Installation June 01 2015

Beautiful modern rug design, Kipple in Ivory Rust. We love to see where our rugs live!

New shipment: Transitional rugs May 21 2015

As certified rug nerds, we love new shipments, especially when they are filled with stunning rug after stunning rug. We have been waiting a long time to get these beauties and we are excited to share them with you!

Visit our new shipment page to get more details on each beautiful piece.

Rug Care Lesson #1: Red Wine May 16 2015

One of the most common rug care questions is, "What if I spill red wine?"

First, let's set the stage. You're throwing a fabulous dinner party and it's going perfectly. The music playlist you carefully curated is hitting all the right notes. The food is NW fresh and divine. Everyone is having a grand time, until out of the corner of your eye, you see an errant elbow strike a full glass of red wine. The glass careens off your live edge coffee table, sending the glass and the entirety of its contents onto your prize living room rug from Kush. Fear not, vino lovers, Randy Hyde from Renaissance Rug Cleaning is here to coach you through the dreaded red wine spill.

Kush: "After a red wine spill what should I not do?"

Randy: "Don’t panic. Don’t pour a cleaning  product on the spill and start scrubbing. If one product doesn’t work, don’t reach for successive products. And don't listen to old wives tales to try and remove the spot because you are likely just going to make it worse. Often by the time the rug gets to us it’s the spotting gone wild that becomes the issue, more that the original spill."

Kush: "I spilled red wine on my rug, what should I do?"

Randy: "Again, don’t panic! Gently blot at the spot with uncolored napkins or white terry cloth towels to remove as much liquid as possible before you use any spotting product on the rug. This is true with any liquid spill. Then take a cup of warm water and one drop of a hand dish detergent, I like Bio-Klean, personally. I said-- one drop of detergent! If one drop is good, 10 drops is not better. Flood the spot and blot with dry towels. If you have a wet/dry vacuum (shop vacuum), or a bissell, it’s much faster. Just vacuum the wine up, flood the spot and vacuum up again to remove as much of the liquids as possible. When done, cover it with a white cotton towel, a piece of plastic wrap over the cotton towel and then a heavy book on top of the plastic. This will pull moisture and any residual wine in to the towel. Check on it periodically and replace the towel with a clean dry one as necessary."

Phew! Now your epic dinner party can continue in high spirits and you don't have to blacklist the humbled soul with careless elbows. Drink in good health!

For all of your rug cleaning, repair needs, & appraisals, Kush recommends Renaissance Rug Cleaning Inc. 

Digital | Forever Cottage May 15 2015

Installation: IA Interior Architects May 04 2015

Kush was honored to provide a rug for the lobby of IA Interior Architects new Portland office. They chose a contemporary piece called Graffiti, which was hand knotted in Nepal with Himalayan wool & silk. The rug was inspired by street artist and is sure to capture a few eyes as people walk in.

Nepal Earthquake May 01 2015

Our thoughts are with Nepal.

As you may know, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday. The loss of life is a staggering 7,500 people and rising, while the number of injured is estimated at 9,000 and rising. In many parts of the country, roads, temples, houses, and infrastructure has been destroyed or severely compromised. Due to the lack of communication it is difficult to get a sense of the total damage, especially in remote areas, however it is estimated that over eight million people have been affected.

Numerous buildings have been structurally compromised and may still collapse as aftershocks continue, driving people to sleep outside. There are shortages of many basic necessities such as water, food, tents, electricity and medicine. 

Large, or small, we can all play a part in helping Nepal recover by donating to an international charity or relief organization. Kush made an immediate donation to Oxfam and will be donating a portion of sales throughout the month of May to aid in ongoing relief and rescue work. Oxfam is one of many international charities helping Nepal recover. To connect with a quality charity of your choosing, we recommend one of these groups.

Please do what you can to help the wonderful people of Nepal. 

Photo shoot | Tiny Heirloom April 09 2015

We were delighted to provide a rug to Katie Rae for the Tiny Heirloom photo shoot! Tiny Heirloom builds custom luxury homes on wheels, handmade in Portland Oregon. Their homes are small footprint spaces crafted with high quality materials and beautiful fixtures. They offer custom options with granite counter tops and wooden tables made out of actual gasp, wood. They have embraced the tiny home concept and made it truly luxurious.

Digital | UDO MAG | Georgette Mosley April 06 2015

Installation | Osmose Design April 04 2015

Kush was delighted to assist Osmose Design with a custom colored Gem rug for their client's nursery.

Osmose Design is the creative interior design team behind such notable commercial projects as Ava Gene's, Salt & Straw, & Panic, as well as gorgeous residential interiors like the Fisher & Ricker Residences. For Portland foodies, yes, that it is Portland super chef and restauranteur Andy Ricker.

It is exciting to be a small part of such beautiful work!

Rug Tip: Vacuuming April 03 2015

To vacuum, or not to vacuum that is the question. A quality hand made rug should be vacuumed periodically to remove dirt and allergens. If your rug looks a bit dirty, give it a couple of passes with a decent vacuum. What's a descent vacuum? Ahhh, therein lies the rub, or at least the suction.

Because pile height and construction vary greatly from rug to rug, we like a vacuum that has control over the amount of suction it employs. Miele makes an entry model canister they call Quartz. The Quartz has served Kush at the gallery for many years, with only a minor incident that was easily repaired. Another nice feature of Miele, is that their models tend to be quieter than many similar brands.

For devotees of upright beater bar vacuums, make sure you can adjust the beater bar up, or down depending on the rug. With any vacuum, but especially a beater bar, make sure you don't suck in fringe, or the corners of rugs.

If you want to review several vacuum models and even test drive a few, we recommend you visit Stark. The Portland retail location has very knowledgeable staff and a reliable repair department. It's nice to have a local resource where the staff really knows their product.

For more rug cleaning tips, Kush recommends you visit Renaissance Rug Cleaning. Renaissance is our go to resource for rug stains, hand washing, repair, consultation, and appraisal.