Transitional Rugs in Wool and Silk by Mehraban

Transitional rugs begin with a classical drawing. Flowers, vines and borders an older weaver would recognize are loosened, softened and recolored in the grays, ivories and blues that contemporary rooms ask for. At Mehraban, this collection brings together two groups made by hand: Allure, in wool and in wool and silk, and Seaside Standing, in muted wool. Every rug is new and one of a kind.

We put the collection together for rooms that sit between two traditions. An antique carpet can feel formal in a modern house, and a strictly graphic rug can feel cold in a traditional one. A transitional rug answers both, because the pattern comes from the past and the color comes from the present.

What Makes a Rug Transitional

The word describes the design, and the treatment is easy to see up close. Motifs fade in and out of the ground. Outlines blur. Parts of the pattern seem worn back toward the foundation, the way an old carpet looks after generations underfoot.

As a result, the same rug reads two ways. From across the room it registers as texture and tone. Then, as you walk closer, the drawing comes forward.

The Allure Rugs

Allure is the larger group, and its designs carry their own names. Dixson appears most often, in ivory with pale gray, charcoal and blues that run from pale to midnight. Fiore is woven in pine green with ivory and olive. Franco sets oatmeal and bronze over a variegated gray ground.

Alongside them are Cosima, Van Alen, Delenda, Jive and Ambrogio, an antique re-creation of nearly ten by fourteen feet. The rugs are woven in India, with one exception worth naming: Mogul, a great room carpet of nearly fourteen by eighteen feet, made in Turkey.

Wool, Silk and Surface

Most of our transitional rugs are a wool pile, which keeps the color matte and calm. Several Allure pieces add silk, and that changes how the rug behaves in a room. Silk catches light where wool absorbs it, so a motif reads bright from one side and nearly disappears from the other. You can browse these alongside our other modern silk rugs.

A few designs, Delenda among them, are embossed. That means the pattern stands in low relief against the ground, so you notice it first under your hand and then again in afternoon light.

Seaside Standing

Seaside Standing is the quieter group: wool pile rugs made in India, each close to nine by twelve feet. The palette stays with natural wool tones, soft browns and grays, and one design, Aftab, brings in blue.

Each rug has its own name, among them Jazarh, Kehkeshan, Baaban and Ghar. They suit rooms where the view, the art or the architecture should hold attention, and where the floor should stay quiet.

Palette and Scale

Gray leads the collection. Blue follows, then ivory and soft green, with gold or bronze used as an accent and seldom as a field. The tones stay close in value, so nothing in the pattern jumps.

Scale is just as broad. There are hall runners over sixteen feet long, eight by ten and nine by twelve rugs for living and dining rooms, and great room carpets that reach roughly fourteen by twenty feet. So one design can carry through an entry, a hall and a main room.

How Designers Use Transitional Rugs

Designers tend to reach for transitional rugs when a project mixes periods. Think of contemporary furniture in a house with traditional millwork, or a classic sofa in a room of glass and plaster. The softened pattern ties the two together, and the gray and ivory grounds leave room for upholstery and art to lead.

In practice, a large Dixson can anchor two seating groups in a great room. A wool and silk piece works well in a bedroom or formal living room, where light comes in low from the side. And a Seaside Standing rug sits easily under a dining table, since its tones stay in the background.

Custom Sizes and Colors

Because every rug here is one of a kind, the size or color you need may not be on the floor. In that case, we can make it. Our custom rug work covers size and color, and we are glad to provide samples and references for tone before you decide.

For designers and architects, our trade program is the place to start. We also cut rug pads to size for each piece.

See Our Transitional Rugs in Los Angeles

Mehraban has served clients from our Los Angeles showroom since 1983. Color on a screen only goes so far, and these rugs depend on light, so we encourage you to see them in person. Visit our showroom at 545 N. La Cienega Blvd, call (310) 657-4400, or send us a note and tell us which pieces you would like pulled. We would be glad to show you.