Soft Power: 11 Australian Rug Brands That Redefine a Room

It wouldn’t be wild to call a rug transformative. Unlike most furnishings, the cosy textile interacts with everything else in a room – anchoring furniture, softening acoustics and setting the overall tone. That makes the hunt for a new style one worth careful consideration.

Interior designer Brahman Perera suggests starting with how the space is used. “Some rugs are designed for slower, meditative environments, while others are built to withstand high traffic,” he tells Broadsheet. “In family homes, or spaces shared with kids and pets, durable natural fibres like sisal and jute are resilient and easy to maintain. In more intimate rooms such as bedrooms, plush silk underfoot brings softness and luxury.”

A rug can also shift the mood of a room without the need to replace furniture. Perera likens it to a change of wall colour – a simple refresh that can introduce new tones, textures and patterns. The key, he says, is to think about scale. “A common mistake is undersizing a rug, which can make the furniture feel disconnected. A well-sized rug should ideally sit under the existing furniture, grounding the space and creating a cohesive flow.”

With that in mind, here are 11 Australian rug brands that span a spectrum of styles, palettes, and materials – with a few more of Perera’s tips woven through.

Zou Zou

Zou Zou makes artwork for your floor. Run by two Australians now based in Marseille, the label focuses on geometric abstract designs inspired by 20th-century European modernism. Drops are extremely limited – often just 15 pieces per design – making each rug feel rare and intentional. Most styles are available in hand-tufted bamboo silk or New Zealand wool. Golden beiges are anchored with bold black forms. Chequerboards soften with marigolds. Pebbled textures gain structure with fine lines. If you love art deco, this is your spot.

Ruggable

Not strictly local, but the label recently collaborated with architecture magazine The Local Project on a stylish 10-piece capsule. The drop featured work from three interior design studios – Brahman Perera, Tom Mark Henry and AKI Design – spanning a wide range of colour, texture and pattern.

For Perera, styling was front of mind throughout the collaboration. “We paid close attention to the relationship between the rug’s motif (like the signature carnation pattern) and the furniture,” he says. “Ensuring both have enough breathing room is crucial for balance and flow.”

It’s an approach he applies more broadly in his interior practice, too. “Often, we start by understanding the client’s existing collection – whether it’s an heirloom, a treasured artwork, or something they’ve picked up while travelling. It’s about finding harmony between personal style and long-term durability.”

Double

This Australian label comes with an invitation to worry less about mess. Double is the first local designer to patent washable rugs with a top-layer design that can be thrown in the washing machine when spills happen. Its fan-favourite checks and stripes brim with graphic appeal, while a newer wool capsule leans into elevated design. Each style is made from 100 per cent New Zealand wool, with a soft, sumptuous finish that feels almost carpet-like underfoot.

Sage and Clare

Boho-chic brand Sage and Clare delivers playful homewares that are unapologetically vibrant. With tassels, colour and bold motifs, its wool rugs nod to American folk heritage, ’70s shag piles and Moroccan Beni traditions. The Melbourne-born label often works with natural jute fibres, though cosier alternatives are woven in New Zealand wool and reimagined in non-traditional palettes. Each piece is spirited, expressive and made for those unafraid of colour.

RJ Living

Curved modular sofas and minimalist timber may be RJ Living’s DNA, but the Melbourne brand has recently extended into rugs. Some designs are hand-loomed with lustrous finishes in earthy tones – grass, bark, honeycomb – while others lean neutral, putting texture front and centre. Think cushy pebbled surfaces crafted from 100 per cent wool, designed to ground a space while keeping it cosy.

Pampa

Byron Bay label Pampa brings calm, tactility and refinement in equal measure. The brand partners with artisans in Argentina to produce considered rugs using age-old techniques and sheep wool as its anchor fibre. Natural dyes – sourced from plants, flowers, vegetables, insects and even smoke – lend each piece an organic, earthy palette. Neutrals are a Pampa specialty: chestnut, sand and olive, with deeper tones like burgundy and coffee providing more depth to a space.

Milk & Sugar

Melbourne-based Milk & Sugar takes a pared-back approach to colour and pattern. Softly mottled palettes, subtle lines and careful proportions create designs that feel grounded yet contemporary – an elevated counterpoint to mass-market decor. Everything is hand-loomed by artisans in India, with an emphasis on ethical practice and longevity.

Jenny Jones

Each of Jenny Jones’s hand-knotted creations is a living narrative underfoot. A pioneer of modern rug design in Australia, Jenny first discovered the potential of storytelling through textiles while living in Turkey, where communities weave their histories into every motif. Since launching her contemporary collections in the early 2000s, she has fused this sensibility with luxe materials – hand-spun wool, pure silk, high-and-low pile. Her award-winning and bespoke pieces blend artistry with cultural richness, whether inspired by Japanese kimonos or African-infused collaborations such as the Zimbabwe-linked Mutoko design (with proceeds supporting local agriculture).

Jardan

Jardan loves lounging. And dining. And sleeping. The Australian designer is most known for its sleek, chic furniture, inspired by a relaxed way of living – and its floor textiles are no different. Each rug is hand-crafted with varying pile heights and loops that transform wool and silk into soft rhythmic surfaces. The label works with a palette grounded in earthy neutrals – olive, toffee, beige – tempered with rich texture, but also warm darker tones in kilim styles made using natural dyes.

Designer Rugs

With three decades behind them, Designer Rugs collaborates with some of Australia’s top creative minds – architects, painters and makers – to craft stylish, artist-led designs. Collaborators include Akira Isogawa, Catherine Martin and Dinosaur Designs – and the result is bold colour, expressive motifs and plush floor-ware on a generous scale. The brand has also worked with First Nations artists, creating pieces that honour Indigenous narratives through pattern, colour and form.

Tim Roodenrys

Tim Roodenrys’s rugs are produced in Himalayan weaving co-operatives established by Tibetan refugees. Woven entirely by hand in dense merino wool, each design brings the dramatic silhouette of the tiger to life through pile depth and carved detail – and takes two women a month to complete. Each cat is made from burnt orange and deep black yarn, with flashes of blue, green and pink across some designs. The result: dense, soft, atmospheric rugs with a striking presence.

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