Our fall Color Voyage – Where it all Began

Christine Chapin Brimfield Market
Discovering new textiles.

Every spring, I travel with my design team from Company C to the Sturbridge Vintage Textiles and Brimfield Antique Markets in Massachusetts to scour antique stalls for great finds—vintage home textiles, clothing, antique furniture and more.

Antique textiles
Antique textiles

These fabulous pieces become the inspiration for new rugs, home textiles, and furniture for the company’s colorful new collections. We kick off each new season by gathering as many swatches, colors, photos and more and tack them onto vision boards.

Our design challenge becomes finding stories that “complement” all of our concepts—what looks fresh and new, what may align with trends we’re seeing in the market, and what is a perfect fit for Company C’s color and design style.

One of our new fall 2018 rugs that recently launched at the April High Point Market was inspired by a 1920’s antique shawl handmade in India and found in Brimfield. We played with the unique motifs, scale and color from the shawl to create a signature Company C rug.

Inspiration for Indira rug

The result is our Indira rug, a super colorful and textural hit at market.

Indira rug, fall 2018 company c collection
Indira Rug, fall 2018 collection.

The Emma Bedding collection is another example of how the fabulous pieces from the past can bring forth something completely brand new.

Emma Bedding, Company C fall 2018 collection.
Emma Bedding, fall 2018 collection.

Inspired by a vintage embroidered quilt, this graceful design in cool and soothing blues is hand printed on crisp, yet soft cotton percale for a modern take on an antique look.

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Vintage quilt.

For me, it is all about “the hunt” and finding the perfect vintage reference to work with. Invigorated and inspired by the designs, I love the process of dreaming up new ways to infuse the character of those timeless pieces into our own collection, with fresh colors for today’s market.

Years ago, we found small pieces of very old tapestries at Sturbridge that had beautiful coloration. One of them became our Avalon rug, which has been one of our best selling hooked rugs for over 10 years.  coc_7avalon_vintagetapestry_inspiration-e1535724747676.jpg

It is a leafy design with saturated shades of blues and aquas – and today this fabulous rug lives in our house on the coast of Maine.

Avalon Rug by Company C
Avalon Rug

The discovery of vintage references that become the source of fresh, exciting designs that inspire colorful living in the market is what brings us the greatest joy.

Cheers to Colorful Living!

Christine Chapin

How to Work Color and Texture into Fall Decorating

Fall is the entryway to the holiday season – friends, family and entertaining. If you’re looking to dress up your space, adding in some texture and warm color is a great way to do it. Consider the floor, your starting point.

Did you know that most designers use a colorful rug to set the tone for the entire room they are pulling together for a client? We’ve created a few examples from our Fall 2017 Collection to show you how to DIY a look that works for you.

Love the idea of including jacquard woven rugs but not sure where they’d fit in your home? You can use them to add a hint of luxury to your living room, library or den, even the bedroom.

Inspired by our vintage fabric, our jacquard-woven rugs feature a lustrous design crafted of wool with a cut-pile design in a luxurious viscose. A true study in texture and tone, our new Crescendo jacquard-woven rug will dress up any space. Have you ever tried layering two rugs?

It’s actually easy to do. First, you need to select a more refined foundational rug, perhaps with a single, consistent pattern, like our Tweedy (shown below), and pair it with a larger print that has some additional texture, like Crescendo. The result is a plush, rich look that adds drama to your space.

CrescendoRoom

Not ready to try layering woven rugs?

PalazzoRug
Try a single piece. Bold, yet elegant, our Palazzo rug works beautifully on its own to dress up a room. Taking its cue from vintage fabric, Palazzo features a trellis pattern crafted of wool with a cut-pile design in luxurious viscose. Plus, the neutral colors mean you can play more with a variety of colorful accents.

Another great option would be to take our Giardino rug which, on its own, ushers in sophistication. The floral motif may be all the pattern you want to play with in your space, but when you want to take the next step, you can easily add a  foundational rug underneath later.

GiardinoRug
The rich blue found in Giardino can be considered a base tone, which means there are a variety of colors that you can use to compliment it. Think gray, lighter blues, orange, deep pink, or look to the greens.

Here’s a cheat sheet to help you out.

NavySwatch

If you also like to switch out accessories with the season, you can really pull a look together by adding in some Zoe, Sloan and Cassandra pillows for a study in contrast and texture. Concentric squares of multicolored satin ribbons lend graphic impact on our lovely Zoe pillow. Layer in the sloan accent pillow for additional texture and dimension. Not one, but two hand-embroidery techniques pop atop our Cassandra pillows sumptuous silken fabric to create a beautifully exotic damask motif-and a work of art for your sofa.

jacquards

Once you feel a comfort level working with color, texture and pattern, you can pull together some really fabulous spaces in your own home.

Have a design dilemma involving a color or texture you love but don’t know how to bring it into your home? Put your questions in the comment section below and we’ll give you some tips!

Celebrate your independence with our Old Glory Rug

OldGlory_Inspiration

The Inspiration Behind Old Glory
We found an antique rug at a vintage textile show— and wanted to use the great motifs in a new design concept and, of course, Company C colors.

The classic design and border provided inspiration for the layout. We then used a red, white, and blue color concept — with deep navy contrasting against faded denim blues and reds for a fresh, timeless look!

A Fresh Take on a Classic Look
A vibrant palette of red, white and blue lends a modern vibe to our Old Glory rug, evoking the beauty of traditional rug motifs in a new way. Expertly hand hooked oftie-dye wool yards, Old Glory is infused with the vintage appeal of a treasured heirloom, a classic with a contemporary twist for any space you place it.

Old Glory is the perfect statement rug to build your room around. Add in the Beacon and Saybrook chairs and the Whistler sofa and our braided velvet pillows to pull the whole room together.

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Old Glory Living Room

The Inspiration Behind Our New Reflections Rug

Interior designer Liz Hause dreamed of her Reflections Rug  during our Design-a-Rug contest last year.

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Reflections Hand Tufted Rug

Inspired by the view from an airplane window, Liz began the design process to re-create the cloud formations and geometric patterns created on the ground, mimicking blue sky above and land below in dappled sunlight. Liz and Chris Chapin, Company C’s Chief Color Officer, then set out to bring the design to life.

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Chris Chapin & Liz Hause bring our Reflections rug to life

Initial color concepts were soft cool blues and greens to represent water and the spring-time vibrancy of the ground, while warm oranges, yellows, and reds conveyed the reflection of the setting sun. Hand-tufted cut and loop pile and the use of hand-spun bamboo viscose bring shine and dimension to this winning design.

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An acclaimed interior designer throughout New England, Liz created her design to bring a sophisticated look and color palette to her clients’ homes… and yours! To learn more about Liz’s work, visit www.lizhausedesign.com.

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Reflections Rug Living Room