I’ve been noticing these guys popping up in house tours. What is kilim anyway?
I found a whole website dedicated to the art and history of kilim weaving, which has the predictable name of www.kilim.com. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, kilim is “A pileless handwoven reversible rug or covering made in Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, and western Turkestan“. The tradition goes back forever, as best they can tell, or about 1,000 B.C. if you feel the need to put a number on it. Check out kilim.com for all that you ever wanted to know and more about this weaving style.
The geometric shapes work well with the clean lines of contemporary furniture, but the tribal patterns and rougher texture add a contrasting rustic quality. Like anything that’s been around for a few thousand years, its a pretty good bet that these will always be in style, so they’re a smart long term investment. The kilim designs also pull their weight in the color and pattern department, as all good accessories should.
So where can you find some this Central Asian design goodness for yourself? Morgan at the brick house recommends eBay, as that’s where she found her sumptuous pile in the first photo. Sure enough, there’s plenty of gorgeousness to be had there, though the prices are suspiciously low. Etsy has a healthy amount of vintage kilim rugs and etc, at higher but likely more ethical prices. I was eyeballing prices the other day and found this gem:
It was gone by the time I went back to look for it. I like the blue in it, as most are dominated by reds and neutrals.
This one is from orientina on Etsy, straight from Istanbul.
This is from KilimCom on Etsy… you’ll see that the prices for the rugs are high, so if I jump on this I’ll be sticking with the throw pillows where my wallet is a little more at ease.
Anybody else feeling like going a little tribal with some throw pillows? Or are you ready to invest in a long-term commitment rug?
the yellow cottage 