Delight in the Bold Charm of These Shaggy Statement Rugs

The cheekily named Grandma Patterns is a series of five delightfully shaggy rugs by Amsterdam-based artist Rop van Mierlo of Wild Animals studio for CC-Tapis. The classic prints may riff on tradition, but the design process is anything but. It kickstarts with a wet-on-wet painting technique in which Van Mierlo uses liquid watercolors on moistened paper, resulting in fuzzy, intentionally unpredictable results. Translated into wool rugs measuring approximately 6.5 by 10 feet, the bold colors and grid lines blur evocatively—he describes them as “patterns of uncontrolled behavior.” Of course, the tousled pelt-like pile only helps amplify the designs’ untamed nature.