Although this is his first rug design, David Quarles IV, who launched his firm Studio 417 in Memphis, Tennessee, three years ago, has been thinking about designing underfoot pieces for a while. “I wanted to show both sides of my personality,” he says of the project. The first design, Nerissa, celebrates color with blue, green, and yellow tones, “like the meeting of the horizon with the ocean—two worlds that go as far as our imaginations let them.” La Joie draws from the story of Quarles’s lineage. “My ancestors were of African and Indigenous American decent,” he says. “They didn’t necessarily have the conditions to promote joy, except for within. I like to think that I squeeze the joy out of life.” The rug features symbols of people dancing and singing, animals, and the dichotomous sun and moon, all of which nod to “being one with nature.”
Thanks to her textile-artist mother, designer Jessica Jubelirer, who splits time between Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and Palm Beach, grew up with an appreciation for craftsmanship. “The tactile nature of textiles has always been in my DNA,” she says, “so working with Ruggable felt like second nature.” Squaring with her timeless, welcoming aesthetic, Jubelirer’s designs draw on classic, geometric patterns, each in a palette of warm neutrals. Selene combines earthy tones such as burnt umber, sage green, and chocolate brown, making it a solid layering piece for any room. The second rug, Vesta, boasts a lively modern pinwheel pattern that brings a playful, dynamic touch. “These rugs are full of life,” Jubelirer says, “they don’t have to be flat or merely transitory.”
