Jute Dhurries: The Advantages of this Rural Art in the Indian Home
There are many elements to style.
Interior design and home decor revolve around a mature understanding of what is available out there. If you frequent our website, you know that hand-knotted rugs are a high-end point to the imagination of the Indian homeowner. A person who demands that their spaces exude luxury will eventually procure one of these monolithic masterpieces.
But there are other essences of a home that can be expressed through other elements—elements that situate your home into an ethnogeographic whole, impressing an historic and cultural quality upon your guests.
If you are of an Indian tilt, this element can be a jute dhurrie.
It is this humble element that expresses a rare subtlety you will surely want once you read through this post.
1. Have a No-shoe Policy!
As you explore and push at the limits of your home, you recognize the need for smaller, more nuanced elements that situate an identity to your home.
A jute dhurrie is a flatwoven, brown-toned textile work. Like a carpet, but without a pile, it can be reversed on the floor. It can also be used to pack goods and as bed sheets.
Made by several cottage industries in India, its designs are as numerous as the villages they come from. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh are some of the main states involved in its production. Hundreds of villages create designs that are distinct to each place. There are slight variations in the process and the final product will show as much.
If you want to make your home take on a specific identity, you have a lot of dhurries to choose from! They give your home that traditional, vintage look!
2. Jute Dhurries as a Supportive Element
A hand-knotted rug pulls eyes to it, yes. But it can only do so because all the other elements are supporting its artistic intricacy. If the wall next to the rug was also intricately painted, then it would take away some of the focus off the rug.
A jute dhurrie is a supportive element. It can be paired with a coffee table or a pair of pouffes, or it can be used as an accent to a circulation space like a passageway, vestibule, or staircase landing. More commonly, it is used in spaces of high-traffic areas i.e. inside doors. Jute material is far more durable than wool, and it hides the stains and dust with ease under its brown hues.
Its subtle brown colouring and its lack of a pile makes it inconspicuous, yet noticeable. Jute dhurries can be bought at area-rug size, but are generally closer to a smaller 5x7 sq. ft.
3. Jute Dhurries as an Affordable Investment
Unlike hand-knotted rugs, these are flatwoven textile works i.e. they are created on a loom with interlacing fingers of warp and weft. There are no knots created to give rise to a pile.
In other words, they are created in a fraction of the time it takes to create the former type of rug. At the most, a dhurrie takes 2-3 months to weave. This smaller degree of labour entails a smaller cost. And due to jute being a cheaper material than the wool and silk largely used in hand-knotted rugs, the overall costs come down further still.
Aesthetics aren’t sacrificed, as dhurries will retain a pretty look, with their faded colours making an impression on closer inspection—multicoloured stripes, hexagons, checkers, interlocking squares, etc.
4. Jute Dhurries as a Eco-Friendly Element
Jute has a far smaller carbon footprint than traditional textile materials like wool, silk, and cotton. The hemp plant it is derived from is easily cultivated with a smaller requirement of water and pesticides. When you extrapolate all this data, it is clear that the burden it creates on the environment is bearable.
While this does not have a direct impact on your home, it is always good to know that not only are you supporting a dying Indian cottage industry, but you are also being a good steward of the land.
If you want to take a step toward this art form, you can check out our collection of jute dhurries inside our Bohemian Collection .