Today’s featured design project showcases a room that’s usually off limits – the laundry room. For this project, designer Mallory Mathison Glenn of Mallory Mathison Inc. Interior Design helped one retired Marietta, Georgia couple transform their functional space into a dream come true.

Working off the couple’s desire to create a peaceful retreat where they could do housework and sewing projects, Glenn created a cheerful and serene space that feels more like a cozy study than a laundry room. To achieve the look, Glenn selected a calming palette of soft whites, light leafy greens and pale aqua blues. To add interest she paired them with sophisticated stripes.

To soften the floors and add a pop of warmth to the cool palette, Glenn selected Merida’s Bora Bora jute rug. The honey color lends a cheery feeling to the space and the soft texture of the jute provides the perfect cushion underfoot while ironing.

Fabrics used are F. Schumacher and Vervain.

View, quote or request samples of Merida’s Bora Bora Rug >

We are thrilled to unveil an up-close and personal preview of our all-new Fall 2011 collection.  Introducing wool rugs designed and brought to life right here in our Massachusetts manufacturing facility, this collection experiments with surface design and features new constructions that are rich with texture. With this collection we invite you to select from our soft, neutral branded colors, or to put your own hand print on one of our 12 new designs by custom coloring it. Without further ado, meet our Fall 2011 Collection…

Love the new collection? Request to be the first to receive exclusive online info, printed materials on the collection and samples — click here!

INTERLACE

Inspired by beautiful, intricate European window grates this curvilinear design adds style and sophistication to a space.  Interlace is created on our tufting machine and adopts a loop on loop construction that uses Crimped Wool for added texture.  The light yet elaborate design of Interlace is a great way to add interest to a space while allowing it to be paired with a variety of other patterns and styles.

SHAG PILE

Our Shag Pile rug adds luxurious comfort and warmth to your floors with its plush tufted construction.  The pairing of our very fine Singles Wool and our chunkier Thin Felted Wool gives this rug a rich speckled look that has depth.  Our Shag Pile rug uses up to three colors, allowing for a variety of unique looks.

PINSTRIPE

One of the more refined designs in this collection, our Pinstripe rug adds a touch of elegance while providing a soft cushion underfoot.  The loop on loop construction keeps the look clean yet textural, while the thin pinstripe breaks up the soft surface and adds visual interest.

WOOL FLOCKS

Wool Flocks’ horizontal stripes are formed by a combination of cut and loop pile.  The cut pile is slightly higher than the loop pile, giving this tufted rug a wonderful dimensional quality that is rich with texture.  The cut pile can be Thick Felted Wool or Felted Plied Wool, allowing for an array of custom color options.

CHAIN LINK

Chain Link is a gorgeous textural pattern that, like Interlace, was inspired by beautiful window trellises seen throughout travels in Europe.  The striking design is emphasized by the contrast of the slightly raised cut pile against the lower loop pile background.  The uniform yet bold pattern allows this rug to stand as the focal piece of a room or to be paired with other centerpieces.

LATTICE

Our Lattice design pairs our delicate Singles Wool with the plush Thin Felted Wool to create soft dimension.  Two colors of the fine Singles Wool are paired together as the backdrop, allowing it to take on a slightly speckled look with contrast.  This beautiful pattern is a great way to add interest to a space.

TIGHT LOOP

Tight Loop is a staple single color rug that is a great way to add soft cushion to your floors without detracting from bolder statement pieces in a room.  This rug features 100% un-dyed wool and is available in three beautiful, natural organic colors.  Tight Loop is ideal for bedrooms or living rooms.

PLUSH CUT

Plush Cut is a cut pile tufted rug constructed from our delicate Singles Wool.  The fine wool is densely packed, allowing for a seriously soft cushion underfoot with a clean overall feel.

FELTED CABLE

Felted Cable is the second generation of our hugely popular Sweater Cable rug.  Featuring the same construction, this rug experiments with the use of different yarns and how unique textures and colors can dramatically change the look of the rug.  Felted Cable introduces the possibility of using Crimped Wool in this construction and allows you to custom color from four unique types of yarn for seemingly endless possibilities. Our branded collection includes two unique colors — Smoke and Pearl — that each have their own distinct look.

WAFFLE WEAVE

Waffle Weave is another demonstration of how this collection plays with texture and surface design.  Pairing Thick Felted wool with thinner New Zealand Wool emphasizes the horizontal stripes and gives them a raised quality that you can touch and feel.

BASKET WEAVE

Basket Weave has a small repetitive pattern that can help open up a room and make it appear larger.  The speckled design has movement and provides subtle interest to a room.  Play around with the use of Crimped Wool versus Felted Plied Wool to change up the texture.

RIBBED STRIPE

Ribbed Stripe has a vertical design that takes on the look of small, textural columns.  This simple yet elegant design is timeless and adds linear interest to any space.  Four unique types of yarn can be used (New Zealand Wool, Un-dyed Wool, Crimped Wool, or Thick Felted Wool), allowing you to play with color and textures. Our branded collection includes two beautiful colorways, Shell and Pumice.

Visit our collection page here >

This month Merida products are covering the floors of some of the summer’s hottest showhouses.  From New York’s Hamptons to the beaches of Virginia, A-list designers up and down the East Coast selected Merida rugs to add natural texture and interest to their spaces.  We are impressed with their collective creativity and are inspired to use more color and take design risks.

The Traditional Home Hampton Showhouse

This year the Traditional Home team selected a stunning 11,500 square foot home nestled in the middle of Bridgehampton, New York for their Hampton Designer Showhouse.  For the annual event, Traditional Home pulled together some of the country’s top design talent to put their stamp on the house, including Tilton Fenwick, Meg Braff, Eileen Kathryn Boyd Interiors, Tobi Fairley, HB Design, and Lillian August to name a few.  The result is absolutely stunning – every room has its own unique sense of style, but the overall feel is fluid and cohesive.

In the entry, Patricia Healing and Dan Barsanti of HB Home Design made a splash by embracing the grandiose ceilings and abundant natural light by keeping their design classic and including playful pops of blue throughout.  To add natural texture and ground the room they selected our Lapu Lapu Abaca rug.  The room is stunning and we just love the sunburst mirror above the fireplace!

Upstairs, Tobi Fairley tackled a bedroom and took a design risk by selecting bold colors and strong prints.  Being the design expert that she is, she pulled it off seamlessly and the result is a unique space that is comfortable and inviting with personality.  Tobi draws the eye throughout the room with bold ceiling stripes and strategic pops of color throughout the room.  To soften the space and make the bedroom warm and cozy, Tobi chose our super soft Purl Sweater Rug in Ivory.

Tilton Fenwick also blew us away with their beautifully designed downstairs living room.  Like Tobi, the Tilton Fenwick team kept things interesting with fun color choices and creative uses of the space.  The deep olive colored couches add a touch of luxury and look surprisingly at home with the sky blue foot cushions.  To pull out the blue tones in the room and add contrasting texture to the plush sofas, Tilton Fenwick selected our Dune sisal rug in Blue.

Eileen Kathryn Boyd Interiors (EKB) carried pops of yellow and bold color into the pool house.  We love the combination of mustard yellow, deep plum, and radiant turquoise that they selected.  EKB did a wonderful job incorporating natural elements into the space – from fresh flowers on the kitchen counter to the Driftwood floor lamp and Mandacaru sisal rug – that give the room an organic sense of tranquility.

Coastal Living’s Ultimate Beach House

Farther south down the eastern shoreline, Coastal Living teamed up with the talented Phoebe Howard to create this year’s jaw-dropping Virginia Beach retreat, dubbed “the Ultimate Beach House”.  We are happy to report that the home lives up to its lofty title, offering stunning views and an elegant yet laid back beach chic style.

Phoebe did a great job incorporating the soft and soothing blue and tan colors seen along the radiant sandy beaches and in the ocean waves in the tranquil master bedroom retreat.  The overall feeling she has created is natural, relaxing and downright dreamy.

On the first floor, the living room sticks with a similar blue and neutral/yellow palette, but uses bolder, brighter hues to give it a lively feel.  In the kid’s room, we love that Phoebe switched things up and went with a daring and unexpected pink and gold color combo.  The result is surprising in that it is very different, yet somehow seems appropriate and works with the rest of the house. The soft tufted Optics rug in Kampala and Rose set the playful, laid back tone for the rest of the room.

Overall, we love that this Ultimate Beach House has charm, personality and style.  We can already imagine ourselves taking in the incredible ocean-scape from the light and airy living room and falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean in the dreamy master bedroom after dining al-fresco on the blue-and-white themed private patio (with a fireplace in tow for cooler evenings)…  Well-done Phoebe Howard!!