Design Tips From a Professional: Summer Design Style

In our last blog, we talked about how to match your rug to your home’s design style. While these tips can be incredibly helpful when refreshing the interior design of your home, you may still be looking for an in-depth look at how to capitalize on all the latest design trends. Tumble’s professional designer, Kerri Besse, is an expert at keeping her finger on the pulse of what’s trending in the design world, from simple color palettes to specific design trends. In this month’s ‘Design Tips From a Professional’ installation, Kerri takes a look at what colors are trending this summer, how coastal design is beginning to take off, and the modernization of Farmhouse Traditional style.

Thinking about summer specifically, what design styles or colors are trending this season?

This summer, neutral and silvery grays are replaced with camel browns, terracotta, ruby red, and natural wood tones. The best Tumble rugs for this trend/color palette would be the Petra Wheat or the Hali Coral/Khaki. 

Additionally this summer, colors found in nature are being paired with oversaturated primary colors and pleasing geometric shapes are arranged into blocks of complementary colors. The best Tumble Rugs to achieve this look in your home would be the Sena Sand/Multi, Prism Multi, Petra Navy, Flora Navy, and Fez Sand/Multi.

With the coastal look trending, how are some ways you would recommend bringing this style into a home?

The trend for homes with a coastal look is leaning more eclectic and at the same time more refined. Less distressing in the rugs and more natural colored elements in the space such as baskets and ceramics to offset the blue. A pop of red with a runner accent piece ties the room all together. It doesn’t have to be all blues & whites. In fact, sea blue to match the colors found in sea glass is more on trend than traditional navy blue in coastal homes. If you’re leaning into these sea glass colors, the best Tumble rugs to pair with this look are Amara Light Blue/Ivory,  Maya Ocean/Beige, Petra Sand/Sea, and Tabiz Sea Blue/Ivory. 

Farmhouse traditional design had its peak moment a few years ago. Do you think this is a style that continues to be popular among homeowners?

Farmhouse Traditional design style had its moment starting back in 2014–2019. Once the pandemic hit, a lot of consumers realized they wanted to have a more cozy and unique feeling in their homes. Borrowing from Industrial Design, Farmhouse is now more refined and takes on a “less is more’ approach. We are seeing less of the bold geometric trellis rugs in the Farmhouse home. Instead, the rugs seen in the “new” Farmhouse design style are still a lot of traditional Persian rugs, just done in more subtle colors such as the Olivia Ivory/Neutral or the Victoria Ivory.

With these neutral-toned rugs, you could bring in color in your wall art or decorative pillows. If you are looking to make the rug the centerpiece of your Farmhouse home, the Amara Indigo/Beige looks gorgeous with darker leather sofas and dark wood dining tables. For a lighter blue look, the Tara Blue/Gray looks beautiful in a Farmhouse style bedroom or home office. If you are looking to add a more modern look to fit this style, the Canyon design is a beautiful small scale pattern arranged into a pleasing striped layout.

What are some tips that you would recommend for designing an open concept floor plan?

The best first step to take when designing an open floor plan home is to pick a color palette. Start with your “core neutral” colors and stick to the same color tones. Are you looking for warm or cool tones? Choosing your wall color and large furniture pieces first (such as your sofa or dining table) is a great way to solidify your core neutral story. Purchasing your rugs earlier in the process is best. Rugs are meant to “ground” a space and can be used as pieces of art for your floor with a more pattern heavy rug or set a more serene tone with a solid look. 

We love to pair solid/neutral rugs (e.g., Petra or Tabor) with patterned rugs (e.g., Amara or Sable). If you are afraid you may tire of a boldly colored patterned rug, we recommend purchasing a runner, 3x5', or 5x7' in these designs to bring some color into your space and your larger 6x9' or 8x10' rugs in a more subtle design.

Scale of patterns is important as well. For example, if you have patterned drapery that is a small-scale floral, your rug should not be the same scale pattern. It is best to purchase a rug with a larger pattern. Think of it as ”mixing and matching” patterns as well as colors! If these are your first Tumble rugs, we recommend purchasing only one or two at first. We want to be sure you are 100% satisfied before purchasing more.

If you’re looking for a more personalized consultation regarding your home’s design style and how to utilize a Tumble washable rug to enhance this style, you can set up a direct  — complimentary — consultation with Kerri here!