From David Netto Glassware Fit for the Italian Riviera to Washington, DC’s Coolest New Dining Room, Here Are AD's Discoveries of the Month

Jessica Helgerson’s new line of wool floor coverings offers a welcome dose of joy at a moment when felicity seems to be in seriously short supply. Aristotle said that “the secret to humor is surprise,” and Helgerson’s flatweave patterns are certainly chockablock with surprises: snails and slugs, beetles and bathtubs, ladybugs and lingerie. “The great thing about product design is that we don’t have to tailor our work to respond to a particular site or client,” says the globetrotting interior designer and AD PRO Directory member, who divides her time between Portland, Oregon, and Paris. “These rugs don’t take themselves too seriously.”

Busy bees in plum

Photo: Brian Robins

Tea time in chalk

Photo: Brian Robins

Developed in tandem with Mira Eng-Goetz, a lead designer at Helgerson’s namesake practice, and manufactured in Rajasthan through Kush Rugs of Portland, the seven-piece collection draws inspiration from traditional Swedish flatweaves (in particular the work of Märta Måås-Fjetterström) as well as classic American cross-stitch samplers. “We put them in the same pot, stirred it around, and added a dose of wacky imagination and levity,” Helgerson says of the heady brew.

Nature figures prominently in the array of patterns. Summer Toils, inspired by the landscape at Helgerson’s home on Oregon’s Sauvie Island, features shovels, rakes, squash, cherry tomatoes, and snails. Meanwhile, Busy Bees nods to her forays in apiculture, and Spring Garden comes alive with mushrooms and scallions. The insects in Night Garden look like creatures from a video game. “The pixelated quality comes from the weaving process, so we leaned in,” Eng-Goetz observes.

Helgerson cozying up with the new collection

Photo: Aaron Leitz

Aunt Maude, the most personal of the motifs, references the fictional client Helgerson and her architect husband, Yianni Doulis, contrived as the guiding light for the decoration of the couple’s own home. “She’s a spinster aunt, elegant and austere, yet she has a secret trove of lingerie and letters from her Moroccan lover. We pictured her drinking champagne in a tub,” Helgerson explains.“I don’t know if it will sell, but again, this project was an exercise in fun.” jhinteriordesign.com —Mayer Rus

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The Occidental

Photo: Douglas Friedman/Art: Tug Rice