Laguna Rugs produces handcrafted, bespoke rugs from Nepal. From the beginning of the process to the end installation, the company strives to provide good customer service from the initial enquiry to the aftercare guidance.
Laguna Rugs produces its rugs with an organic approach, while working to the physical and ethical means of its workshop in Nepal. The company takes pride in taking its time in the manufacturing process, ensuring that the quality and skill of craftsmanship are kept to its high standards.
The finest quality yarns – including Tibetan wool, Chinese silk, mohair, cashmere and linen – are used in the rug production, creating luxurious, durable products that retain their aesthetics for years to come. The silk and wool yarn combinations create a luster that shimmers throughout the design.
Laguna Rugs’ designs complement a range of interior settings, bringing glamour and sophistication to a wide variety of spaces. The company offers a fully-bespoke and one-to-one personal service to help its clients to create a unique product to work seamlessly with their interior schemes.
Design and colour consultation
Laguna Rugs develops its collection through following current fashion and interior design trends, which are well balanced for both residential and contract markets.
The company has a selection of in-house rugs available, and offers the opportunity to alter existing design elements if required. A bespoke service is also available.
When embarking on making a custom design rug, clients can have as many colours running through it as they require. With a selection of 1000 colours to choose from, Laguna Rugs can match any colour from paint swatches, fabrics, paintings or pieces of furniture.
Laguna’s design consultant is able to advise its clients on the ideal colour combination for their room schemes. Once the design has been determined, a woven sample can be made up to help visualise it more clearly. Although this adds time to the order process, it ensures the best possible end result.
Readers interested in arranging an appointment should contact the Laguna Rugs showroom directly.
The process
The rugs begin their delicate process in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet, where sheep are reared and herded for their lanolin-rich wool. Himalayan sheep hold some of the most durable wool in the world – it is luxuriously soft, soaks up colour and is flame resistant.
Once the raw wool is sheared, it is transported to a river where the bales are washed by hand, then left to naturally dry on the banks. The wool is then transported to skilled carders and spinners who carefully start to make the wool into yarn, ready for the colour-dying process. Once dyed, the yarn is hung out to naturally dry, before being hand-spun into balls, ready to be woven.
Weaving and knotting then begins – the most time consuming part of the process. The time scale on making up the rug can vary, depending on the size, the amount of knots and different colours within the design.
Once the hand-knotting process has been completed, the rug is then carefully cut away from the loom before being taken to its final finishing stages. It is then thoroughly washed by hand and left to dry in the natural sunshine. This process also contributes to the overall quality and finish of the rug.
The rug is then laid flat and goes through its final trimming stage. The trimming and smoothing out is completed by hand to smooth out any excess threads and irregular knots – ensuring that the rug pile is consistent to a uniform surface.
The rug is then carefully bound and ready to ship onto its newly-found home.
Partnership with GoodWeave
Laguna Rugs is a sponsor of global charity, GoodWeave – a non-profit organisation that works to end illegal child labour in the rug industry. GoodWeave offers educational opportunities to the children in poorer countries, which are designed to illuminate the problems of slave labour and give each generation a chance at an education.
Since its conception in 1994, GoodWeave have rescued over 3000 children from working the looms – and has prevented many more from entering the factories at all. The minors who have been rescued have been reunited with their families, or taken to live in a sponsored rehabilitation centre. Laguna Rugs donates a percentage of the cost of every rug purchased to GoodWeave.
