Erik Humphrey Is Shaking Up The Rug Industry

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Erik Humphrey

The Insider: Erik Humphrey

Owner/Designer, Hyde Park Rugs

In 2014, Erik Humphrey launched his Scottsdale design firm, Hyde Park Interiors, and then a year later he added a home furnishings component. Now he’s expanding his portfolio with one particular focus: rugs. In January, Humphrey opened Hyde Park Rugs only 2 miles from his furnishings showroom, offering hand-selected pieces from all over the world in a 1,600 square-foot art gallery-like setting–with a twist. “I’m trying to get away from that concept of a conventional rug store,” he explains. “Our concept is based on lots of 2-by-3-foot samples–traditional, transitional, contemporary–that people can take home.” The idea, he says, is to allow clients to see how different rugs look in their home without committing to one in the store (although Hyde Park Rugs also carries traditional sizes for those who need instant gratification). Here, Humphrey dishes on trends he’s noticing in Southwestern design.

Happening in Scottsdale’s interior design scene: The new trend going forward is “desert modern”: It’s a casual mixture of metal, wood and finishes that are more relaxed, with grays, blues and creams with pops of colors. I especially see a lot of gray tones on walls and floors with blue and red accents.

Intriguing you in the industry as a whole: The cleaner, straighter lines of architecture and construction are leading right into design trends, too. I’m seeing borderless rugs and more abstract takes. The traditional model has been blown wide open, and it’s gone the opposite direction of the Tuscan style we’ve done for so long. It’s a fun, new direction of mixing metals with glass, stone and steel, and it really suits the desert-modern look.

Personal influencer? On a national scale, Ralph Lauren is someone I’ve looked up to so much in design, particularly because of his ability to mix textures. No matter what he does–lighting, fabrics–I love the quality and colors. I also admire his skill in pulling together eclectic elements.

Erik Humphrey
Erik Humphrey

Photos: Courtesy Hyde Park Interiors