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Rug Insider Magazine
News for the Rug and Carpet Professional 
As modern carpets continue to delight buyers across all market segments, Rug Insider takes a look at some inspired examples. What does it mean for a carpet to be ‘delightfully modern’? Must it be made in Nepal—a country one could argue did more to revolutionize modern carpets than any other, or can it be made anywhere?
In the late 1980s and early 1990s the rug industry began to see an increased number of traditional broadloom showrooms expanding into the area rug market, thus adding another layer of competition to the specialty rug showroom that continues to this day. This was a logical next step—the natural progression if you will—as the broadloom industry sought to capture more sales.
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.
Using an antique carpet in an interior setting should not be an intimidating affair. Sure, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is filled with rare and early examples that aren’t suitable for day-to-day use, but there are enough available antique and vintage rugs on the market to cover the globe end to end.
“Well it all depends on the individual requirements of the project.” Carol Sebert, President of Creative Matters said in response to my question regarding how to choose the right quality of rug or carpet. “As you know we do a considerable volume of work in hospitality and contract which has its own set of requirements outside of simply the aesthetic.
Carpets have been layered over wall-to-wall sisal, upon one another in aristocratic garden parties, and sprawled in Bedouin tents. They’ve been used as the top—and most beautiful—layer covering beds, laid on tabletops at a time when their rarity all but forbade use on the floor, and have now—though the look is far from de rigueur—been featured layered in countless films, television shows, and noted interiors.
By standard accounts felt made from wool is considered to be the oldest known textile. Multiple cultures spanning the nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples as well as those of Sumer lay claim to legends of the origin of felt. Catholic tradition even tells the tale of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher who—while fleeing persecution— stuffed raw wool into their sandals to prevent blisters only to discover at the end of their journey the sweat and constant beating of their paces had felted the wool.
It may be cliche to emphasize the de rigueur palette of the season for a trends section, but what are trends if not simply a collection of similar things. As varied as the rug and carpet world may be—different qualities, materials, constructions, and so forth—color serves to unify, bridging the chasms.
