The editors of Real Simple created their own design which featured our Marrakech sisal rug in Chamomile with a bumble bee yeelow border form our Viscose collection. Marrakech was chosen for it’s textural appeal and warm, natural colors, while the border was chosen to tie in the various yellow design elements.

The proceeds of the show benefit Housing works, a non-profit providing help for homeless individuals and families living with HIV and AIDS in New York City and beyond.

The competition is open to product designers, graphic designers, manufacturers, service providers and service designers, architects, and interior designers, and is adjudicated by a jury of experts.

For more information on the award visit the universal design website

This month’s issue showcases the 2009 Coastal Living Idea Home which has recently been completed in the Seawatch community of Southport, North Carolina. This is a beautiful area of the country close to beaches and the Intracoastal Waterway, classic American architecture.
This area of North Carolina also has average annual temperatures close to 72 degrees. I just finished setting up our perennial beds for winter, and so this little fact piqued my interest, and it turns out that the average annual temperature in my own little town is a chilling 44.7 degrees. But I digress..

The 2009 Idea House features our Marrakech Sisal Rug in Chamomile from our Designer Textured Series in both the dining room and the master bedroom. Be sure to check it out.
Designer Interview Videos
You can see interviews with Designer Phillip Sides at these locations:
Dining Room
Master Bedroom

ASTM C1028 is entitled “Standard Test Method for Determining the Static Coefficient of Friction of Ceramic Tile and Other Like Surfaces by the Horizontal Dynamometer Pull-Meter Method”. Once you get beyond the somewhat daunting title, you find this standardized test to be fairly simple. Basically a 50 pound weight is put on a standard sized sled and attached to a device called a dynamometer which test the amount of pressure required to move the sled horizontally over the surface being tested. This is then converted to a percentage using a standard calculation.

There is no percentage value approved in the ASTM standard as a slip resistant or safe value, but a slip resistance factor of .50 has become the de facto standard in the industry.

The results of the testing with Tornio were a slip resistance factor of .79 when dry and .71 when wet, which is well above the .50 defacto standard.

Also my understanding is that there are no established specifications for skid resistance under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but that they recommend that the static coefficient of friction be above 0.6 for flat surfaces.

Sisal carpeting has become more popular in recent years, and we plan to present a series of articles to help you decide if Natural fiber carpet is right for you. All of the articles will be categorized under Sisal Carpet so you should be able to check back regularly and quickly locate a topic of interest to you.

In the meantime, as this article base grows, please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have. All of our sisal, as well as sisal-wool, coir, paper and faux-sisal weaves are available as broadloom for wall to wall installation.

Our newest faux sisal rug collection, Tornio, is practical with a finished appeal

Tornio rugs are finished with a UV resistant border and are offered in custom sizes up to 13′ by 20′. Every rug is custom made for you, crafted to the nearest inch. You can specify a 6′ by 9′ rug as easily as a 6′-3″ by 8′-10″ rug. Again, each rug is custom crafted to fit your space.

Perfect for those overworked rooms

Some areas of your home need a flooring that is waterproof, slip resistant, durable and easy to clean. Entry ways and mudrooms are a perfect example. Here in New England we drag in slush and snow in the winter, mud in the spring and fall from our gardens, and if we’re lucky, sand in the summer. A Tornio area rug is perfect for these areas as well as other tough areas such as laundry rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

Tornio is tough enough for the outdoors as well

Pools, Patios and decks immediately come to mind, but Tornio has been used outside in ski resorts, hotels and comunity centers as well. The flooring is UV resistant and waterproof, and easy to clean with a broom, vacuum, mop, or even a hose.

Available as a finished rug or for wall-to-wall

Contact us if you are considering Tornio for a wall to wall, or other application. Tornio is woven in Finland in Broadloom that is 2 meters (Approx. 6′-7″)wide. The material is suitable for a glue down installation, and can be seamed on site. Installation is similar to resilient vinyl flooring installation techniques.

Chroma Basic is woven in Belgium in a classic small bouclé weave. Basic is woven of East African sisal which are considered to be the finest sisal fibers in the world due to their long staple length and consistent coloring. The yarns are spun on the Katani Bora spinning system -a proprietary system designed specifically to spin sisal fibers. Because East African sisal is so clean and white, we are able to provide seven colorways featuring naturals, heathers and dyed yarns.

Basic is available in any of our Designer border collections, or as broadloom for wall to wall installation. Please call for broadloom pricing.

Our Woodstock Collection featured in the New York Times

I was reading the Times yesterday morning, and I happened upon an article, ART TO WALK ON, featuring our Woodstock Harmony rugs.

Designer Laura Kirar, with design houses in Manhattan and Miami gives her recommendations for how to warm up hardwood floors for winter and make a statement with a distinctive rug. Ms. Kirar selected the Woodstock Rhythm rug in Black Chord from our wool and paper collection for its “smooth, pleasant texture,” and noted that it would “make an ideal runner with binding along the edges.”

“I look at a room like I’m making a three-dimensional painting,” said Ms. Kirar, “If the right rug’s not there, you just know that something’s missing.”

I couldn’t agree more!

Our focus has always been on providing the highest quality floor coverings with a fresh design aesthetic.

The materials used in our rugs are sourced appropriately. For instance, the sisal used in our rugs is grown in Africa and South America - widely regarded as the regions that produce the highest quality sisal fibers.

We do use products from China, but only for Chinese Seagrass and Hemp which have been harvested in Pacific rim countries for thousands of years. In short, we ensure that our products are of the highest quality.

New England Made The Woodstock collection is woven in Fall River, Massachusetts of New Zealand wools and wood yarns sourced from North American managed forest conifers. The color-matched borders from the Fall River collection are woven in Masachusetts of 100% New Zealand wool.

Woodstock is offered in seven different weave styles each with a distinctive, eye-catching pattern. Each rug is custom made to your specification to the nearest inch with a maximum width of eleven feet ten inches, and a maximum length limited by the broadloom roll langth of over eighty feet. The Fall River borders are applied to show between one inch and four inches on face in quarter inch increments with your choice of lapped or hand-sewn mitered corners.

The Woodstock collection can also be crafted in any of our other border collections, and leather and suede border applications have proven to be a customer favorite. The weaves are also available as broadloom for wall to wall installation.

These rugs will create a unique design statement, and are not widely available in the marketplace. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions you might have -we’ll be happy to help!