Crucial Trading is the leading maker and supplier of natural floor coverings. Founded in London in 1986, the company remains as committed to innovation and creativity today as it was nearly four decades ago.
Intricately crafted from natural and renewable materials – Wool, Sisal, Sisool, Seagrass, Coir and Jute - our inspiring and unique collections offer a fabulous choice of textures and patterns in an array of colours. Our collection of over 50 designs can be ordered as broadloom for fitting or made as a rug using our bespoke rug service.
Finding Inspiration
Inspiration can come from a manner of places and experiences and of course we all have our own personal taste. We take great pride in how we photograph our floor coverings, working with some of the country’s leading photographers and stylists, shooting in inspiring locations, and always looking at mixing old with new. We believe that when it comes to designing a room, it starts with the floor and we hope that you find the images and real home case studies in this Lookbook helpful. Whether you’re seeking bold colour and pattern or a more neutral, textured look, our designs create the foundation on which to create your dream space.
Creating a cohesive look for your space can be a challenging task. Carpet and flooring choices have a significant impact on your overall aesthetic, whether you are opting for a modern, timeless or more traditional look.
Sofa: Vintage Mah-jong by Roche Boibois and Missoni | Cushions from left: orange cushion: Designer’s Guild | Printed Cushion: Missoni Home | Silk square cushion: Missoni Home Rectangular printed cushion: Missoni Home | Blue velvet cushion: Designer’s Guild Side table: Dirk Van Der Kooij, Studio Ashby | Floor lamp: Curiosa
Discover our Chelsea Showroom
We opened our first Crucial Trading branded showroom in Westbourne Park Road, London, in 1989. Since then the company has grown amongst the interior design community and, in 2023, we opened our Design Hub in the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.
A showroom crafted for interior designers and enthusiasts who appreciate the finer aspects of interior aesthetics. This elegant space isn’t just a showroom; it’s a symbol of innovation, craftsmanship, and boundless creativity. Serving as a beacon in the world of luxury flooring, it provides a platform for meaningful engagement with interior designers, specifiers, retailers, and customers alike.
At Crucial Trading, our commitment to pushing the boundaries of luxury carpet design and manufacturing has set us apart as industry leaders. The Chelsea Harbour Design Hub is a testament to this dedication, ushering in a new era of collaboration, inspiration, and innovation.
This space is a canvas for showcasing our latest designs, concepts, and inspirations, allowing creativity to flourish without limits. From sumptuous textures to vibrant colours and eco-conscious materials, our carpets and rugs epitomise the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.
2nd Floor, South Dome Design Centre, SW10 0XE
Natural Collections
A luxury carpet has the power to influence the ambience of any room, welcoming people in with its pleasing aesthetics and inviting texture.
We choose renewable natural fibres for our floor coverings not only because they’re better for the environment but also because they help ground a space, resulting in a more comfortable room. We look at texture too and play with this when developing our innovative designs, maximising the natural integrity of each fibre.
Our collections are made from sustainably sourced Wool, Sisal, Seagrass, Jute, Coir and Sisool. Selected for their strength, resilience and inherent beauty, each of these fibres has a story to tell – from how it is created to the unique qualities they bring to a floor covering. And once the floorcovering reaches the end of its lifespan, the fibres will naturally biodegrade.
Wool
Wonderfully soft underfoot, wool is 100% natural, rapidly renewable and biodegradable. In addition, wool is hypoallergenic, naturally fire retardant and purifies the air and trapping allergens for up to 30 years. With credentials like these it’s easy to see why wool continues to be such a popular choice for floor coverings.
Sourced from Brazil, China and southern Tanzania, the sisal plant is one of nature’s true survivors – evolved to thrive in a punishing climate with little rainfall in summer. Once stripped and dried for 30 days, this organic fibre is ready to be crafted into a beautifully textured floorcovering that offers superior strength.
Grand Herringbone Chestnut
Top L–R:
Ogee Rhythmic Play
Malawi Twine
Small Boucle Ginger
Bottom L–R:
Malawi Wicker
Divine Soft Praline
Panama New Champagne Black
Harmony Boucle Fresh Silver
Sisool
We were the first brand in the UK to blend the innovative sisool floorcovering which marries the benefits of soft wool with rugged sisal. Soft pockets of warm wool are interlaced with strong, resilient sisal fibres for softness underfoot, wonderful insulation and a durable finish.
Top L–R
Tric Chalk Detail
Tric Chalk Detail
Plaid Rich Black
Bottom L–R
Plaid Natural Calico with; Boucle Linen border in camel
Masai Soft Grey with; Chenille Aluminium
Masai White Mist
Rock Clay
Wall lights: Paolo Moschino Postmodern | Side table: Granger Hertzog : Table lamp: Henry Holland Postmodern Chair: Granger Hertzog | Terrazzo Side Table: Ligne Roset | Wooden pot: Ligne Roset Victorian Shells | Modern cubist sculptural pedestal plinth
Seagrass
Sourced from Vietnamese and Chinese plantations, this hardy tropical grass has to withstand copious amounts of ocean salt, raging typhoons and the heat of the Far Eastern sun before being woven, arguable making it one of our sturdiest textural materials.
Seagrass floor coverings continue to be a natural choice for fitting in seamlessly to every interior.
Conceptual / Raw materials
Seagrass Basketweave
Conceptual / Raw materials
Left, Clockwise:
Herringbone Red Weft
Right: Fine Seagrass Herringbone
Coir
Our coir is masterfully crafted from the fibrous husks of coconuts grown and handpicked along the Keralan shoreline. After being suspended in water for 10 months they are beaten to separate the fibres. Once dried, cleaned and spun, the coir is transformed into a hardy flooring as inviting as its exotic, original setting.
/ Texture
Left, Clockwise:
Coir Boucle Natural
Conceptual
Coir Panama Natural
Right:
Coir Boucle Natural
Jute
an explosion of healthy, green jute stems, made tougher by the fertile, coastal waters. Once it has been ret and stripped, the fibres are ready to be weaved into our collection of gorgeous designs that date back to the nineteenth century.
Artwork: Kristen Peres | Side table: Vintage Floor lamp: Vintage Striped bed linen: Piglet throw | Cashmere Bed throw: Johnstons of Elgin
Armchair: Dunhill Chair, Mind The Gap
Sofa: Vintage Mah-jong by Roche Boibois and Missoni Side table: Dirk Van Der Kooij, Studio Ashby
Dreaming of the perfect rug for your interior space?
Designed to reflect our innovative and inspirational nature and help you bring your personalised vision to life, our improved Rug Builder is now live!
Key features include:
• Real-time rug visualisation
• Advanced 3D room rendering so you can view the look and feel of your rug seamlessly integrated into your living space
• Enables you to select from a range of over 100 borders and our signature all-natural fibre rug centres.
But that’s not all. You can save your designs for future reference, purchase directly from trusted retailers, and even order complimentary samples to ensure absolute satisfaction with your choice.
Scan to explore the Crucial Trading Rug Builder
Grade II Renovation 2024
Project Name Howell Regency Townhouse
Building Information Grade II listed Renovation
Building Use Home
Location Leamington Spa, England
Designer and Owner Donna Howell
What room was the carpet/rug used in?
We have used Harmony Boucle Sisal in the Sitting room, as a runner on the stairs to the first floor and as fitted flooring to stairs and landings on 2nd and 3rd floor. As we move through the renovation, we will go on to fit as a runner on the stairs to the basement and fitted flooring in the basement itself.
We used the Crucial Trading rug builder to create bespoke rugs using Snug in Cotton White edged with Chenille Oatmeal. We have two rugs in both sitting rooms and our son’s bedroom. We are considering ordering a large version for under the bed in primary bedroom.
We have fitted Buttercup carpet in Gentle Oyster in three bedrooms.
If you could describe the space where your Crucial Trading product is placed in just three words, what would they be?
Timeless, Elegant, Textured.
What was the inspiration the overall design of the space?
The property is a Grade II listed regency townhouse across four floors. My design aesthetic is paired back with warmth and elegance. Combining the grand with the humble whilst celebrating the history of the property sympathetically and restoring original features as custodian of a listed property.
What were your main considerations when choosing the carpet/rug for this space?
Style vs durability within a busy family home.
How has the Crucial Trading product contributed to the style of the space?
Tonally and texturally all three products work well in each room however they flow beautifully and seamlessly throughout our home helping with the cohesive design I was hoping for.
How has the carpet/rug contributed to achieving a balance between functionality and aesthetics?
Sisal in high traffic areas will always be my choice of flooring. It looks as good today as the day it was fitted. I also love the textural element it provides to an area, so for me it’s the perfect balance between the two.
Whilst wool carpets in the bedrooms are softer underfoot but also provide an interesting balance of texture once layered with drapes and bedding and due to the high quality of the wool they will last well.
I always pay to have my flooring and rugs to be stain intec guarded.
Why did you choose to use a Crucial Trading product?
I have used Crucial Trading for many years and believe in the quality of their products and choices of flooring. Tonally I always find the right match of flooring.
Have you used Crucial Trading Products before?
Yes I have used Crucial Trading in our previous properties.
Products used:
HARMONY BOUCLE MOON FROST BUTTERCUP GENTLE OYSTER
COTTON CHENILLE OATMEAL SNUG COTTON WHITE
LINEN TWILL ECRU
Cumbrian Country 2021-23
Project Name The Country House Cumbria
Building Information Refurbishment
Building Use Luxury Holiday Let
Location Cumbria, England
Designer and Owner Paul Longman
Paint Mylands
Photographer Beth Davis
What room was the carpet/rug used in?
We used Crucial Trading Seagrass Carpet in all the bedrooms of the house, as well as the TV room and games room. We used some beautiful leather bordered rugs in the kitchen/living space, hallway, drawing room and stairs.
If you could describe the space where your Crucial Trading product is placed in just three words, what would they be?
Eclectic, Stylish, Grand.
What was the inspiration the overall design of the space?
We took on the restoration of a Georgian style Country Manor House. Our ambition was to make the house feel warm and homely with an eclectic mix of styles. We wanted to include furniture and style from different periods. We wanted the space to be interesting and for each room to feel different yet for them to all sit well alongside each other and be cohesive as a space.
What were your main considerations when choosing the carpet/rug for this space?
Our main consideration when looking for carpets for the house was a texture and material that would add interest to the space, this is why we chose the Fine Seagrass Herringbone. We also wanted a material that was hard wearing and importantly a floor covering that we could layer with rugs to add further interest. The Crucial Trading Seagrass provided all of this and more. It is the perfect style and backdrop in every room.
How has the Crucial Trading product contributed to the style of the space?
The natural colour provides a great base for our eclectic style, we have used so many interesting colours in the house and yet all sit so well alongside the colour of the carpet. The herringbone pattern is so beautiful and reminds me of a parquet style floor which we have in another area, so there is a cohesive feeling to the floor coverings. The ability to layer a seagrass carpet with rugs means you can add so much interest to a space. The texture and material look so fabulous in different lights and when the sun catches it at different times of day it really is astounding.
How has the carpet/rug contributed to achieving a balance between functionality and aesthetics?
We are so genuinely impressed with the durability of the product and we have really put it to the test. From red wine spills to muddy boots, it’s like the carpet is invincible. We have used the Crucial Trading cleaning kit when we have needed to and it has worked perfectly. We didn’t expect to be able to find a carpet that not only met our testing conditions of use but also looked so good over a long period of time.
Why
did you choose to use a Crucial Trading product?
Crucial Trading are considered the market leaders in natural carpets, we chose Crucial Trading because we felt that the quality of the product aligned with the level of quality that we were trying to achieve with the restoration of the house. We love how easy it was to receive samples, how helpful the staff were and how beautifully made all the rugs are. There is a quality to everything that is hard to find. Its unique.
Have you used Crucial Trading Products before?
We have been long term Crucial Trading fans and have used Crucial Trading products for a long time in many of our restorations.
