Handmade Rugs
With over 60 years of experience in the purchasing and selling of rugs, be it antique. wholesale, and design; our two collaborators Bill & Chris set up Hand Made rugs in 2017. We currently have three stores in the UK, one in Alresford Hampshire, and two in Rye East Sussex. With an ever-growing demand for custom-made, bespoke rug designs, we made the jump from wholesale to retail three years ago. Due to our longstanding associations with designers over the years, across the globe, we are able to create rugs in any design imaginable and have thousands of designs on our database
In the past, we have made a rug as large as 60ft by 30ft! A structural achievement in itself due to the enormity of the weaving loom to achieve this. Our second-to-none, excellent customer service means we can create rugs for you in any size, colour, material, and design. Our most popular styles ranging from Aubusson Savonnerie, Art Deco, Bauhaus, Oriental, Persian, Turkish, and, of course, Indian.
Rug Design
Our designs are done primarily on graph paper, then if you consider the size of the squares on the graph, this represents the size of the knots in the rug. The artwork is done full size and the weaver copies the design from the graph paper knot by knot. In India, this is called - “Naksha”, which means ‘design plan’ in Hindi.
The graph paper is coloured in a crazy array of colours, so that the weaver can easily identify each separate colour. This is so that they (the weaver) know that what may be purple on the artwork, may actually be pink in the wool. For example, a flower may have three shades of pink in it, so the weaver needs to understand the colour variation. These are then created and shipped to us, which we display in-store. This is also how we liaise with our designers on creating your chosen, bespoke-made rugs.
What We Offer
We offer a wide range of ready-to-buy, in-stock options that can be purchased in-store and online, as well as custom-made. We can design any rug or runner for anything and anyone, whether it is a commercial project, historic or heritage building such as national trust properties, or your home.
Each rug we sell is like a fingerprint, one-off, unique and special. We know we can create something for your bedroom, dining area, bathroom, hallway, office, or any room you desire. We even offer a try-before-you-buy service, where you can take our rugs home to trial the design in your designated room to be sure your home interior vision works. For more information about this service, please arrange an appointment at our store most local to you, or contact us to discuss.