HALVED Rug, flatwoven, handmade multicolour, 170x240 cm

STOPP and STOPP FILT anti-slip rug underlays keep your rugs firmly in place, so no one slips on them. Cut the underlays to any size you need. STOPP FILT, which is 4 mm thick, also helps preserve hand-knotted rugs and makes all your rugs feel thicker and softer.

"We live and work in London – a vibrant, colourful and creative hub that inspires us every day. Particularly the amazing street art in East London. HALVED rug will hopefully add the same wonderful splash of colour to your life. Especially considering that the rug is hand made in India as part of the project IKEA has started to train and hire people there. This makes the rug a colourful boost to both people and homes."

In a hand loom, horizontal strands (the weft), are woven over and under vertical strands (the warp), repeatedly until the rug is complete. Depending on the complexity of the design, producing a rug with this technique can take from a few days up to several weeks. Unlike other techniques, such as hand-tufting, a hand loom does not produce a pile, rather it creates an even and flat surface. This technique allows for intricate designs and patterns and the rugs tend to be lightweight yet durable. They are also reversible and easy to clean, making them a practical and popular choice.

Wool is a practical natural material that usually comes from sheep. The raw wool is washed and then spun into yarn. Wool rugs have many advantages. They're soft, warm and comfortable to walk on, and they're also very hardwearing. They're stain-resistant too, because wool has it own natural oil. This means that dirt stays on the surface and doesn't penetrate into the rug. All wool rugs shed - some more, some less - vacuum them regularly to prevent the loose fibres from scattering.