With summer right around the corner and the possibility of days and warm nights spent entertaining friends and family becoming more likely, we wanted to share a few tips on how to refresh your home for the season. So, we recruited one of our favorite interior designers and our newest collaborator, Nina Freudenberger. Known for her Nordic meets California design style, Nina’s spaces are fresh, unique, and comfortable. For her exclusive rug collection with Lulu and Georgia, she painted each rug's design with special attention to pattern and color—creating a rich, vivid palette of blues, greens, browns, tans, and nude shades.
We asked Nina for this summer refresh style guide to share how she would recommend (and love to see) her rugs to be layered into your homes. She also shares tips on perfecting your summer living and dining room spaces in anticipation of hosting and entertaining loved ones later this season. Her suggestions range from utilizing natural textures in both large furniture items and decorative accents to making sure to bring in enough functional seating to complementing your home's natural light with beautiful lighting pieces. Read on for more and see how Nina's most fundamental piece of advice when bringing these rugs into your home is to tailor it to your design aesthetic and home.
Know Your Seasonal Essentials
My three must-haves for the season are colored glassware and tabletop items, natural materials (such as rattan or rope), and anything that is in a textural white finish! I love it when sofas and accent chairs are wrapped in fabrics like boucle and textured weaves, those pieces bring such warmth and cozy charm to your space. Plus, the contrast between these white seats and rough-hewn coffee tables adds lots of visual and tactile impact.
Layer in Raw Beauty
I love thinking about all the accent pieces and accessories people can style with these new rugs. As we transition from spring to summer, I suggest focusing on organic shapes and natural textures to bring in those touches of raw beauty. I think that using anything in white oak, plaster, stone, ceramics, or a natural material, such as rattan, works incredibly well with my collection. That is my style, after all!
When styling these pieces, I love mixing and matching accents like ceramic vases in a range of eye-catching forms. The different styles are tied together by their handcrafted construction and finish. For a bit of monochromatic contrast, pair these decorative accessories with a dark-finished furniture piece, like this Luna Console Table.
The New Neutrals
I think these rugs can be seen as being quite neutral—so no need to feel like you have to go heavy on color coordinating. I think their strength lies in the playfulness in the lines and the woven details, so they really can be the centerpiece in a room. Have fun playing with the direction and combinations—although it isn’t obvious at first glance, I can personally tell you that these area rugs work well together in side-by-side spaces! It is super fun and cool, and definitely worth giving it a shot.
Three Tips to Get Host-Ready
I cannot wait to be able to host and entertain again this summer! To think about sharing moments both large and small with loved ones makes me so hopeful. To get ready, I think you should focus on simple, functional styling and playing with light.
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My first piece of advice is to make sure that there is enough seating for a larger group. Benches, ottomans, and stools are the best for flexible seating in a living room and look great styled.
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I think making sure you have plenty of different light sources in a room is also critical, from pendants, table lamps, floor lamps, candlesticks, or lanterns—there should be at least three options in every room (dining rooms can have two.)
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Add something new to freshen up each room. It can be small, but after staring at our own homes for the last year, it is nice to make it feel new again!
Make It Your Own
One of my favorite aspects of this rug collection, and certainly one of my intentions when designing it, is its versatility. I think the colors I chose work so well across different spaces, styles, and even seasons because they are all generally neutrals, or essentially remain neutral when matched with each other. I think this is so important in how you use any and every rug, whether it moves with you from house to house or simply from room to room—that adaptability extends its life with you! I have already moved some of the rugs in this collection from a dining room to a kids' room and was so surprised they worked so well in both spaces. I hope you find joy in this too!