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Published: 23 Jun 2026
Project Tour: The Whiteley by Maoliosa
For Maoliosa Murray, the rugs always come first. When the Irish interior design studio took on a duplex penthouse at The Whiteley — London's landmark conversion of the former department store — it was the floors she turned to before anything else.
"I always start with the rugs — they anchor the space and set the tone for everything that follows, right through to the art we source or commission."
With its six-metre ceilings and arched windows giving onto Juliet balconies, the apartment's main area needed something that could hold its own. A pair of mirrored Staccato rugs, designed by Kelly Wearstler, were customised in metallic platinum silk and pale wool. Every piece in the apartment was made to order: scaled to the architecture and colour customised to suit Maoliosa’s palette.
"I've worked with The Rug Company as their partner in Ireland for over 15 years, and I still get excited creating custom designs for projects," she says. "Customisation is key when designing unique spaces for clients."
The palette moves through the apartment in a slow descent: rich chocolate and tobacco on the ground floor, softening upstairs into rose pink, nude, and warm neutrals lifted with metallic. In the bedrooms, custom versions of the Reverie rug and Tableau by Kelly Wearstler were handknotted in softer rose pinks and nudes drawn directly from the surrounding scheme.
The stair runner tells its own story. A striking ombré piece, moving from deep chocolate wool and silk at the top to pale porcelain off-white at the base, it was designed to perform on a staircase at the heart of the home while still feeling indulgent underfoot.
