Three things I love about a Piece of Carpet, the new assemble it yourself floor covering from Vij5: 1. It’s made of 100% wool felt; 2. it re-contextualizes a cherished rainy day pastime into a practical home accessory; 3. Its designers last names would make formidable Scrabble moves. In respect of this last, the company is Dutch and the authors of the piece are called Arjan van Raadshooven and Anieke Branderhorst.

A Piece of Carpet. Designed by Arjan van Raadshooven and Anieke Branderhorst for Vij5.

The duo are the founders of the studio/manufacturer, and they thus bring a designer’s eye to bear on everything Vij5 creates–“designing the majority of the product collection… characterized by simplicity and the use of existing elements.” In the case of a Piece of Carpet, the meaning of existing elements is two-fold: first, there’s the wise materials use inherent in doubling-up products (TableConfetti uses the very same felt, a choice that cuts down on cut-offs and throw-aways); next, there’s the cultural status of the concept–a symbolic kind of “pre-existence” that makes the piece accessible to consumers in all sorts of interesting ways.

Admittedly, I’m not a puzzle person myself (the Scrabble reference above is a clue to my wordy inclinations); even so, I find a Piece of Carpet’s singular appearance quite engaging–it parodies the hidden seams of carpet tiles by calling attention to the very same, thus forging a striking aesthetic statement while making assembly that much more amusing. Not that there’s anything particularly difficult about putting it together (unlike the 5,000 piece triptych of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights that occupied my wife’s time while she was in graduate school). A Piece of Carpet features a mere five different puzzle pieces, thus facilitating different, creative layouts–each within a reasonable stricture of “squareness”: “it is possible to make a square carpet, a rectangular carpet, a cornered layout, etc.”

The “etc.” refers to any number of “L” or “T” shapes in addition to unorthodox arrangements created by running “female” pieces next to others of the same ilk, rather than following a traditional interlocking pattern (see here for Vij5’s suggestions). Other features include cushy polyethylene foam backing and durable nylon stitching. A piece of Carpet is available in different size packages depending on what percentage of your floor you’d like to conceal with its puzzling configurations. Each tile measures 32 by 32 (cm) and packages begin at XS (18 tiles) and run up to XL (on request, but greater than 50). Lastly, Vij5 just announced a new shade for TableConfetti, which means that, in addition to PoC’s original palette of Stone Gray, Basalt Gray, and Beige Melange, the puzzler now comes in Forest Brown and Peach. Prices start at $1190 Euro.

Via MocoLoco.