Vintage Rugs for the Nursery: What Works and Why

We make 11 vintage designs we would put in a nursery. This is why the combination works, and what to get right.

How vintage behaves on a floor

A faded design has low internal contrast, so it behaves like texture rather than pattern. That makes it the easiest family to combine with other pattern, and the most forgiving of furniture standing on it.

What a nursery asks of a rug

120 × 180 cm gives a usable play area and still fits a domestic washing machine. What is underneath the rug matters as much as what is on top.

Why the two suit each other

Put a vintage design in a nursery and the surface forgives everything a busy room does to it. Faded, overdyed and gently distressed surfaces. Soft, washable and safe for little ones.

The colours available in this combination

Across these 11 designs you will find grey & silver, blue & navy, yellow & gold, lilac & purple, cream & white, green & khaki, mink & brown and pink & fuchsia. They are drawn from 11 separate design sources — Provenance, Hereke, Herbarium, Delphinium, Aurora, Salvage, Cirrus and Diffusion and others — each with its own origin.

Sizes and prices

• 60 x 100 cm (2' x 3'3") — £50
• 80 x 150 cm (2'7" x 4'11") — £65
• 100 x 200 cm (3'3" x 6'6") — £86
• 120 x 180 cm (3'11" x 5'11") — £90
• 80 x 300 cm (2'7" x 9'10") — £95
• 100 x 300 cm (3'3" x 9'10") — £95
• 155 x 230 cm (5'1" x 7'7") — £125
• 200 x 300 cm (6'6" x 9'10") — £185
• 160 cm round (5'3" round) — £125
• 200 cm round (6'6" round) — £185

The construction

Chenille polyester on a woven cotton backing with a non-slip finish. Machine washable at 30°C, no underlay needed, no latex or rubber crumb. In a nursery that is the difference between a rug you protect and a rug you use.

See all 11 vintage nursery rugs →