Exclusive Stories

We’ve been hearing about “green” products and practices for years now. With rugs and carpets, environmental awareness has evolved to encompass broad concerns. Today, they’re created with consideration for not only content and production, but also benefits to humanity.

As the daughter of a rug wholesaler, I have vivid childhood memories of visiting customers with my father, sitting on a stack of rugs while the men attended to business. There were rarely women present in these spaces—but it wasn’t until I joined the industry years later that this struck me as odd.

Exquisite Rugs lands a deal with the Smithsonian and will unveil lines inspired by the historic museum’s artifacts at the upcoming High Point Market. It’s a great honor to be chosen to collaborate with the Metropolitan Museum Of Art on a rug collection, which makes it even more impressive that Exquisite Rugs has also been picked as a collaborator by the esteemed Smithsonian Institution.

The Met has chosen Exquisite Rugs to design a collection based on the museum’s variety of historical art. Uniquely designed rugs are truly pieces of art, and to celebrate that fact, Exquisite Rugs is creating an exclusive line of rugs based on art from The Met.

New leadership duo seizes the reins and steers the custom carpet company to new heights

Building on the legacy of its founder Carol Sebert, artfully established and proudly Canadian custom carpet house Creative Matters is kicking off the new year by rolling out a broader path grounded in the company’s roots but strategically positioned to command new opportunities that lie ahead—both in North America and across the pond.

Customization trends are carving new business opportunities for the carpet category.

Broadloom is enjoying a comeback, but in a different way—thanks largely to renewed interest from designers and more customization-craving consumers. Wall-to-wall carpet is tapping into relevance and resourcefulness in the form of made-to-order area rugs and runners for stairs, halls and entryways.

“Today, everyone wants customization in every aspect of their home and in their home furnishings,” noted Christine Zampaglione, Senior Director of Marketing, Stanton. “Customization is the way of the future in broadloom.”

Area rug companies expand and elevate offerings of sustainably-made styles. Recycled plastics-made fibers are not new to the world of area rugs. For a while now, suppliers have been developing and promoting these products to promote not just for their sustainability attributes but also their inherent performance benefits—namely, extra softness and resistance to fading and staining— all of which are highly conducive to today’s family- and pet-friendly lifestyles.

Rug companies continue to focus on programs that make it easier for interior designers to find and purchase custom rugs.

Interior designers have always been a critical part of the rug industry. But in recent years, as more people look to furnish their homes and make them a desirable place to live, work and raise children, interior designers have become more important than ever. And because the interior designer channel is booming—with over 119,778 interior designer businesses in the U.S. today—rug manufacturers have been introducing and revamping their designer rug programs to make them easier and more efficient for interior designers.