Favorite Handmade Rugs and Flatweaves of October, 2022: Team Picks by Rug & Kilim

          I know exactly what you’re thinking — yes, Rug & Kilim’s October Rugs of the Month are here, but are they Halloween themed after all?

          For the record, this author loved the idea of each teammate picking a rug to ‘go’ as in the spirit of the holiday. Sadly, our inability to do so stems from a good problem to have — that our team continues to grow this month, and so too do our monthly choices.

          Our two newest teammates accompanied us to High Point Market and helped us start Q4 strong. All the leaves are brown, as the song goes, and fall’s charm is in full swing as we hit the ground running in our busy season. September’s bittersweet underscore was that we had much to celebrate and were too far apart to do so together. October, however, rewards our patience, and brings all of the warmth of the cozy season with none of the wistful distance. Our home team returns, our new teammates make waves here and abroad and, best of all, we celebrate together again. New acquisitions and victories alike.

        So this All Hallow’s Eve we hope you reunite with old friends and meet new ones to loud music and libations. We hope you find yourself in full living rooms with fuller candy bowls. Our time indoors grows more precious as the days grow shorter, and we hope October’s team picks inspire you to make that space feel at home. We hope October’s team picks inspire you to change from the floor up, too, as the best designers do.

        We know we’ll see you soon, though, when your rugs need a good cleaning after the party’s over. Try not to wait too long, though, or the scares might follow you further than Halloween.

Josh Nazmiyal Picks a Painterly Modern Masterpiece

        Founder Josh Nazmiyal sees his pick for the October Rugs of the Month every day on the showroom wall when he walks in. This 10×14 rug is modernity defined, where a lustrous wool and silk blend brings out the best in its bold silver brushstrokes.

Sales’ Larkin O’Hara Picks a Colorful Classic Kilim

        Larkin O’Hara returns from High Point Market ready and eager to end her first month on a high. Her first team pick with Rug & Kilim, quite fittingly, seems to match the enthusiasm she brings our team.

        Larkin loves this vintage 6×9 Kilim and its extra-weft technique that creates a thicker body and more vibrant color alike.

Sales’ Dena Richardson Picks a Modern Classic

        Dena Richardson, too, returns triumphant from HPM and excited to reap the rewards. Her first team pick with Rug & Kilim, though, represents her deep love of classics, and her deep knowledge of rug history that drew her to our team.

        Dena chooses a 9×11 ode to Khotan rugs in the new additions to our newly unveiled Modern Classics collection. Rich wool and silk and refined high-and-low texture recapture a regal, autumnal style like never before. (Let’s hope she loves alliteration like she loves this wool and silk piece.)

Vice Presidents Cyrus and Sina Nazmiyal Pick a European Renaissance and Oushak Revival

          Brothers and dual VPs Cyrus and Sina Nazmiyal are proud to lead their largest team ever home from HPM. Their October Rugs of the Month, though, seem to follow their new hires’ love of classics reimagined, as irony would have it.

          This October, Cyrus celebrates a European-style 3×12 silk runner and its refreshing approach to rustic French Country vibes. Sina, meanwhile, chooses a 9×12 Modern Classics rug in a remarkable new provenance that joins the collection. This Oushak-style piece is from a handful that reweaves antique yarns into new works that honor the past and adapt it to a fresh, futurist view.

Sales and eCommerce’s Nina Gilden Picks a Museum-Quality Kilim

       Nina Gilden returns from a tour of Europe’s finest museums and celebrates a ‘museum piece’ in its own right.

       This antique 12×12 Oushak Kilim is one of her favorites, and one of the most rare of its kind in several ways. It’s rare enough to find large Kilims usually woven in panels from its period (due to the size of the looms back in the day), rarely growing past 7’ wide. This Oushak Kilim was woven in one piece and is as large in size as they come. Nina considers it a museum piece for its size, vibrant and complimentary colors, scale, special patterns and distinctive construction.

Sales’ Todd Neitring Picks an Atypical Abstract

       One way we’ve all become more like Josh? It means so much more when we favor an abstract rug in an industry where our principal only admires their most special versions.

       This October, Todd Neitring shares his praise for a most unusual, gorgeous 12×18 abstract rug from our Modern Collection. Todd celebrates how its delicate ‘geographic’ details resemble a map on birch bark and how it even reminds him of an artful 1960s bestseller dust jacket (manus the fat black serif type). It’s a testament to any rug’s power to evoke so much on so many levels, and to Todd’s keen sensibilities alike.

Sales’ Justin King Picks a Saf Gallery Runner

       Justin King rounds out the sales team with a vintage choice to complement his colleagues’ antique and modern selections. His choice is a rare 6×18 mid-century interpretation of “Saf” rugs, which depict the Mihrab prayer motif in their unique fashion.

       This rug, however, is like few gallery runners we’ve seen take on this style in more playful, modern colors and refined low-pile wool. The distressed  texture and provenance lead us to suspect it as one of Zeki Müren’s hand-knotted works from 1960-1970.

Lead Designer Nikita Nagpal Picks a Regal Silk Rug

          Rug & Kilim doesn’t play favorites with their people anymore than they do with rugs (all evidence to the contrary). Nonetheless, we’d be lying if we said Lead Designer Nikita Nagpal’s return from her honeymoon wasn’t also a long-awaited return of one of this team’s most valuable leaders.

          Nikita’s October pick is a jewel of her team, and another Josh celebrates on the walls of our showroom. This new 10×14 Modern Classics rug is another ode to the Oushak in a luxurious hand-knotted silk with high-and-low texture. Nikita admires the subtlety in this tone-on-tone play of lustrous color and subdued pattern, and how it stands even in its bold, experimental collection.

eCommerce Director Andy Yoon Picks a Scandinavian Mainstay

          While many of us are home, the recently engaged eCommerce Director Andy Yoon’s journey has taken him to a new life in California with his bride to be. Andy remains an invaluable teammate, wherever he may roam, but in the name celebrating his role beyond definition (and furthermore in his appall at sentiment and heavy-handed words) this author will return the focus to his monthly pick.

          Andy chooses a 10×14 Kilim in our Scandinavian Collection, and furthermore one of its most sought-after designs. Subtle, smart presence in simple stripes and cool colors let the rugs many intricacies speak for themselves to the keen eye.

Photography Picks a Polychromatic Wonder

       

          The Digital Imaging team swears that autumn is slowly coming into their mood, but the duo seems to lust for color evermore.

          For October Rugs of the Month, photography’s Andres Mercado and Tiphaine Sete choose a vintage 5×7 rug in our most rare mid-century Zeki Müren curations. The sheer effort in its meticulous polychromatic colorway is one of several distinctions in Müren’s works, and furthermore of all hand-knotted rugs.

Editor’s Pick: Our “Raspberry Blush” Rug for 2023

       For someone in charge of our words, this author prefers to leave subtlety to our esteemed principal and teammates when beautiful things arrive. My October pick is also our pick for Benjamin Moore’s 2023 Color of the Year they call “Raspberry Blush” and it heralds the return of color and life to the industry.

       This 10×14 transitional rug joins our Modern Classics collection, and reimagines Persian Tabriz rugs in more vibrant hues than they’ve ever donned. Josh’s love for regal classics meets a fresh, fruitful warmth and achieves a delicious look I can’t wait to see leave the showroom.

       As always, we can’t wait to see you visit the showroom and see all this and more. Comment with your favorite October Rugs of the Month below in the meantime, and have a happy Halloween from all of us here in New York!