London based designers, Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire, Mini Moderns
Launched in 2006 by London based designers, Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire, Mini Moderns is a British interiors brand specialising in applied pattern across a range of interior products from wallpaper and fabric designs to home accessories such as cushions and ceramics. We asked this creative duo to design their perfect rugs.
Here’s our Q&A…
Mini Moderns: Keith’s Rug Stars choice on the left is a Wool Milkshake Coconut rug and Mark’s Rug Stars choice on the right is a Quirky B Honeycomb Moss rug designed with our bespoke service Make Me A Rug.
WHERE DOES YOUR DESIGN INSPIRATION COME FROM?
At Mini Moderns we always say that our inspiration comes from a diverse range of sources – whether it is childhood holidays, collections of vintage ephemera, travel, or simply boot sale finds. Our pattern making is always about personal experiences. We call our design ethos ‘Pattern with a Story’ because all our creations have a strong personal narrative running through them. A huge influence on our work is the post-war optimism of mid-century design. While all our designs are contemporary, many of them share the spirit of the mid-century period.
DESCRIBE THE STYLE IN YOUR OWN HOME?
We describe our home style as ‘studio townhouse’. Mini Moderns HQ is a purpose-built live/work space with a double height studio on the ground floor and 2 further floors above it for living space. It’s topped off with a light-filled open plan living/kitchen space. Because the line between our work and home life is constantly blurred, we’ve tried to simplify the style of the living space so that it can double up as meeting space, or be used to shoot our collections of wallpaper. The whole living zone is unified by painted floors in mid-grey, with white and slate grey painted walls and, as you’d expect, pockets of rich pattern, provided by our wallpapers.
Our Rug Star Keith from Mini Moderns on the left standing on his new Wool Milkshake Coconut rug and Mark on the right standing on his Quirky B Honeycomb Moss rug. Both designed with our bespoke service Make Me A Rug.
WHAT PART DO RUGS PLAY AND HOW DO YOU USE THEM?
Rugs can instantly transform and personalise a room with their injection of colour, pattern and texture. Our ‘studio townhouse’ style is quite hard – there’s a noticeable lack of soft surfaces. With painted floors throughout, rugs are essential to add a bit of cosiness to rooms like bedrooms and living areas. You can instantly zone an area with a rug – which is essential when living in an open plan space where kitchen, dining and living areas all run into one space.
Mini Moderns: Keith’s Rug Stars choice on the left is a Wool Milkshake Coconut rug and Mark’s Rug Stars choice on the right is a Quirky B Honeycomb Moss rug designed with our bespoke service Make Me A Rug.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR PARTICULAR RUG DESIGN?
Keith:Texture is important in a design scheme so for one of the bedrooms I chose the Wool Milkshake Coconut Carpet with single linen seal border. In keeping with our idea of creating a holistic live/work space, we designed our own plywood furniture for this room. Its clean, modern look is inspired by modular mid-century furniture by the likes of Robin Day and George Nelson. The room features a densely patterned wallpaper and so we wanted to introduce texture rather than more pattern. The soft coconut tone of this rug was the ideal solution, and the seal border gives it the perfect crisp finish.
WHICH ROOM WILL THIS RUG GO INTO?
Keith:The rug works perfectly in the bedroom.
Mini Moderns: Keith’s Rug Stars choice on the left is a Wool Milkshake Coconut rug and Mark’s Rug Stars choice on the right is a Quirky B Honeycomb Moss rug designed with our bespoke service Make Me A Rug.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR PARTICULAR RUG DESIGN?
Mark:I was instantly drawn to the Quirky B Honeycomb Moss Carpet. Its soft olive green and interlocking geometry had exactly the mid-century feel that we needed to add richness and depth to the seating area of our living space. We have a collection of Portmeirion Totem crockery in olive green displayed on String shelving in the dining space, and the shade of this rug picks up on the display, echoing its colour in a different zone of the room.
WHICH ROOM WILL THIS RUG GO INTO?
Mark: It perfectly zones the seating area of our open-plan living space.
Mini Moderns: Keith’s Rug Stars choice on the left is a Wool Milkshake Coconut rug and Mark’s Rug Stars choice on the right is a Quirky B Honeycomb Moss rug designed with our bespoke service Make Me A Rug.
HOW DID YOU FIND THE MAKE ME A RUG SERVICE?
It was easy and fun to use. Particularly when it came to customising our Wool Milkshakerug – we spent ages playing around with the combinations until we found just the right mix of textured rug and the right tone of grey border.
FINALLY, WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ALTERNATIVE FLOOR AND WHY?
We are obsessed with theAuthentic Lucienne runners – especially the combination of blues and greens in the Octagon Runner. Whilst originally created in 1964, it looks fresh and contemporary. For us, Lucienne Day truly is the queen of pattern.
See Keith and Mark from Mini Moderns on our Rug Stars
Visit Mini Moderns on their website and follow them on Instagram
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