Portland, OR, July 21--This is not just any Oriental rug. It's the first and only hand-knotted, wall-to-wall carpeting made from the finest Tibetan wool, according to the OregonLive.com.
Sure, it takes a king's ransom to afford one, from $48 to $78 a square foot. But no more expensive than a traditional Tibetan rug.
"At the end of the day, they're just large Tibetan rugs," says Nick Aiello, co-manager of Tufenkian Carpets, which sells them as Khooloo carpets. "They make them just like they make a big rug. It takes huge looms to produce this stuff."
And hours of patient work. For a three foot-width, for example, it takes one person an entire day to weave just four inches of the impossibly soft pile, and 6,500 hours to complete a 15 by 15 foot piece. That helps explain the price.
And, like any Tibetan rug, they last a generation or more, unlike the standard seven year life of typical machine-made wall-to-wall carpet.
Beyond practicality, additional appeal comes from the feel of the high-altitude, Himalayan wool, so rich in lanolin it feels like you're walking on cashmere.
"Even if it's wall-to-wall, there's nothing like walking on a Tibetan rug," says Aiello.
The idea grew out of repeated requests from clients to cut, stretch or otherwise fit Tufenkian's standard-sized, hand-tufted rugs into odd-sized rooms. This is extremely difficult and costly, says Aiello.
Each piece is custom-made and backed with latex and cotton scrim to allow for easy cutting and fitting. They come in dozens of classic colors, ranging from earthy grays to reds, greens, and blues. But there's nothing flashy about them--these classic colors are meant to last a lifetime.
The high lanolin content makes them durable as well as stain-resistant--all the more suited for a wall-to-wall setting in bedrooms, libraries, home offices or living rooms. Care and maintenance, similar to a traditional Oriental, entails vacuuming a couple times a week and enlisting a firm that specializes in cleaning Oriental carpets once a year.
"You want something that's going to last forever," Aiello says, "and have an incomparable feel."
