Nola Rugs: Art on the Floor

Sharon Schenck, owner of Nola Rugs, loves it when people buy rugs like they buy art, falling in love with colors and working from there. With more than 35 years in the international rug business, Schenck has seen countless works of art start in their countries of origin and find happy homes in the Western world. Her 4,500-square-foot showroom on Magazine Street stocks more than 3,000 of the finest Oriental rugs, kilims, soumaks, and dhurries from around the world.

Schenck quotes a popular saying in today’s rug industry: ‘We sell color.’ Whether the customer falls in love with a color or needs a color to match existing décor, any color is available, from soft, muted colors to rich, harmonious jewel tones. With most of her rugs, natural dyes are used to achieve these colors and are often blended to create the more subtle shades popular today. There’s indigo for blue, madder root for red, walnut husks for brown, and almost any plant for yellow.

Having lived in Morocco and Turkey, Schenck further developed her knowledge of classic and tribal carpets by working with antique rug scholars in London and San Francisco. Her background allows for stronger friendships and working relationships with suppliers, which translates to higher quality and competitive prices for customers. Working across the United States, Nola Rugs supplies carpets to architects, designers, corporate clients, and homeowners alike.

Schenck travels the world to hand-choose her stock, keeping quality, color, and durability at the forefront. She visits Turkey in search of new and antique Oushak rugs. And although it’s becoming more dangerous, she still travels to Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar, Pakistan. While there, Schenck consults with the weavers and the producers about the colors and designs they are using, helping to make the rugs more desirable for Western tastes. It is also a time when the quality of the dyes and wool can be inspected and the finishing work that is so important can be changed. Some producers make an effort to build schools and medical clinics for their weavers, and Schenck is able to help support and monitor these critical projects. Overseas trips provide an incredible opportunity to appreciate the amount of work, skill, tradition, and manpower that is necessary to create a fine handwoven rug.

“A finely knotted Persian 9-foot by 12-foot rug would traditionally take up to a year to make with three people working on it,” she says. “If you look at the back of one of these rugs, every bump is a hand-tied knot. Handwoven rugs are undervalued when you think of the time, skill, and number of people it takes.”

Conveying a rug’s intricacies and origins is part of the job for Schenck and her staff at Nola Rugs. You will never find a rug labeled “Persian” at Nola Rugs if it was Persian-designed but made in China. You will never find a rug supposedly made with silk that is actually made from mercerized cotton.

“We try to be really careful that our salespeople know exactly where a rug is made, who wove it, what it is made of, and that all the information is presented accurately,” she says. “It certainly has a lot to do with the value of a rug, how well it will wear, and how well it will clean.”

Whether you are in the market for an antique or new Oushak, Persian, Turkish, Afghan, or Tibetan Oriental rug or kilim, Nola Rugs has a diverse selection in any size, color, and design. They have antique, contemporary, and everything in between, plus knowledge and expertise that come with more than 35 years of international, firsthand experience. ✦

Nola Rugs
3944 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA
(504) 891-3304
nolarugs.com