Florence Broadhurst Rugs: Archive Pattern With Art Deco Glamour

Some designers are remembered for a style; Florence Broadhurst is remembered for an archive. The Australian designer launched her luxury hand-printed wallpaper business at the age of 60, and the designs she built up, from bold geometrics to flowing florals and chinoiserie, are still in use around the world today. Now a selection of them has been translated into rugs, made under licence by Brink & Campman. For anyone who loves pattern with a sense of drama, it is one of the most distinctive ranges we carry.

What makes the range distinctive

The Florence Broadhurst rugs share a clear character. The patterns are graphic and confident, drawn with the cut-out quality of a hand-printed wallpaper, and many carry a distinctly Art Deco glamour. Yet the colourways range from high-contrast black and ivory to soft, tonal oyster and mist, so the same design language can work in a bold or a quiet room.

Every design in the collection is hand-tufted in pure new wool on a cotton backing, with a pile height of approximately 15 mm. Several designs blend viscose into the pile, so that flowers or streaks catch the light against the matte wool, and some use a cut and loop pile to add texture. Custom sizes are available to order. You can see the complete range in our Florence Broadhurst collection.

The designs, at a glance

• Turnabouts is a bold geometric of interlocking curls and hooks in continuous vertical bands. In Black it is at its most graphic; in Claret the curls are deep red on a warm stone ground.
• Japanese Floral fills the rug with large chrysanthemum-like blooms drawn in fine outline. Midnight sets cream line work on deep navy; Oyster is tonal, calm and surprisingly versatile.
• Japanese Fans overlaps fan-shaped leaves in fine, curving lines. Ivory is tone on tone; Gold, framed in a black border, is pure glamour.
• Japanese Bamboo sends tall stems of ivory bamboo up a soft jade-grey ground.
• Floral 300 shows large flower and poppy silhouettes, with viscose picking out the blooms, in Charcoal or in raspberry and poppy-red Poppy.
• Waterwave Stripe breaks a simple stripe into rippling, uneven bands, in Citron or the pale aqua Pearl.
• Tortoiseshell Stripe crosses fine hand-painted stripes into a loose, airy grid.
• Slub takes its look from slubbed cloth, with fine broken streaks in Mist or Charcoal: texture rather than pattern.

How to style a Florence Broadhurst rug

Let the rug lead. The bolder designs, such as Turnabouts or Japanese Fans Gold, are statement pieces. Keep upholstery plain and pull one colour from the rug into cushions or a lamp base. Our guide to styling a statement rug in a neutral room has more ideas.

Use the tonal colourways as a backdrop. Japanese Floral Oyster and Japanese Fans Ivory read as texture from across the room, which makes them easy partners for patterned curtains or a gallery wall.

Play up the Deco mood. Brass, smoked glass, lacquer, velvet and curved furniture all sit naturally with these designs, especially the black and gold colourways.

Choose the room for the pattern. A strong vertical geometric like Turnabouts Black can be striking in a hallway or a monochrome room; the cool, watery Pearl suits a bedroom or a pale scheme.

Living with viscose and sheen

The designs that include viscose have a gentle lustre that shifts as you move around the room. It is part of their beauty, but sheen fibres do need a little more care than wool alone. Our guide to living with a lustrous rug explains how to place and look after them.

Part of a wider designer family

Florence Broadhurst sits alongside Morris & Co, Harlequin, Sanderson, Scion and others in the Brink & Campman family of licensed designer ranges. If you are weighing up a designer rug, our article on what you are actually paying for is worth a read, and you can browse more names in our international designers collection.

A decorator's note

Florence Broadhurst designs are at their best when they are given room to be seen, so size generously and keep heavy furniture from covering the pattern. Because hand-finished rugs can vary slightly, and custom sizes are available, it is worth talking to us before you order for an unusual space. Send us your room measurements and a photograph, and our team will help you choose a design and size with confidence.