I love hooked rugs, and I know that Retro Renovation readers do, too, because I see you using them in your decorating. To me, hooked rugs evoke a sort of cottage, homey look that you would have seen in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and into the 1950s. In fact, I often see old hooked rugs at estate sales in nearby Pittsfield — usually at fantastic prices, and for large rugs, too. Like: $75 for a 8′ x 10′ rug. They are often faded and may be a tad holey — but to me, that just adds to the charm. Pittsfield also is home to the company Pine Cone Hill, with its rug brand Albert & Dash. Albert & Dash seems to be a go-to place for vintage style hooked rugs made today. I’ve written about this extensive line of hooked rugs before, but I went poking on the website to see what’s new — and found 8 new designs. Above is “Garden Path”, I love these colors.
Above: Garden Path, full view.
Above: Flower Box. Heck yeah, if you’re gonna do 1930s-1940s, why not do flowers. Well, that’s me, at least.
Above: Follow the Arrows.
Above: Harlequin
Above: Kaledo, in Bright, Grey, Green and Primary.
Links:
- These rugs are all from the Albert and Dash collection of cotton hooked rugs.
- Be sure to also see the wool hooked rugs — there are even more designs, and a number of them are quite stunning.
- Same idea — look for braided rugs like those made in America at Thorndyke Mills… at Capel…
- Or, shop vintage to save big bucks and to minimize your carbon footprint — of your footprints! At estate sales: Look to the floors and you may be able to get a great deal on a high-quality vintage rug. More of my tips to shop estate sales here.
Do these rugs work well in dining rooms? Actually, I have three children under the age of 5 and the wood floors are showing wear from the dining chairs constant use so we need a rug but I don’t want to “ruin” a pretty new rug either… Any advice?
We have a braided rug in our dining room — it’s stood the test of time exceptionally well. It’s a Capel with some polyester (or some such) in it. The design also is miraculous as hiding dirt. Which is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Not so sure I’d put a hooked rug in a dining room with lots of kids.
Dash & Albert (not Albert & Dash) also makes some really nice looking indoor/outdoor rugs. They’re truly nice enough to use inside, and I’m sure they would hold up well under a dining room or kitchen table.
I love the Albert and Dash Rugs. I think hooked rugs are beautiful.
I sent a Capel braided rug to my daughter’s dorm room many years ago and it lasted very well. It then went to a craft room here before it was given away to someone else to use. It still had lots of years left. I think the Capel braided rugs have a little more color than some of the other braided brands. I also noticed the new line of Genevieve Gorder Rugs on the Capel site. Very pretty too! Lots of times you can find the more expensive rugs on the Overstock.com site for a large discount. They don’t tell you what the brand is so you have to just know what you are looking for. Company C, another New England Company, is also a company that has pretty rugs.
Wow, those are beautiful! My great-grandmothers both had hooked rugs; you are right, there is something so cozy and homey about them (warm memories don’t hurt, either).
Also, as you noted in the comments, Pam, some of these designs are so perfect for hiding soil! Sometimes I wonder if that’s not part of the reason for them. 😉
Love hooked rugs – they usually wear well & look nice. I would add a caveat to that: owners of large dogs might want to steer clear as dog claws easily snag these.
When I think hooked rugs, I think 1970’s. That was my Mom’s craft of choice during the bicentennial era. 🙂
I’ll have to do more research. You may be right that there was a revival at that time.
Thanks for the suggestions! I will have to start pricing Capel and Dash & Albert rugs now ^_^
I also like Thorndyke Mills — https://retrorenovation.com/2010/12/08/braided-rugs-from-thorndyke-mills/
My friend’s mom would not let her dad watch tv unless he was working on a hooked rug!
I agree with Steve’s comment. I have a dash and albert indoor outdoor rug in my kitchen and it has stood up really well to a very large and sometimes muddy wet dog! I just take some warm soapy water to it and it comes out like new. You can also use bleach on their indoor/outdoor rugs and the colors don’t fade or run into each other. Worth the investment.