Our Thornhill Area Rug Location has seen a facelift! We are passionate about area rugs and have a high turnover on our newest offerings: A recipe for constant showroom facvelifts. The Creative Direct, (@_alighassemi) went clean and minimalist on this round as we gear up for the warm half of spring. As always, pictures do only about 68% justice to the intrinsic beauty of area rugs: it`s the combination of both tactile and visual sensations that constitutes the true love for our pieces.

New shipments are exciting because we can tinker with new looks, this season we are featuring Vintage Stitch and our picnic collection of kilim throws (stay tuned for a future post exclusive on our Featured Area Rug category). On the walls we are featuring our Ikkat and Colour Infusion collections, on the ground we have Vintage Stitch and one beautiful Vintage Persian Colour Infused 9`x 12`is anchoring the whole room down.

We also have our hand crafted cushions on prominent display; soon they`ll be the most trendy design pieces that only those in the know have. Next week we will be launching our newest endeavour: Designer Doggie Den Pillows. This week we are featuring them on a beautiful station we picked up from MHD (a design team who’s principal’s mass eminence is imminent, and who’s award winning blog is a hoot!).

Next week we have a new selection of modern pieces coming in, and a big shipment leaving for Montreal. The timing works really well for us: out with the old, in with the new.

We’re also planning an exciting give away, some great events, and a whole lot more updates and information on area rugs that you love for the coming weeks. Stay tuned because it will be legendary.

Remember: life’s too short to walk on area rugs you don’t absolutely love.

Area rugs are making a big splash in both Hollywood and Hollywood North (Toronto). I’ve been in an email conversation with a client chatting solely about area rugs found in TV shows; which prompted a brand new post category: Famous Area Rugs!

This week we are looking at a classic man’s man, an office that elicits fear and doubt in rival network executives, a well maintained, and well decorated, it’s Jack Donaghy’s Office. Below is a picture montage of the area rug in question, with our offering on the top right corner.

The first step is to understand the man. Jack Donaghy’s a man of action, he knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. Understanding this, picking out area rugs for him leaves very few styles. Nothing too colourful, nothing too ornate, no small prints, and no fine silk: Jack’s all about being to the point.

The next step is to understand the space. The office is classically decorated with it’s wood paneling, manly leather couch, and assorted chairs. The coffee table has a nice patterned inlay, and the walls have war pictures. His table is solid wood and chair is the one modern piece in the office. Gold appears in the table legs and picture frames.

Finally, let’s talk area rugs. Putting the man in the space, what looks great is a classic Chubi from our Chubi Chic collection. These area rugs are all about big pattern, and subtle colours. We call them transitional pieces because they float between the very traditional styles and the cooler modern pieces.

The piece in question is a beautiful red on gold with a medium wash. It is sized perfectly for the space, and is used to segment a sitting area (one of our favourite uses for area rugs). Throughout the episodes furniture is moved around to create different energies in the space.

We have a number of pieces with contrasting colours at our Toronto area location. Jack only lives with area rugs he loves.

The terms carpet and rugs are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. A rug can be termed as a piece that can be made from any material and is used on the floor. Its uses are not just limited to decorating – in very cold countries, it serves to keep the floor warm and comfortable to walk on. A rug is available in many formats and materials. It can either be machine or handmade. A handmade rug has some built in value and character that a machine made one can never replicate. Any handmade rug is expensive as it involves a lot of decisions like colour, design and materials used in its making.

Rugs can be made from all kinds of materials like:

• Silk
• Cotton
• Wool
• Synthetic fiber
• Bamboo and
• Hemp

A rug has many styles and it pays to learn about the classification before plunging in to buy one. Every continent has made contributions to the world in carpets and here is a rundown of the different types.

Classification of Rugs:

• Oriental: These generally refer to the ones made in the far eastern countries like Persia, India and Pakistan. They are available in several styles – modern designs and antique patterns. Almost all of these rugs are handmade, made from silk or wool and very labor intensive. Depending on their size, they may have taken years to make. A real quality rug can be handed down generations.
• Tribal Rug: These are more rustic in nature and some are called Kilims. They are generally made out of coarse wool and have brighter colors because of all the natural ingredients used to dye the yarn.
• Machine made: these can be found in different sizes and materials. Mostly used in wall to wall carpeting and are durable. Some are also available as area rugs for those who cannot afford to buy an authentic Persian one.
• Sisal or Jute Rugs: These are used mostly for the outdoors or can be used in the home to pull a room together. They are often neutral colours and work well with any look.
• Modern: these are more contemporary in style with bold slashes of colour and design. A good number of them have modern art as a basis – they make for great conversation starters.

Rugs are not just to use on the floor- most of them can also be used as wall art, to show off some of the exquisite designs

On this beautiful springlike day I decided to do a little recap of the area rugs that our clients have looked at and requested this week in our showroom. It’s simple, it’s informative, and it lets me enjoy more of the sun.

Paula from Toronto was looking for two area rugs for the sides of her bed. She just moved to a beautiful one acre property in North York, Toronto and she was concerned that her new house was a little smaller, and her new bedroom could only fit small pieces beside the bed. She was looking traditional so no modern colour infused over-dyed pieces for her.

After assuring her that a big house just gives you more places to dust, we started looking at different pieces. We started off in the pile that had her size available and looked at some traditional pieces set in wool.

She didn’t like the reds and other traditional colours, and was looking for something with a higher knot count, so we tried a completely different direction and looked at the pure silk modern area rugs that we just got into the showroom. These are monochromatic or polychromatic with a few selected colours.

The monochromatic modern piece was too far in the other direction! She explained that she was interested in traditional area rugs, because she had a classically decorated bedroom. What she was really trying to stay away from were the reds we see so frequently in traditional area rug styles.

As she was browsing, he gaze caught one of the 8′ x 10′ silk area rugs we have up on the wall in our Toronto area location. “Something like this, I love how soft it is and I really like the design, but it’s way to big.” We’ve looked at the importance of size in your area rugs, so we started looking for similar styled pieces in our warehouse, and found…

Her exact words (you can’t make this up): “I love these two.” She seemed surprised that she found something that she loved, but that’s what happens when you work with people who love their area rugs. She took the smaller ivory area rug to try in her bedroom, and the larger blue area rug  for in front of her bedroom door.

The holiday season is upon us and we have a lot going on in the store. We had Judy from Floris.ca in earlier this week and will have pictures and an update of what she came up with soon. Until then, our new lines are in and they are looking great. Our team of designers have worked all month to set the showroom up and show off their skills.

The vintage stitch and colour infusion collections have really progressed since we started working on the line. A few generations in and the look is steadily evolving every shipment:

Our newest groupings are really exciting. The arts and crafts, IKKAT and Suzanicollection are all finally on display and have given their corner a look of its own. The feel and depth of colour on these pieces is really surprising and walking around they really catch your eye. We are proud to present these pieces, our first generation. We also have our new pillows come in; these are perfect as gifts for someone who is looking to start their handmade rug collection.

As always, the Chubi Chic shipment looks earthy and deep; the new rugs that came in have undertones of blue and green that we worked specifically to order to refresh the line. We still have a lot of beautiful modern and traditional pieces with our bespoke services extending through the holidays.