Traditional Swedish Folk Motifs Inspire This New Rug Collection

After creating a bevy of custom rugs with fellow Portland firm Kush Rugs over the years, designer Jessica Helgerson decided to level up the collaboration. “Rugs are an essential accessory that we layer onto each project,” explains Mira Eng-Goetz, a lead designer at Helgerson’s eponymous studio. Together, Helgerson and Eng-Goetz composed a seven-piece collection of hand-woven, flat weave wool rugs in partnership with Kush. Members of GoodWeave, a certification program dedicated to promoting workers’ rights and improving working conditions, Kush manufactured the rugs with fair-trade weavers in Northern India. Deeply personal and nostalgic, the collection combines reinterpretations of traditional Swedish folk motifs and classic American cross-stitch samplers with imagery from Helgerson’s own life and family history. Many of the patterns include flora and fauna inspired by the designer’s garden on Oregon’s Sauvie Island, such as mushrooms, snails, ladybugs and bees. “Jessica and I both gravitate toward designing handmade objects that are playful in composition,” Eng-Goetz says. “At the same time, we love to celebrate the variation and character of natural materials and traditional techniques.” All told, the collection provides a welcome dose of levity, reminding us that interior design can be fun, too.