Colors: Orange Color

When researching ‘The Rugs and Carpets of Fallingwater,’ for our Summer 2018 issue, it immediately became apparent that given the current popularity of Moroccan carpets, an article about mimicking the look of Fallingwater would have to be written. A survey of the pages of ‘Fallingwater’ by Lynda Waggoner reveals photographs of room after room of either white, fluffy, and inviting Beni Ourain rugs or more lively and red colored embroidered flatweaves; both of these readily available in today’s marketplace. But is it right, (or Wright) simply to duplicate the aesthetic?

When RUG INSIDER first started publication in 1996 the rug market was nearing the end run of a great class of traditionally styled rugs that replicated the look of those familiar Persian designs of Kashan, Isfahan, Kerman, and especially Tabriz to name but a few. Handmade in the Peoples Republic of China the so-called Sino-Persian rugs rose to prominence in the late 1980s as an alternative to their Persian cousins, which were banned by a United States embargo from 1987 to 2000. 

Though Alicia Keshishian comes from an Armenian rug family well steeped in the trade of quintessentially ‘oriental’ carpets, her aesthetic is decidedly modern. RUG INSIDER talks with the rug designer and color expert to gauge what defines—or often redefines—an aesthetic.

Rug Insider's InAntiques kicked off 2023 with a look at various segments of the area rug industry, running the gamut from high end hand-knotted antique rugs to more economically priced machine-made and tufted rugs. Regardless of which end of the price spectrum one is looking at, an increasingly important decision for buyers and sellers has become not just what type of rugs they want to what locations they want to buy them from.

The mere utterance of its name alone is enough to elicit controversy. On one hand there are those who love to hate upon it, on the other are those who embrace its use. Viscose, in its various forms, is increasingly used in rugs and carpets of multiple qualities. RUG INSIDER presents a daring look at both sides discussing its relative performance characteristics, situations unsuited for viscose, some key legal notes, and finally what makes a viscose carpet great. 

In the summer issue of Rug Insider Magazine, the InFOCUS feature spotlighted the red rugs of today. When thinking of red rugs though, perhaps the first rug style to come to mind would be the red colors found in Antique Persian Sarouk carpets, which in many ways, are the true definition of the Classic Red Rug.

In this article, we will be exploring the history of antique Persian Sarouk Rugs, as well as some of the most prevalent variations of the Classic Sarouk Carpet, and what differentiates one type from another.

Designed by Garth Roberts, cc-tapis’ After Party carpet recently won a coveted German Design Award. The design— inspired in part by post fete confetti on the floor—reminds of the Memphis Design Movement of the 1980s, terrazzo flooring, vinyl composite tile (VCT), and one might argue, an updated and revisited Desert from Odegard Carpets.

In the Winter 2022 issue of RUG INSIDER Magazine, one of the questions explored is that of the New Traditionals, as the question is asked, are today’s buyers sticking with Modern designs and colors, or are they returning to more Traditional styles?

For many years, the trend in the area rug trade has been to move away from Classic Traditional Designs, with their bolder colors, centralized stylistic elements, and busy fields, and to move toward more Modern designs, which tend to be characterized by softer, more subdued colors, and decentralized, uncluttered designs, often taking an Abstract form.