Month: October 2016

BoHo Chic – The Latest in Home Style Trends

Colorful and kitschy, BoHo Chic has dominated the fashion industry for years and has recently expanded into home décor. With clothing styles popularized by such names as Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, BoHo Chic has moved from the closet to living rooms, bedrooms, and more. It is the unconventional marriage of Bohemian colors and 1960s design sensibilities. Imagine an explosion of color and design flowing together in a brilliant menagerie of draperies, rugs, throws, and accent items, and you have an idea of what BoHo Chic for the home means.

BoHo Chic is all about breaking from the humdrum decorating norms. BoHo derives from “Bohemian Homeless.” It embraces not only decorating on a budget, casting aside the expensive and extravagant, but finding one’s own sense of color and design. Chic, of course, is all doing it with style!

To bring BoHo Chic into your home, begin with a bright and colorful unique tribal piece – perhaps a rug or wall hanging. This piece will be the centerpiece of your design, which can be surrounded with functional, simple, often solid colored furniture giving the space body.

 

One person who specializes in BoHo Chic is Joanna Gaines, known for her HGTV Fixer Upper Show. In addition to using BoHo Chic techniques in her show, she has launched a line of BoHo Chic rugs part of the Magnolia Home collection. The rugs can be utilized as the centerpiece of your BoHo Chic home design.

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What Joanna says is: “The right rug can become the centerpiece of a room when it’s paired with the right space. The perfect one should be a continuation of the story your home tells, so whether you love bold, bright and patterned, or soft, neutral and subtle, there’s something in this rug collection that will speak to you— no matter your style.”

The Magnolia Home line of unique BoHo Chic rugs is available in New Mexico only at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs on Wyoming & Constitution or online at serafians.com.

Once the perfect rug has been found, continue your BoHo Chic design with a plethora of colorful throws and unique and eye catching items to accent and give depth and dimension to the area. Remember to be different but complementary. Every element in the space should feel unique and kitsch but also flow together with the other pieces. For instance, the throw pillow stands on its own in color and design, but looks good with that neat statue or foot stool you found at the flea market. That rug pulls into the drapes, which pulls into the covers, but it’s clear that none were was quite made for the other.

When you decorate your room to be BoHo Chic, don’t shy away from bright, bold, and beautiful colors. Anything can work. It’s less about using what’s expected and all about using what you love. The only real rule is that there are no strict rules. BoHo Chic is all about creating the space that reflects the inner, expressive you. Afterall, what is can possibly be more Chic than being yourself?

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com

Rugs of the World – Khal Mohamedi

The North of Afghanistan is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups. The largest of these groups is the Turkmen (Turkoman, Turkman) people. Some live a nomadic lifestyle, but most live in small villages in the Hindu Kush mountain range.  The Turkmen have been known for centuries as weavers of high-quality carpets. A number of different types of rugs come from the Turkmen people, and one of the most modern and popular is known as Khal Mohamedi (Roughly translated to “Of Khal Mohammed.”)

Due to war, politics, and economic circumstances, in the late 20th century, the use of vegetal dyes and traditional designs were dying out in Afghanistan. Weaving was in decline due the civil war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance (mostly Turkmen people). When the war ended in 1996, a prosperous Afghan merchant by the name of Khal Mohammed traveled from village to village in the north. Where looms had been destroyed by war, he helped to rebuild them. Where weaving and natural dyeing techniques had been forgotten, he helped to reteach them. Ultimately, he managed to create a very real cottage industry in the north.

He had a large factory in the city of Kabul where he processed wool for his carpets. He resurrected old world natural dyeing techniques that had long been abandoned by the weaving industry as a whole. He would then sell the dyed wool to the villagers. In turn, the villagers would take this wool and weave patterns that he had created. He would then buy the rugs from the weavers, providing a stable income for them and a market for their carpets.
Eventually, other producers copied his carpets. Now many of the rugs from Northern Afghanistan carry the trade name “Khal Mohammedi”, even if they are produced by others. This trade name generally signifies vegetal dyes with designs and colors rooted in the Turkmen tradition. In the last 20 years, Khal Mohamedi carpets have become some of the best rugs produced in Afghanistan. They use good wool, natural dyes, unique designs, and have a rich warm feel that brings life and depth to any space. They work well in both traditional settings, and in more contemporary homes as well. They implement rich, warm tones that would fit well in a den or living room space, and have geometric tribal patterns that make them a great fit for any home. Khal Mohamedi is a new tradition in the world of weaving.

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com