What are some things you should know about area rugs?
The most popular rugs around the world are Indian, Persian and Turkish rugs. Turkey has a vast knowledge on rugs and carpets, since it’s been the center of rug production for hundreds of years. Turkish rugs are world famous and Turkey is the top exporter of rugs in the world. Our production is in Turkey.
What are the different types of rugs?
This question also comes as “Carpets or Rugs?” Actually, the difference lies in their techniques. Carpets, which are the more popular type, are made by tying knots of threads to vertical strings. It is a very time consuming job, takes a lot of experience and patience, so hand-made carpets are usually made by artisans. They can be made of wool, cotton, silk or other fabrics. Needless to say, silk is the most valuable.
Kilim, (which is the type of rug we produce) or an area rug, on the other hand, is made with a flat-weave technique. Because of the technique, the pattern on these rugs are pixellated, so their design world might be a little limited when compared to carpets. Depending on the dimensions, it takes a minimum of 3 weeks to produce them. Hand-made kilims are usually less expensive compared to hand-made carpets and they can be used anywhere in the house, indoors or outdoors. They usually come in wool or cotton.
The artisans working on carpets and kilim rugs are different. Most of the time, the artisan specializes in just one of them.
Reviving a dying artistry
Both carpet and kilim rug weavers are usually women and unfortunately mass production is taking its toll on these artisans. Since hand-made rugs can only be made at a certain pace, machine weaving made its way to the production line and the prices of these products dropped. Although it has become a more accessible product, hand-made rugs now have difficulty with competing with the market. As a result, the artisans now have to work faster and for lower wages which undermines the value of the artistry. Needless to say, this artistry is becoming less and less popular among the upcoming generation, thus, we’re facing a dying artisanship.
We want to change this. We believe we need beautiful things in our life that have a nesting time, just like life itself! Slow-production is hard-work and it should be rewarded, we make sure we stay true to that.
All of our products are designed by us. Wall decorations are made in our studio and for rugs we work with women from all around Turkey. They are seen and they are rewarded – not only in compensation, but spiritually too. Enjoying the process is one of our mottos!
Oh, did we say we use natural dye in our rugs? Next up – we will talk about natural dye