Rug hung on wall - advice sought

#1

I bought a really fabulous woollen rug, with the intention of hanging it on a wall: partly as decoration, and partly as an experiment in acoustic treatment of the room.

My plan is to make a wooden frame (possibly with a visible surround, like a picture frame - but possibly not) to support it and then hang in on the (block work) wall on French cleats.

The rug measures 2m x 1.4m and weighs about 15kg. It has the traditional, very dense woven backing.

I don’t know the best way to fix the rug to this frame (stitching through the backing maybe?)

I want the rug to remain flat, so thinking it needs to be attached all the way around the edges.

A couple of friends suggested “just put in on the floor instead”! But 1) I don’t currently have a suitably large free floor space for it; and 2) I think it’s too nice to walk on…

However, I’d prefer to do minimal damage to the backing, as 3) I’d like the possibility of using as intended sometime in the future, and 4) it was, for me, a most extravagant purchase.
Am I hoping for too much?

Any thoughts on how to tackle this would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

#2

Hey Tony,

Seems like usually you clamp the rug to avoid damaging it - so either DIY between 2 pieces of wood, or using metal clamps like these:

https://picturehangingdirect.co.uk/rug-hanging-kit/513-hanging-click-snap-frame.html

I wouldn’t think you need to stitch through it…

#3

One of my favourite places to go and feast my eyes is Essie Carpets.
They have huge high-end Persian Carpets hanging in their windows.
They are clamped along the top side, and then left to hang under their own weight.
I guess they have a “mesh” backing, which probably stops the carpet from pulling apart under its own weight.
Your carpet may not have this.

#4

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This is the detail of one of the carpets. They make me very happy, even if I never get to own one.

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#5

Would the rug stick to Velcro?

#6

Thank you all for your thoughts. Hadn’t considered any kind of clamping - was preferring not to have any “visible means of support” on the front, and wasn’t sure whether it would really hang ‘flat’, but it’s certainly heavy (and has a strong, quality backing)and that appears to be the way they are displayed commercially.
Perhaps I need to stop thinking of it as a painting…

I can experiment with velcro - there are some very heavy duty versions available, although I think it would need one half affixing to the back of the rug.

(Mine is less the Persian-style design - more ‘mid-century modern’, I suppose…)

Rug%20copy
Rug copy.jpg848×594 461 KB

I’ve walked past Essie numerous times but have never been inside

#7

It’s a beautiful rug and would look perfect on a wall. If you use velcro you can buy one which you sew one side and the other side is sticky, so you put the sticky side on the frame and sew the other side on the rug. (Some pelmets are made like this.) You just have to make sure that the rug is taut but not too tight so the fabrics don’t pull apart. And that the velcro goes all the way around so the rug is supported all around.

#8

Good idea, you can also staple gun the sticky side to the frame so you are not relying 100% on just the adhesive…

#9

I personally would punch some eyelets into it and use those either directly on hooks or as a hole that wont change when you use something like a fancy bolt and washer. You wilh have the eyelet hole but it shouldn’t change or stretch the hole over time

#10

Thanks everybody - various interesting ideas to explore there… I shall report in due course…

Oh - and a Happy New Year to you all!

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