Ariel Grace Design - Custom Floorcloth Makers

ome things are every bit as hard as they seem. This project was one of those. We were contacted in early 2024 by the director of The Chambers House museum in Beaumont, TX. She was looking to have the original linoleum from a 1924 kitchen renovation reproduced.

The background consists of four colors with an abstract squiggly line pattern. This is overprinted by two repeating triangular leaf patterns that repeat vertically, in opposite directions. Eleven stencils were created; three for the background, and four for both sets of leaves. Designing the stencils took months of trial and error. The floorcloth is wider than our canvas, so we used our double-layer technique to create a single sheet with an almost invisible seam. The stencil process was extremely laborious, due to the multiple layers. The effort was worth it. The floorcloth was installed in June 2025.

Much of the first half of 2024 was devoted to producing this floorcloth for the Grafton Inn, c.1801, in the charming 600-person village of Grafton, Vermont. The has 42 guest rooms and several event and conference spaces including the Homestead Room where this floorcloth resides.

Visitors from around the globe can enjoy a slice of quintessential New England at both the inn and its environs. Grafton Village is known for its classic beauty, stunning scenery, and rural culture and the Inn is the center of the village.

The floorcloth pattern is an Early American design from the Esther Brazer Stevens Collection at the Museum of American Folk Art. Brazer Stevens recorded authentic stencil patterns, including this one from the Humphries House in Dorchester, MA, c.1800.

The floorcloth measures 16’ x 28’.

Thank you, Arts & Crafts Homes and the Revival!

The Guild: Gwen Jones Floorcloths as practical art.

We recently got our copy of the beautiful 2024 Resource Guide from Arts & Crafts Homes and were delighted to be featured as a Guild artisan. The Guide is a gorgeous compilation of restoration stories and includes over 400 sources for products and services. On newsstands as of September 19th.

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Another floorcloth adorned with our Autumn Leaves pattern, based on a 1915 rug catalog that contained this unusual design by rug manufacturer Dominion Axminster. (Scroll to the last image to see the pattern source.)

This floorcloth resides in the dining room of a house in Provincetown, Massachusetts. We worked with several combinations of blues to get to the right balance and love the results!

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