Well, we’ll tell you just that….
The chicken was on it’s way to roost on our zooty Verandah Collection rugs ready to be installed in Nando’s brand new head offices in Johannesburg.
If you’re wanting us to hatch one of these beauties for you, just cluck.
A limited inventory of unique Kilim designs is now available at a Sizzling Summer Special of 40% off their retail value.
Visit us at our De Waterkant showroom to view theses 50’s modernist marvels at your leisure.
It’s a question we receive from our clients on a daily basis…”how do I clean my newly purchased Fibre Designs rug?”
Rugs can be beautiful additions to your home, but they can be expensive and sometimes delicate. It’s important to know how to clean and maintain them to protect your investment. These few tips can keep your rugs looking new for as long as possible. There are a few very common mistakes that people make when it comes to cleaning area rugs. These mistakes can end up subtracting years from the life of your rugs, and they can easily be avoided.
Care of Karoo Wool Tugella Flatweave Rugs :
Care of Cut Pile Wool Rugs:
An area rug receives a lot of abuse from dirt, sand, dust, various spills and foot traffic. Vacuuming area rugs with a quality machine will go a long way towards prolonging the appearance and life of your carpet.
Vacuuming:
Our hand-tufted wool area rugs are well constructed and durable. A vacuum with a rotating beater bar to agitate the area rug pile and strong suction to remove loose particles is well tolerated by the area rug. If your vacuum does not have a beater bar, it may remove surface dirt well but may leave embedded soil that can damage the area rug through abrasion. Remember, vacuuming is the best tip for cleaning wool rugs.
Vacuum Tips:
Vacuuming removes most dry soil, but street grime, oily soils, and air pollution can build up eventually and your area rug may require cleaning. The accumulation of these particles can cause gradual dulling. A professional clean is most definitley recommended every few years.
Cleaning Methods:
Dry Foam and Absorbent Pad :
This is our recommended method. It uses little water to create a light detergent foam that is worked into the pile, then vacuumed out when dry.
Steam Cleaning :
This method is most effective when performed by a professional, although many rug cleaning machines may be purchased or rented. The dangers of performing this method on your own involve using too much detergent or water. Some cleaning agents available with rented units leave a heavier residue, so use care or the advice of a professional when choosing a product. Test the product on a small area to check for residue or a sticky feel. Do not use if a residue exists, or if in doubt about a product. Finally, do not use laundry detergents to clean your area rug to avoid possible chemical brighteners.
Dry Powder :
We do not recommend using dry powders with plush or deep pile area rugs, as the cleaning residue may be difficult to remove. Powder cleaners and deodorizers can cause “Pilling”. If the area rug is heavily soiled, we recommend a different procedure or using a professional.
Area Rug Stain Removal :
If an area rug becomes spotted or stained, work quickly. When possible, scoop up solids and blot liquids immediately after a spill occurs. Absorb as much liquid as possible with a white cloth or paper towel without scrubbing the area to prevent matting or fuzzing.
Care of Hemp Grass Rugs :
Natural fiber floor coverings, like the rich Hemp grass weave are relatively easy to maintain because dirt does not cling to the hard fibers, but rests loosely in the weave. Natural fibers do not show dirt readily.
Vacuuming :
Regular Vacuuming is the best care you can do to keep the fresh appearance of your mountain grass flooring. Visible and loose dirt should be vacuumed with a strong brush-suction vacuum. Vacuum the carpet from different directions, making several passes over the area.
Although the need may not be visible, this frequent and regular vacuuming will increase carpet life by preventing soil build-up, and will help eliminate stains caused when spilled liquids dissolve soil accumulations.
Vacuuming Bound Rugs :
When vacuuming bound area rugs, take special care with the binding border. Do not let the vacuum sit on top of the binding or catch the corner of the rug as it could damage the binding. Also, vacuum in the direction that the binding is sewn so as not to pull up the binding from the rug.
Overall Cleaning :
It is important to control the amount of moisture during cleaning. NEVER steam clean, wet shampoo or any other method that involves water saturation on a natural fiber rug. It is recommended that a dry cleaning process be used.
Spot Cleaning :
Immediately remove any spills by blotting (blot do not rub) liquids with a white cloth or scrape up solids with a dull knife or nail file. Never rub the area of the spill. Rubbing can work the liquid deeper into the fibers, making the spill more likely to stain the carpet. It can also spread the liquid to a larger area of the rug. For red wine and tomato sauce, dab with a white cloth dampened with soda water to neutralize the spill and remove any possible stain. Let dry. Many times the stain disappears. If not, try cleaning with a cloth dampened with mild soap and leave to dry.
Care of Silk, Bamboo and Viscose
Silk should be cleaned using a dry cleaning process. These fibers may be damaged by natural and synthetic acids (e.g. lemon juice), and sunlight.
Cleaning Silk, Bamboo and Viscose products should normally be left to a professional carpet cleaner, however, there are times when a quick response is needed and you need to clean the carpet yourself.
Silk, Bamboo and Viscose Carpets are known for their unique characteristics; therefore need extra care when cleaning which will help to keep it looking luxurious and shiny.
Most people assume that there are two kinds of fibres: natural ones, like cotton,wool and silk; and artificial ones synthesised out of petrochemicals like nylon and polyester. Viscose falls somewhere in between. The raw material for viscose is cellulose wish is broken down either mechanically or chemically and reformed as fibres. Trees are 50% cellulose, cotton is 90% cellulose, so viscose is more accurately described as a natural, or recovered, fibre.
Rayon Viscose is typically made from a combination of natural fibres. Cotton viscose is made largely from cotton cellulose and bamboo viscose is made from bamboo cellulose. All these “viscose” yarns are cleaned and maintained in the same way
Vacuuming :
We recommend that vacuuming is carried out with a Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner without a beater bar. The brushes should be raised away from the surface of the pile and suction reduced to the minimum amount needed to remove the dust and dirt build up. To get the best results vacuum in the direction of the pile, this is to avoid pushing the dirt back into the fibres of the carpet.
Our recommendation would be that the carpet should be vacuumed twice a month to remove dirt; however vacuuming frequency should match traffic and soil conditions. The chart below suggests a vacuuming routine relative to 3 types of traffic conditions.
Stain Removal Techniques :
**Pre-test a hidden area, act quickly, treat spots quickly to prevent permanent stains.
DO NOT scrub Silk, Bamboo or Viscose rugs it could warp the pile. Gently blot the soiled area, beginning from the edge and working your way in, using a white cloth or paper-towel to absorb liquids from spills. Dyes and Inks in coloured fabrics and papers can run and further damage your carpet.
Do-it-yourself cleaning tips for Silk, Bamboo and Viscose :
WATER: Blot away with absorbent white paper towels until dry to the touch. Avoid walking on the area until it is bone dry.
Food and Beverages, Cosmetic Powders, Modelling Clay, Potting Soil and Skin Ointments :
Vacuum dry spills thoroughly. On wet spills use a teaspoon of mild liquid detergents for each cup of lukewarm water. Use a rounded spoon to lift semi-solid foods off the silk carpet; blot the spot until it has disappeared.
We do hope this has been helpful with the maintenance of your rug, please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further queries at all.
Pierre & Lea
Nothing creates more excitement here at Fibre Designs than the arrival of luxurious new designs.
Autumn is just around the corner and so is our exciting new collection.
The ‘Artists Collection’ is the culmination of two highly creative skills: Firstly pure white Art-Silk rugs are individually hand-knotted followed then by each piece being uniquely hand painted with textile paint by the original artist himself.
Each piece therefore being unique and an artwork in itself.
JUST BEAUTIFUL!
We’ll be sure to update you as soon as they arrive!
Continued from Creative Director of WGSN-Homebuildlife Lisa White’s visit to Maison & Objet 2012:
TOP 10 COLOURS AND PATTERNS:
1) Amber and yellow (that’s our yellow sculpted lines on the left)
2) Orange
3) Blue (below is our Verandah Collection Benya on the left in a deep petrol blue)
4) Neon pastels
5) Tinted neutrals
6) Gradient colour
7) Pixels
8) Polka dots (the rug on the left is a piece we made up for a client, perfectly packed with punchy polka dots!)
9) Polygon
10) Pattern fusion
Locally, we also attended Dion Chang’s Flux Trends report-back from Maison & Objet and Paris Designs Week. Here are a few of his highlights that were a little different to Lisa’s:
Maison & Objet as well as Paris Design Week have just finished at the end of September. We watched a webinar by Lisa White – Creative Director of WGSN-Homebuildlife. These were her highlights:
TOP 10 DESIGN ELEMENT TRENDS:
1) Outlined and Edged – furniture gets graphic outlines within its borders as well as display sets and ceramics.
2) Faceted and Geometric – items are broken into linear and angled shapes, geometry being the leader. The rug on the left of the image below is a piece we designed and placed in a very happy client’s home.
3) Fluted – from ceramics to furniture and lighting, they all got the natural floral-like flute.
4) Boxed and Displayed – if it’s worthy to be on display then the display is worth getting right, and subsequently becomes a display on its own. Also – items that are regularly on display but may not have been given much aesthetic thought (eg: dustbins) are now being shrouded in elegant and attractive designs. Have a look at our very own Beauty Fires to see how fireplaces are being redesigned to become collector’s items in their own rights.
5) Uplifted Basics – simple crude designs get refined. Wooden crates being made from refined,quality wood but it still has the form of a crate table. On the right you’ll see our rustic hemp neatly hand crocheted into delicate-looking but hard wearing floorware.
6) Neo Nature – synthetic and nature combine to create fun uses and aesthetics.
7) Outdoor Havens – the outdoors is seen as another room and treated accordingly. We’ve been shouting this from the hill tops ever since we bought you our Verandah Collection (pictured below, left).
8) Soft – materials become emotional but unusually so. Reptile skins become cuddly and are seen in the likes of velvet alligator skin (bottom left) and place-mats which look like marble are in fact soft, pliable pieces of perfection.
9) Metallic – a continuation of what we have been seeing but a mix of metallics, often with natural products, takes pride of place here.
10) Show-lights – lights are become the focal point, lots of detail given in scale and colour. Showmanship is rewarded here. Speaking of which, have you SEEN the luminescence of the lighting available at The Modern Home Company? Do yourself a favour and have a look at their incredible designs.
Watch this space to find out more from the webinar on colours and patterns as well as Dion Chang’s Flux Trend Report from the point of retail business.
OK, so this will be a short post as we’re kind of speechless after drooling over the texture mix in our client’s chic, understatedly elegant Cape Town home. So all we managed was:
Patricia Urquiola’s Crinoline chair + Eero Saarinen’s Marble Tulip Table + Fibre Designs Verandah Collection Tsanene = Designer Texture in all its stylish glory…
Enough said!
Pierre & Tanyth
Wow! What a trip…
Salone del Mobile 2012 was a feast of creativity at every corner – literally. Besides the yearly trade fair, held at the Fairgrounds in Rho, Milan also hosted the Fuori Salone (roughly translated to “outside the salon”) – a satellite gathering of exhibitions which spread from the centre of Milan to the Lambrate district and Zona Tortona area. This meant that everyone from hairdressers to shoe shops joined in by collaborating with designers to showcase chairs, mirrors, lamps and more within their own spaces. We were lucky enough to stay in the enviable Brera District right in the heart of the Fuori and therefore got to see a lot of these exhibitions on our very own doorstep.
The fair itself was trade focused on the days we attended and it was great to do meet and greets with a few reputable names within the furniture industry. It was also rather ego-boosting to see that ourselves, along with the rest of our South African counterparts in design, are very much on trend with our products and offerings. Getting to see predictions of what is still to come was both valuable and exciting. Most interesting to me was the approach of design to not only cater for obvious purposes but to to keep in mind the creature comforts we customise our products into serving.
Two of my best picks were the Decafe Lighting range from Raul Lauri (www.rlauri.com) and Casamania’s Collerette chair (www.casamania.it). Raul uses ground coffee as his base material for the Decafe lights – in his own words he finds it “gives a second life to ground coffee as a biodegradable and renewable material while taking advantage of its emotional aspects”. Best of all, with one flip of the light-switch you have the faintest smell of your favourite morning java wafting through the room.
Casamani’s Collerette Chair is not only comfortable and functional but great for those Autumn evenings when the temperature starts to drop earlier and earlier, or for those Sunday night movie watching marathons when a simple throw just won’t do. I’ll have one in every colour thank you…
Have a look at our Facebook page to view a few more images from our trip.
To summarise – Salone del Mobile 2012 as well as Fuori Salone provided a rich educational platform for us to open discussions well into the night between ourselves and those we met along the way. We have come back happily satiated and with a few exciting new products to present you with in the coming months. Watch this space…
Ciao,
Pierre and Tanyth
We’re a little flustered here in studio with all the excitement of our upcoming travels.Fibre Designs is excited to be attending Salon del Mobile 2012 in Milan, Italy.
Although we primarily focus on textile designs, we’re always keen to stay ahead of trends when it comes to design as whole. So with that in mind we are off to scout the halls of the Milan Showgrounds in search of inspiration that will further our expertise and in turn bring back a wealth of knowledge for our clients and work colleagues alike.
Follow us on our Twitter handle – @FibreDesigns – to see what we discover each day, we promise to keep you up to date with our discoveries and experiences along the way.
Ciao,
Pierre & Tanyth
Fibre Designs, Modern Home Company and Beauty Fires have joined forces to bring you our new Johannesburg showroom – 03cubed.
03cubed is a powerful combination of three of South Africa’s luxury brands offering exclusive interior and exterior furniture, lighting, fires and floorware in a distinctive curated space.
International and local pieces merge and complement in regularly changing room settings to show design with soul, passion and flair.
03cubed. A different look at design.
A personal trip to Paris and London turned out to be a design feast of note – Paris Design Week as well as London Design Festival happened to fall during my planned weeks of exploring these two beautiful cities.
First on the agenda was Paris.
I reveled in the unique concept store that Citroen had to offer on the Champs Elysees. The incredible 6 platforms carry different models of Citroens while the red illuminated stairs upon entrance lead visitors down to a 4D cinema for virtual adventures inside one of their creations. The faceted entrance does not mislead the structural genius of the interior where brand and architecture seamlessly unite – definitely worth a visit, car fundi or not.
Rue de Raspail was a treasure chest of style and design. La Lumiere partnered with Foscarini to showcase innovative lighting solutions that could have definitely made their way home with me had I the space or wallet.
Another fascinating find was the Sentou store at 26 Boulevard Raspail. Showcasing a range of designers from across the world, their bright and quirky designs were right up my alley. I even found Shine-Shine fabric there!
Further along the street I fell into the Alessi store – a definitve one-stop shop for anyone looking for the unusual in homeware. My best pick was their sushi crockery.
Edifice housed the favourites of yesteryear with a few giants leasing the biggest attractions from their store window. I personally fell for these circular hanging screens and a very unusual lamp dedicated to the heart as a muscle and an effigy.
Unfortunately due to time constraints and a lack of presence from the Design Week itself I couldn’t see much more than this. The city herself made up for this though and the rest of the time spent in and around her old streets and buildings was nothing short of magical.
Off I went to London where I had read so much about the Design Festival and its offerings – and it didn’t fail to provide pure indulgence. A complete synopsis of my time there would lead to a short novel I am sure so as to summarise I thought I would share my top 10 finds of Tent London:
1) Paper Plane Shelving – by Latorre Cruz (www.latorrecruz.com)
2) iPod Docking Station – by Groupovibra (http://www.grupovibra.cl/)
3) 3d Printing – by Shapeways (www.shapeways.com)
4) Patrick Laing Studios – (wwwwww.patricklaing.com)
5) Amate – (www.amateworld.com)
6) Bloq Furniture (www.bloq.co.uk)
7) Flatframe Systems – Fine Furniture on Wheels (www.flatframesystems.com)
8) Pillhead Table and Floor Lamp (www.a-z.eu.com)
9) Playshapes (www.millergoodman.co.uk)
Bibliochaise Luna – by Nobody&Co. (www.nobodyandco.it)
Choosing my favourite was no easy task and if I had my way I would have shown my top 50 – but with a few more design festivals lined up in the Fibre Designs calendar, I can assure you that there will be plenty more to repot back on soon. Watch this space…
Spring has sprung and bought with it some beautiful new colourful products to the Fibre Designs studio.
Ikat and Suzani hemp rugs are the perfect pick-me-ups to any space after the grey days of Winter. Coarsely woven with intricate patterning they are sure to add interest and intrigue.
Our weavers have mastered the art of using leftover or unused silk from bridal saris and spun them into glowing jewel toned flatweave kilims – a must see for any colour-lover.
If you are in the area please do pop by and see these newcomers first hand – if you can’t make it to the studio send us an email and we’ll get on to collecting some images for you.
Happy Spring all!
Fibre Designs was proud to be showcased alongside Modern Garden Company on the Expresso Morning Live show.
Our chunky knit Pebble Pouffe is spot on trend and the perfect winter accessory for your home. Hand knitted from 100% pure wool, the cheeky pouffes add luxury texture and a spot of colour to liven any living space.
Practical as an ottoman or footstool, the Pebble Pouffe comes in small, medium and large and is available in fashionable colours and neutrals.
Li Edelkoort’s seminar at this year’s Design Indaba was particularly informative and the Fibre Designs team were excited to distill the international trend guru’s ideas into what is relevant to the world of floorware.
Colours
Colours of 2011 are inspired by the earth so we’re likely to see sandy yellows alongside water derived colours like swimming pool blue and indigo. This is a great inspiration for us, as we have just conceptualised a new range dubbed “Colour Reform” – we’ll keep you posted.
Fabrics
Fabrics are silent and organic and we should see the rise of mohair, wool, cashmere and linen. Again, we are spot on trend – our collaboration with Mohair South Africa will have you crawling on your knees! Our extensive wool collection is also seeing great innovation and new structures will soon be available.
Retail and product development
Retail and product development will move towards better satisfaction for the client so we should see calmer shopping spaces, where the client leaves with exactly what they desire, and where they are involved in the customisation and design process of their purchase. Fibre Designs picked up on this trend when we opened our doors just over 5 years ago. The entire ethos of our business is to allow full customisation where client and designer can work together to achieve a truly bespoke item. Your vision, alongside our experience should ultimately translate into a reality that you would be proud to invest in.
Blurring inside and outside
The differentiation of interiors on the inside and landscaping on the outside will become more blurred, and as a result furniture and floorware will move outdoors and pebbled sculptures and landscaped carpets will come indoors. Our new outdoor range, The Verandah Collection, supports this trend and we are currently in production of our first prototypes – with client orders already streaming in.
The consumer will be invited to landscape their interior as if it were a garden or outdoor space. The grasslands will be a source of floorware inspiration so expect to see woven grasses and knotted reeds. We were delighted to hear this as our bast fibre (hemp) rugs have taking off at a rapid pace – clearly our clients are on top of the trends too!
Texture & Tactility
Finally, texture and tactility are back in our attempt to reconnect with real products and thus knitted texture in a sculptural form will be evident, particularly showing off the do-it-yourself and handmade element of product design. We simply cannot wait to show you what we have in mind for this trend prediction – we’ve been spending time abroad doing product research and development and will soon be bringing these on-trend items to the market.
Li Edelkoort’s trend forecast is an enlightening experience that creates the pulse we keep our design fingers on. In many ways it affirms the direction we at Fibre Designs follow – our products for 2011 supports global trends without losing the timeless appeal our rugs are loved for.
2011 is proving to be a year of growth and expansion for Fibre Designs.
We are delighted to now offer our bespoke services on a personal basis to all Johannesburg clients and welcome our latest team member Victoria Tucker.
Victoria has extensive knowledge in the design and retail sector and holds a passion for all things design based. She will surely bring a welcome zest and warm presence to the Fibre Design experience in our city of gold.
As always, please be assured of our personal and very best attention at all times.
Kind Regards,
Pierre, Tanyth and Victoria
Fibre Designs has been named as a finalist for the 2011 Hali / Domotex International Carpet Design Award in the “innovation” category. The “Meta” rug from our Visual Silence collection transforms what is often thought of as naive design into a sophisticated, high-end product through the inventive use of humble materials in combination with sophisticated weaving techniques.
The motif, which makes reference to ancient tribal bark-cloth panels from designer, Pierre Antoine’s Central African roots, is re-interpreted for contemporary environments by using un-spun hemp bast fibre pile in authentic colours – which is then finely-knotted to deliver a carpet with a crisp pattern and pile height of great finesse.
“Meta” sits comfortably in both sophisticated modern interiors and brings refined glamour to more relaxed or rustic interiors.
The recently launched sister-company to the well-established Modern Garden Company – Modern Home Company offers elegant, sophisticated (and occasionally playful) furniture for high-quality interiors. This shared design philosophy makes perfect sense and Fibre Designs recently partnered with Modern Home Company. Visit Modern Home Company’s showroom in Green Point where some of our iconic rugs can be seen.