Boho Rugs Without the Clutter

Bohemian style is meant to look accumulated rather than bought, which is a difficult thing to achieve by buying something.

The one rule

Vary the pattern, hold the palette. Genuinely collected interiors look coherent because the objects came from related places with related dyes, not because the patterns match. Pick three or four colours and let every pattern in the room use some of them.

Layering

A classic boho move is a smaller patterned rug laid at an angle over a larger plain one — jute or a flat neutral underneath. It works because the plain layer gives the eye somewhere to rest. Layering two busy rugs does not work.

Texture is doing the real work

Boho rooms read warm because of the number of different textures, not the number of different patterns. Rug, throw, basket, ceramic, plant. If a boho room feels flat, it usually needs another texture rather than another pattern.

Keeping it washable

Layered rugs and floor cushions collect a remarkable amount of dust. It is the style that benefits most from being washable, and the one where people least expect it to be.