Our Team
Cyrus Nazmiyal
Vice President
A role I rarely speak about, but take great pride in: is the quiet stewardship of operations at Rug & Kilim. While I’m not often client-facing, I work behind the scenes to ensure that nothing is missed—that every order is seen through with precision and care. It’s a quiet rhythm, but one I find great satisfaction in. My team and I operate with the belief that reliability is a form of respect.
I’ve always been drawn to physical movement: sports, running, anything that sharpens focus and allows for a release of energy. I’m told my competitive nature can be “a bit much,” but I think it’s just enthusiasm in a different register. I recently finished The Tender Bar, which struck a chord. There’s something about its looseness—its humor and its Long Island setting—that felt familiar, even nostalgic.
I live with a growing collection of art, mostly works by street artists in and around Manhattan. Our walls are a kind of evolving conversation. I trust my eye when it comes to color—it’s something I inherited, I think, from growing up surrounded by great textiles and craftsmanship.
I eat out more often than I should, but New York makes a compelling
case for it: If you ever need a restaurant recommendation, I’ll send you somewhere that gets the details right.
My style, like my approach to interiors, is: simple but not austere. I like things that are classic, unfussy, with a gesture of the unexpected often through color.
One belief I hold firmly: a good rug doesn’t just complete a room, it anchors it. It gives less expensive furniture dignity and coherence. A poorly chosen rug, especially when selected as an afterthought, can do the opposite. It’s never just decoration—it’s the foundation.
Brittany Nazmiyal
Account Manager
A design or creative philosophy you live by: A design or creative philosophy you live by…I only buy one piece of fashion per month. It’s a HARD rule that I do not break. The less I have, the better. I am a fashion admirer, lover, voyeur…you could truly call me at any hour of the day to talk about fashion and I would not be happier about it. The more I dive into what I already have in my closet, the better that my fashion functions. No junk, aka, no fast fashion. This philosophy also makes my relationship to the fashion industry engaging and fun for me. I actually find myself caring way more about designer pieces because I am so limited in my shopping. I educate myself with the market as much as possible before I pull the trigger. So yes, I guess my design philosophy is look inward at what you already got when fashioning anything, not outward!
In my fridge you will always find: too much butter, eggs, and heavy cream. I am a home baker. I live for it, truly. My favorite text to send is, “Sorry I can’t make it on Thursday, I’m baking!!” I rarely make the same recipe twice unless it’s my husband's birthday in which case I make his favorite, coconut cake. Bringing my latest confections to the office keeps me in everyone’s good graces. You’ll also always find kimchi in my fridge, but that’s a whole other story. We don't need to get into my obsession with Korean home cooking at this moment.
The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Betsey Johnson. I actually do collect her old postcards and as much of her clothing and textiles from her time at Syracuse as I can get my hands on. This prompt was intimidating to me. I feel like I’m supposed to say “Oh, if I could collect one artist’s work it would be Anthonore Christensen’s flowers.” Adore her! But no. I’d live in a house full of all things Betsey Johnson if I could. She’s my first and last love in art.
Emily Curtis
Account Manager
A recent discovery that’s captivated you (a book, film, exhibition, etc.: Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. His work is dynamic, offering so much insight from color, composition to form and details. His design philosophy in particular with such a focus on craftsmanship shaped design as we know it! He created everything from the rugs to the wallpaper. Employing a huge number of highly skilled craftspeople, he defined a new way of working. His patterns have inspired some of my favorite custom rug projects to date.
A place that always sparks ideas: Union Square Farmers Market, roaming through the heaps of colorful vegetables, bouquets and seasonal finds always brings fresh ideas! There’s something about being surrounded by the season including the life of the park that never fails to inspire.
A design or creative philosophy you live by: Focus on craftsmanship & feeling first. I find you always create something wonderful if it is well made and has the right feeling or spirit. Even if it's not right the first time, it develops until it is.
A personal object that holds meaning for you.: My textile collection, collected from my travels, thrift finds and auctions. It's become a body or object with all these rich cultures, ever evolving or being gifted. Each piece has a significant memory, almost like a photo album but…better.
Ryan Moghadasian
Sales Specialist
I’ve always believed certain places hold a kind of calm and that physical environments can quietly shift your perspective. Mexico City felt alive in every sense: layered, expressive, full of bold color and design. Lisbon had a softness to it—slow mornings, tiled facades, and light bouncing off the water. Tel Aviv was electric but grounded—where modern energy met deep-rooted tradition. And Prague had this quiet, haunting beauty—cobblestone streets, Gothic spires, and a sense of history that made you slow down and look up. Each place left something with me: a richer appreciation for culture, architecture, and how people live.
One place local to Rug & Kilim I go back to often is the garden at the Noguchi Museum here in Long Island City. It’s quiet, thoughtful, and gives me space to reset and think clearly.
There’s a suede jacket that belonged to my grandfather that I wear often. It’s perfectly broken in and always gets compliments, but more than anything, it reminds me of him. He was calm, cool, and logical—qualities I try to bring into my own day-to-day.
In this work, honesty always wins. Everything we do is handmade across different countries, and I try to explain the materials, construction, and story behind each piece as clearly as I can. Sending the right samples, walking through texture and weave—it’s all part of helping clients feel informed. The more they know, the better they can pass that knowledge on. And every day, I try to learn more myself, so I can stand behind what we do with confidence.
Rosa May Oo
Account Manager
A design or creative philosophy you live by these days is: Serendipity. My process is always evolving but recently, I’ve started finding pleasure in not planning so much–just trusting my mind, eyes, and hands to let go and see what kind of beauty they come up with. Breaking my routine has led me to treasures lately.
A personal object that holds meaning for you is: these earrings that my grandmother had made for me on the day I was born. They have this Deco look to them with stones set from Burma. The backstory is quite ironic because I only learned of their existence about two years ago when my mum nonchalantly recalled them and handed the earrings to me. We had a good laugh, and now I call them my “twins.”
The last thing I watched and loved was: The Mystery of Picasso, a 1986 documentary by Henri-Georges Clouzot with cinematography by Claude Renoir, about Picasso painting live on-screen. In a way, it de-romanticizes the creative process while inviting the viewer into this intimate space between mind and art. As exciting as it is to watch three masters of three mediums collaborate on one screen, the process unfolds as any creative would experience it–through trial, error and imperfection. It’s vulnerable and humanizing.
The best gift I’ve recently been given is: this studio-pressed record of the album Recorded In Rio De Janeiro by Herbie Mann, João Gilberto, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was gifted to me by someone dear. Inside the cover is a leaf that accidentally fell in from a special little treehouse in Brentwood, LA by the late Mid-Century Modern architect, John Lautner. I’m still trying to figure out what type of tree this is.
Violet Gene Sciandra
Account Specialist
My favorite joke… It’s not so much a joke as a gaudy comment I make on a weekly basis. I get a lot of compliments on my name when our clients learn it, but I answer every single one the same: “Thanks, I picked it myself!”
A design or creative philosophy I live by… unpretentious design (or “form follows function”). I can appreciate anything for its beauty, its history, its unexpectedness or any combination of the three and more, but to me there’s no point to surrounding yourself with beautiful things if you’re not as comforted by them as you are enriched. I love a rug I can feel between my toes and a fainting couch my dramatic self can actually faint into. I want what I live with to live with me, and I get along best with the people that understand that from the start!
A personal object that holds meaning for me... my Audubon Bird of the Day Calendar!
My best friend of more than a decade, Rosey, first started this tradition for us. Every year since the first year she moved to Seattle, we take turns buying both of us the calendar, and every day no matter how far apart we are we begin with a beautiful bird—many of which we’ve seen on our birdwalks over the years. I’ve made it even more my own and, every day, written my favorite thing that happened that day on the back of the bird. My clients know it well, since I’ll send them home with the Bird of the Day after our visits.
Michael Shannon
Account Manager
My favorite object is my Night Blooming Cereus plant. I have a penchant for collecting more than I should; 19th century blown glass, rocks, early textiles and fossils in particular but it is this one living ever growing thing that will always mean the most to me. It is a 12-foot gangly tangle of vines that most people wouldn’t find any more appealing if they saw it in the jungle of South America where it belongs but to me it is magic. I wait as patiently as I can to see it form buds each summer until they swell to the size of an orange and burst into giant white blooms the size of dinner dishes at midnight. Friends come for the spectacle, bubbles are served, the house fills with the smell of vanilla, soft spices and a hint of cypress. And then the flowers close and die by daybreak and my guests leave with an invitation to come back next year. She lives up to her name “ Queen of The Night.”
In another life I would be an archeologist. My favorite memories of childhood are going to historic sites in New England where there used to be 18th and 19th century houses. We would dig around the old stone foundations looking for treasure. It’s amazing how exciting finding broken shards of transferware or a sardine can be when you are a little kid. These days the armchair archeologist in me lives through books on ancient history, streaming documentaries and following professors on Instagram but I've not quite given up my dream of a season in the Valley of the Kings cosplaying Howard Carter.
My favorite building is: the Palais Stoclet. Brussels will always be a second home for me because of the friends I made when I lived there as well as how it’s a city steeped in architectural curiosities and design. I used to walk by the Palais Stoclet and dream of being invited inside. I suppose part of the allure is how it has always been a private home and never opened to the public. But mostly it’s because I think everyone can live a “total work of art” lifestyle regardless of who you are. Your dining room doesn’t have to have mosaics by Gustav Klimt and you don’t have to tool around the house in Poiret pajamas but you can still surround yourself.
A place that means a lot to me is: Mexico. It is a place that constantly calls to me no matter how many times I have been back. I imagine myself following in the footsteps of Sybille Bedford and her friend E in her 1954 book A Visit to Don Otavio or standing in the montage of a film by Sergie Eisenstein. I’ve worked with the craft communities around the lake of Patzcuaro, followed monarch butterflies to their winter home and climbed more pyramids than I can even remember but it’s never enough.
Madeline Tetro
Account Manager
I grew up in Georgia, where a sense of tradition is part of the everyday. That early grounding shapes how I approach design- I'm drawn to spaces that feel rooted, warm, and personal. I gravitate toward transitional styles, where the classic and the contemporary meet, and where layering is everything- especially when it comes to textiles. Patterned fabrics are often my starting point; they carry history, story, and soul.
Travel is a constant source of inspiration. Whether wandering markets or visiting antique shops, I’m always drawn to the textures and materials that define a place. Indian textiles, in particular, have a quiet poetry to them that I return to again and again- there’s such depth in the imperfections and handwork.
At the same time, I’m deeply drawn to simplicity. There’s a clarity in pared-back design that lets the materials speak for themselves. The wabi sabi approach- the beauty of the imperfect, the handmade, the worn- is something I return to both in work and life.
Lately, I’ve been re-reading old interiors books and noticing how certain details, like the way a textile is draped or the patina of a well-worn object can tell you everything about a space without saying too much.
