior designer clients.  Here are couple of beautiful recent installations where our custom rugs were specified.

Thanks to Melissa Pollack at Pollack Interiors Co. in Belmore, NY and Tim Ricker at At Home in Edina, MN for trusting us with their custom rugs.  We love working directly with designers to create special rugs in custom sizes and colors to enhance their spaces.

Space design by Melissa Pollack at Pollack Interiors Co. in Belmore, NY
15'5" X 15'5" Pearl Necklace rug by Julie Dasher Rugs
All wool/Hand-tufted

Space design by Tim Ricker at At Home in Edina, MN
4 X 12 Custom Geometric runner by Julie Dasher Rugs
All wool/Hand-tufted 

Casbah rug in Lake Forest, IL

Here are some photos sent to me by our client ESL Design in Lake Forest, IL.  This room was designed by Elizabeth Scott-Lisk at ESL.  She chose our Casbah design in wool and silk, hand-knotted in Nepal with 100 knots per square inch.  We love the colors and how the geometric design complements the beautiful furnishings in the dining room.

Abrash in a rug

Abrash in a rug is a striation created by yarns that are dyed in multiple colors which are fairly close in tone.  Abrash shows a beautiful textural effect which can stand alone without any additional pattern in the design.  The abrash technique can be done in heavy, medium or light variations.

Here is a picture of a rug with heavy abrash that we recently created for Sweet Peas Design in Chicago.  Susan Brunstrum, the owner and head designer, at Sweet Peas had done another rug with us using 3 colors in a heavy abrash in the background of the rug with a cream-colored design in the pattern.  This time, her client wanted just the heavy abrash background and no pattern for a highly subtle, textural rug.  This project didn't leave much for me to do as a designer but I am thrilled with how the rug turned out.

Hand-knotted rug being stretched in the finishing stage

Hand-knotted rug being trimmed in the finishing stage

Beautiful new samples

I can't help but share a picture of 2 new beautiful samples created by our team in Nepal.  The green sample on the right is our English Damask pattern in all Tibetan wool.  This is a strike off for Rebecca Laymon, an interior designer in Raleigh, North Carolina. The sample was woven in 2 different colorways, with half the sample in a mix of green and cream and the other half of the sample in shades of green.  The cream-colored sample is our Quatrefoil pattern in Tibetan wool and raised Chinese silk for Francia Fusik, a designer who has a beautiful new showroom in Windemere, Florida called All In One Decorating Solutions.  Both samples are hand-knotted in Nepal with 100 knots per square inch.

Attention to Detail and Craftsmanship

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful interior designer clients who give us the opportunity to create beautiful rugs for their projects!  Here is our Livorno pattern with a lovely merlot colored silk in the scrolls of the design.

Chinese silk in a merlot color woven into the scrolls in the Livorno design

Our Livorno design, an oversized damask pattern

Thanks to our expert craftspeople in Nepal who produce an exquisite product

Dare to be special! A custom stair runner and landing rug for a Kenwood home in Minneapolis

Here's a stair runner project we recently completed with interior designer, Janie Delaney, in Minneapolis.

The client wanted something colorful and fresh for her Kenwood home staircase and landing which can be seen as soon as you enter the home.  Janie thinks it is lively and fun but has depth and character so that it works with the house.  In Janie's words...it's "KILLER"!!  Better in person of course and the client loves it!

Installation--the runner was made in 4 sections so as to get a perfect match on each stair.
The project was templated and hand-knotted in Nepal by our wonderful weavers there.

Here is the hand-drawn template and the 4 sections of the runner.

Picture of the landing rug

Close-up...heavy abrash striation in the background of the rug

Landing area...love the zebra pillow

Original digital rendering with final colors selected
Pattern by Julie Dasher

Thanks to COVER magazine for featuring our design

Thanks to Lucy Upward at COVER magazine for featuring our new Lacy Maple Leaf design in their 2015 Trends report.  We are very excited to be included!  The Lacy Maple Leaf design was inspired by a beautiful tree in our new home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  The leaves look like fine lace.

OUR DEBUT AT HIGHPOINT MARKET

Just finished our debut at Highpoint market.  It was a wonderful week of sharing our design aesthetic and products with interior designers from around the world who attended market.  All 50 of our press kits at the Media Center were taken which was totally unexpected!

Networking opportunities were amazing...met Gary Inman of Glave and Holmes who is creating some beautiful furniture designs and has become a "style spotter" extraordinaire.  Visited with Jamie Schactel who created COUEF.  They had a divine space at Inter Hall and a new globally-sourced line of ottomans, tables and chairs that are chic and modern.  Met Sarah Stroh, editor of Rug News and Design, who organized a lovely breakfast billed as the Women's Rug Roundtable...I was with my "tribe" as we chatted about global issues surrounding the rug industry.  Most of my time was spent "manning" the booth and meeting interior designers who were on the hunt for the latest and greatest resources for their projects.

It was so exciting and fun to be at the center of the home furnishings industry.  I can't thank my husband, Thom, enough for all of his support and hard work in making this happen.  I couldn't have done it without him!  xxxoooo

Countdown to Highpoint Market

We are very excited to be exhibiting at Highpoint market for the first time the week of October 18th! Our booth is being transformed into a colorful display of our rug designs that were made all over the world.  If you are heading to Highpoint, please stop by and visit us in Suites at Market Square #M-1044.

Here are the 4 runners we had made for the show.  Stop by the booth and fill out your entry to win one of these runners!

VIDEO: Learn the steps to creating a custom rug

Watch our new video and learn the steps to creating a custom rug.  It is 1, 2, 3... couldn't be simpler.

1.  Pick a pattern from our website...over 350 to choose from...order a colored rendering in your size and colors.

2.  Order a strike off...either 1 X 1 foot or 2 X 2 foot.

3.  Order your beautiful custom rug...be it a work of art or a textural backdrop...it will be unique and special to your room.

Click here to watch our video

Julie Dasher Rugs in COVER magazine's Highpoint Preview

Partnering with my interior designer clients is such fun!  Recently, Susan Brunstrum, owner of Sweet Peas Design in Chicago, IL and I collaborated on a beautiful Lily Pad rug for her client's dining room.  COVER magazine, the international trade magazine for the rug industry, picked up on the image of the rug and featured it in their Highpoint Preview.

Julie Dasher Rugs will be exhibiting at Highpoint Market for the first time this October.  We are very excited and busy preparing the booth.  Hope to see you there the week of October 18th in Highpoint, NC.

Hand-woven rugs a “knotty” business for our Rug Guru - Sweet Peas Design

Susan Brunstrum, Principal of Sweet Peas Design in Chicago, speaks to our hand-knotted rugs.  Click on this link to see a beautiful Lily Pad rug created for one of her clients.

Hand-woven rugs a “knotty” business for our Rug Guru - Sweet Peas Design

Our latest video...we love rugs!

Take a look at this video and enjoy looking at our rugs.  You will see many of our designs...on the loom and in beautiful rooms created by our talented interior designer clients.  Enjoy!

Click here to watch video

Rugs for a Neutral Palette

As much as I love color, I do appreciate the value of using texture and neutral colors as a subtle backdrop.  Here are a few rugs that we've created that showcase the beauty of "beige and gray."  Often times, the texture created with raised wool, raised silk or the type of weave such as our new lock weave can be just the ticket in a space where the client is looking for a timeless, classic aesthetic.

Loopy Diamonds pattern with lock weave and raised wool dots

Quatrefoil pattern with raised silk

Lotus and Wedding Rings pattern with raised wool

Turkish Coffee pattern with heavy abrash in field of rug