Interior Designer Shawn Henderson Debuts First Rug Collection at New York City Alt for Living

The right rug is the finishing flourish for an interior design project, and it isn’t always an easy task. Nobody knows that more than Shawn Henderson, whose interior design flair for creating balance has been infused into an unexpected variety of homes, including a farmhouse in Connecticut, a chalet in Aspen, a townhouse in New Orleans and much more.

The New York-based interior designer, known for his unpretentious luxury, will unveil his first rug collection Thursday with Analisse Taft-Gersten, founder of a New York City design hub, Alt for Living. The collection will be on display at Alt’s Flatiron-district showroom on 12 East 20th Street. In SoHo, the collection will also celebrated at the Amélie du Chalard Gallery, where rugs will be positioned as both a collectible design piece and a work of art.

“It’s a great creative release for me to do things like this. And especially when they have sort of a deeper meaning… it is really something to be able to collaborate and make something beautiful with friends,” he told WWD.

Named Negative Space, the collaboration is the natural result of a creative friendship that has spanned more than two decades and rooted in part by an appreciation for quiet design. In this spirit, the negative in the name is intentional and indicative of his essential approach. Each rug was made in Nepal and crafted with handwoven wool and silk and available in a color palette of classic architectural neutrals, rich and earthy jewel tones. Geometric forms are at the heart of the collection, with the use of the triangle representing balance, proportion and strength.

This is not Henderson’s first collaboration. He recently debuted a new lighting collection characterized by woven and sculptural elements with Rupp Studio. In 2023, the aesthete also collaborated with Italian leather accessories firm Il Bisonte for a set of luxurious canteen-style trays.

Globally interior designers like Kelly Wearstler, Leanne Ford and Milanese architectural design firm Droulers have branched out and designed their own objects to complete their design projects and appeal to a wider public.

“We are tasked all the time with filling bookshelves and putting objects on coffee tables and, you know, consoles. Finding unique, interesting pieces that aren’t ubiquitous is hard,” Henderson concluded.