Barry Dixon's New Rug Collection
Does the man sleep? Barry Dixon designs homes all over the country and as far away as Moscow and Beijing. He designs furniture. He designs fabrics. Now, he has a new collection of rugs for Megerian, which made its DC debut at a reception last night at Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles.
Barry Dixon stands with Sarkis Vardanian, general manager of Megerian’s New York showroom, who came to DC for the occasion. They are in front of Dixon’s Medina rug.
Each rug is 100 percent organic, with dyes coming from flowers, plants, and roots. Megerian has mills all over Armenia, and Barry’s rugs are woven by hand in whichever region has the plants necessary to provide the proper dyes for each particular order.
A sampling of roots, grasses, and dried pomegranates were displayed at the reception to show where the dyes come from. One pomegranate can yield 16 different shades of red, depending on which part of it is used, Dixon said.
No rug is ever identical to another because each is handmade (and takes about five months to create), and there is color variation in the dyes. Note the Medina rug, above and below, which was inspired by the pattern on a 19th-century tooled leather box Dixon bought in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The different colors make them look like completely different rugs.
Dixon confided that he’s ordered the Medina pattern in “a pale stony gray field with egg-yolk gold” swirls for the living room he’s designing at the upcoming CharityWorks GreenHouse, where he is also design director. (Washington Spaces is the media sponsor, and we’ve been following the home’s construction right here on the blog.)
Dixon calls his designs “abstractions of more traditional rugs, and they have a transitional quality that can be used happily with contemporary or traditional homes.”
Dixon ordered the Foret pattern, inspired by leaves on the forest floor, in a giant 24- by 36-foot size for the Nashville home of former Sen. Bill Frist and his wife, Karyn.
Dixon, who is currently offering nine designs in more than 160 color combinations, has already ordered them for clients in five U.S. states and in Russia. Fourteen other designs are forthcoming.
The Glen Keith pattern was inspired by a castle Dixon visited in the Glen Keith region of Scotland. The border was carved in the castle’s walls outside, and the bell flowers and palmettes were among the interior carvings. Dixon said the rug’s pale red color comes from the skin of the pomegranate, while the more intense shade in the border and flowers comes from the juice.
Dixon and Megerian’s Sarkis Vardanian met three years ago in High Point, NC, where Dixon was featuring his latest furniture collection for Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth and Megerian had set up a temporary showroom. “A friendship led to more creativity,” Vardanian said. “It was a dream, to tell you the truth.”
Timothy Paul, who said “Barry’s been a client and a friend for a long time,” jumped at the chance to sell Dixon’s rugs after he saw them displayed for the first time at the Atlanta International Area Rug Market in January. “The designs are spectacular. I think we’ll do really well with them,” Paul said.
Shoppers in the store see the back of the Floret Vine pattern, above, which is just as lovely as the front, visible out the window, below:
“This line is very special for us. On our collection list, it’s one of the tops,” Vardanian said of the designs. “They look so different and so new – they are very unique in the market.”
Dixon, ever the Southern gentleman, shrugged off the repeated accolades. “You see things, you’re inspired by them, and you create something fresh. That’s what we [designers] do.”
Yes, Barry, sure.
Jennifer Sergent: you are something. So Fast. What camera do you use.
Great Coverage as usual Jennifer!!! You’re everywhere Really complete without being too long…just right :-)
Ann and Jim – you guys are the best. I use a Sony Cyber Shot/ 5.1 megapixels. It is very good to me!
Congratulations, Barry! Look forward to seeing your new line of rugs and offering them to my design clients as well. As with all you do…just brilliant!
Can Barry Dixon do anything, I mean ANYTHING wrong? He is perfection. Not only in his amazing designs, but how he describes them…he is incredibly eloquent and always leaves you wanting more!
As a young designer I truly admire Barry’s work! He is an inspiration and an amazingly talented interior designer. The rugs are gorgeous!