Colors: Orange Color

Area Rug exhibitors are moving into new showrooms and displaying tons of fresh product at the fall High Point Market.

The last High Point Market came at the perfect time—right as the CDC lifted mask requirements. But masks or not, everyone knew it would be a successful market.

Even though COVID-19 restrictions are tightening across the country, the rug industry is still looking forward to a stellar fall show. There’s sure to be plenty of introductions on tap, and even new showrooms as rug exhibitors expand their offerings and aim to reach new customers.

One day, a New York creative director landed in the middle of Mexico, picked up a brush and a can of black house paint and, for the first time in her life, started to paint floor to ceiling. Hello, Black Line Crazy!

A lifelong doodler, Mary van de Wiel, aka Van discovered that those damned doodles refused to be doodles anymore. Twenty-one months and two successful exhibitions later in Australia and Mexico, van de Wiel reinterpreted her black- and-whiteabstract work across a limited edition collection of accessories, fashion, fabrics, furniture and more.

In June, Tamarian Rugs left its temporary space at the Suites at Market Square and moved into its new showroom on East Russell Street. At the fall market, Ned Baker, key account manager of Tamarian, says the company will still view it as a grand opening. While no grand opening event is planned at the time of this writing, Baker says to keep an eye out as we get closer to market.

Our summer issue theme is All in the Details. It's a pleasure to get up close with these incredibly beautiful detail shots of some of our favorite textured rugs. 

“When we pay attention, we begin to notice details and textures that we never noticed before. Everyday life becomes clearer, sharper, and at the same time more spacious.“ ~ RICK FIELDS

As more outdoor rugs are used indoors, rug manufacturers rethink ways to market the product and find success with design partnerships.

As people were forced to stay in due to the pandemic, it drove many to start making home improvements—and this benefitted the home furnishings industry greatly.

However, there’s one category that grew exponentially: outdoor furniture and accessories. According to research from the International Casual Furnishings Association, 90% of Americans with outdoor living space have been taking greater advantage of their decks, porches and patios, and consider their outdoor living space as more valuable than ever before.

There is an old saying which still rings true today—“the difference is in the detail.” As a businessperson, I subscribe fully to the notion of using this tactic to my advantage. We often tend to lose sight of the concept of placing our own business operations under the microscope, but there has never been a more opportune window to do so. It may seem a bit odd, but time will tell how fine the clarity was to your lens.

Various channels of business are slowly starting to ramp back, and with them, perhaps a golden chance exists for additional development. Time to grab hold of the figurative business mirror and place it in front of your current methods. Could it be after having been in forced hibernations for so long the perception you have of your organization is no longer reality, as viewed through the eyes of your customer base. Why not utilize this sudden awakening, to re-introduce or reposition your operation? It all starts from first possessing a willingness to do so.

When we talk about area rugs, whether new reproduction rugs or the antique originals on which they are based, one of the most common ways of categorizing them is by their level of fineness.

Specifically, the fineness we refer to is the fineness of weave density, with the finest rugs being those with the tightest weave density. In the West, we often express this level of weave density in terms of KPSI, or knots per square inch. In the East, the more traditional expression is in terms of RAJ, or knots per 7 centimeters. The higher the KPSI or RAJ, the finer the rug.

Area rug suppliers forge ahead to the summer markets with new efficiencies + products, despite supply chain woes. After more than a year absence, trade shows and markets are re-emerging on the home furnishings industry’s scene starting this summer. And that spells optimism for the balance of 2021’s business outlook… For the most part.

Spread out across the season’s three months, first came High Point and Dallas Total Home & Gift markets in June, followed by this month’s Atlanta Market, July 13-19 and finally Las Vegas Market, August 22-26. This ambitious schedule signals the industry’s determination to return to some semblance of normalcy as the pandemic continues its exit—at least in the U.S.