Ken Fulk designed two animal print rugs for Perennials, and they take opposite routes to the same instinct. Untamed Tibetan Knot is handwoven, its leopard markings irregular and slightly blurred, more pelt than pattern. Golden, Rusty, Emerald.

The second goes flat and graphic. Dazzle Me Flatwoven blows up a zebra pattern until the stripes stop reading as stripes and start reading as structure. After Midnight, Black & Tan, Emerald.

Both look to Hollywood Regency, 1930s and 1940s. Which explains the confidence.

Animal print has a reputation for shouting. At full-floor scale it does the opposite. It becomes ground, the quiet layer that lets plaid chairs and a plain sofa sit on top without competing.

Specify it in a boutique hotel lobby. A members club with too much gray flannel. A multifamily amenity lounge that needs one unreasonable gesture.

Pattern underfoot is doing real work lately, as in these collectible textiles and rugs. Here it just happens to have spots and stripes.

_{Images Courtesy of Perennials}