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TAMARIAN DEMYSTIFIES CUSTOM RUG DESIGN WITH SEMINAR AT ATLANTA MARKET
Geoff Duckworth, Tamarian's senior designer and graphics manager, lead the company's Atlanta market seminar on custom design, telling guests, "One-third of our business is in custom rugs and it's growing."
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ATLANTA - At a Tamarian Carpets seminar entitled 'The Making of a Custom Rug' Jan. 15, 2016 during last month's Atlanta International Rug Market, the high end rug company told retailers and designers to forget their preconceived notions about the difficulty of designing and producing custom rugs.
"It used to be that it was very costly, took a long time, and the process was difficult. That is no longer the case at Tamarian. Now your imagination is you only limitation," explained seminar leader Geoff Duckworth, Tamarian's senior designer and graphics manager. "One-third of our business is in custom rugs and it's growing. We urge you to tell designers and clients to take on the challenge," Duckworth said.
Chris Saliga, director of sales for Tamarian, began the seminar with an introduction to the materials used and the weaving process, and suggestions on how to sell custom rugs in to-the-trade and dealer showrooms. He pointed out that a custom rug can be as simple as liking a rug design but wanting it in a different color, or removing or adding a design element in a rug such as a flower or border. Saliga said it was vital that salespeople as well as designers know and understand the benefits of a custom rug, and that they emphasize to customers that cost, quality and speed aren't prohibitive.
"We talk about weeks in getting a carpet done, not months. And, a lot of those who are doing a custom rug are probably also having some custom furniture made, so it's about the same timeline. In fact, usually a custom rug can be to the client in 14 to 16 weeks. We don't charge for every change in the process so it's very cost effective. In many cases you're talking about a few hundred dollars [extra] to have a custom rug," Saliga said.
Kathleen Mayers, president of KPM Flooring, and Chris Saliga, director of sales for Tamarian, address designers and retailers at a Tamarian presentation called 'The Making of a Custom Rug' during the Atlanta International Rug Market.
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Guest speaker Kathleen Mayers, president of KPM Flooring in Hilton Head Island, S.C., noted that a custom rug has several advantages. "Lots of rooms, especially open concept rooms, are not designed for the standard 8x10 or 9x12. With a custom rug you can go from a 3x5 all the way to a 40x80," she said, adding, "I have clients who have a color that they're using in their fabrics and want that exact color for their rugs. Or they want to mix and match textures in a rug and it can easily be done. I tell my clients to focus on something, a color or pattern and go from there. Don't limit yourself," she said.
Duckworth reviewed the four key aspects in the custom design process, including ideas and inspirations, renderings, looms used by Tamarian's weavers in Nepal and the finished product. Practical examples of each step were shown throughout the presentation.
"Of course, if you have a client that wants us to do a custom design starting with the design phase -from scratch - well, you're creating art," he explained. "We have the ability to track the rug's process in real time and can even send pictures of it drying in Nepal with the mountains in the background. Clients love that."
The breakfast seminar was held at Tamarian's AmericasMart showroom, 6-E-18.