ABC Carpet & Home Vintage 'over-dyed' carpets
ABC CARPET NEW YORK INTRODUCES COLOR REFORM TRENDS COLLECTION TO SALVAGE OLD RUGS
I got an interesting email from ABC Carpet & Home New York this week, that captured my interest - they (ABC Carpet & Home) is encouraging us to look on the bright side for 2010 with a their new rug collection that promises to: "escape predictability, embrace the unconventional, and help preserve our planet." This new assortment of hybrid carpets called Color Reform, transforms imperfect, vintage rugs into modern works of art. ABC Carpets are literally “...rescuing carpets from the “rug graveyard” and giving them a new lease on life.”
ABC Carpet & Home has utilized this notion to develop the concept of Color Reform, which refers to evolutionary change through color. Each one of a kind rug was individually handcrafted by Turkish artisans in the Toros Mountains. The vintage rugs are neutralized to remove their original color and then over-dyed to create their remarkable chromatic state. The variations in the tonality of pigments result from the carpet’s original concentration of color combined with the dye application process conceived from each artist’s distinct vision.
Exotic rainbow hues range from neon pink and electric green to opulent reds and saturated yellows. The striking compositions evoke an almost translucent appearance as irregular, partially faded motifs emerge through the color, adding complexity and interest to each piece. Below is one of my favourites in the series, in a more neutral color palette, that I think you would be able to live with for many years to come and pass on to future generations.
ABC Carpet & Home Color Reform
Vintage 'over-dyed' carpet
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Bravo to ABC Carpet & Home for reusing and re-purposing old rugs and breathing new life into them. I'm with you, I love the muted of the lot, but all are gorgeous. Thanks for the interesting news Patricia. ~ deb
ReplyDeleteI saw something about this! A very good idea....and environmentally friendly too :)
ReplyDeleteThis is genius and a great way to recycle! Thanks for the heads up! Going to the Toros Mountains to check out the artists behind the rug transformations! Luanne
ReplyDeleteThese are so beautiful, and a great idea. Love it. I'll be in New York in May, and I can't wait to check out ABC.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, I had seen the add in the New York Times and wanted to see for myself! I love the vibrancy! And a great environmental idea!
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Victoria
What a great idea. I love the final result. They are so modern yet maintain the old texture and design. A work of genius.
ReplyDeleteI have been working until the wee...hours last night on my carpet collection...not an easy process .
ReplyDeleteI will go and check out these rugs, as i am all for the idea of "rescuing" rather than just discarding.
omg I love your blog! so Inspirational ;D
ReplyDeleteI love the bright colours!! OK, so maybe they aren't going to still be cool in 10 years, but you only live once so have fun while you can!! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to recycle old carpets. Good work, ABC!!
Kelly
This is an awesome idea! I saw the bright rugs before reading your post and thought...woah! those look like they will be expensive!
ReplyDeleteFabulous as always, Patricia! Your blog is THE best designed of all! I always love it.
ReplyDeleteI am just recovering at home from yet another surgery and have missed some of your postings so will go online and check them out tonight…
The colour is fabulous…perfect for such a grey day!
Cheers,
Diane
I like this quote "...rescuing carpets from the "rug graveyard" and giving them a new lease on life." Another way to save Mother Earth from polymer. It's a great idea to reuse and recycle. Aside from my inclination for anything vintage, I'm all for it!
ReplyDeleteThose are amazing! I want one! Or two... Or maybe all of them?
ReplyDeleteThanks for that...wonderfully exciting what COLOUR!
ReplyDeleteYou know how much I love mixind old (antiques) and modern and this rug is the perfect translation of that ! The new colors look fresh and divine
ReplyDeleteA super idea! Who would have "thunk" it? traditional patterns with a "tongue-in-cheek", welcome-to-2010 feel to them. Great colours, both the muted and the brighter..thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!!! Love the concept and the idea behind this Carpets. The colours are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI thin this is such a wonderful idea. They are bright, but also quite fun!
ReplyDeletegorgeous...
ReplyDeleteI'm all for recycling & reuse--everything in my apartment except the food & some of the books belonged to somebody else before I got hold of it, and some things have belonged to a lot of people--but this doesn't seem like real progress along that front.
ReplyDeleteI have several all-but-threadbare antique rugs, and although they do nothing to cushion my hard floors, their faded colors & worn surfaces have their own kind of advantages, not least of which is making alligatored shellac, sun-struck damask & faded chintz look historic, rather than merely worn out. And ten years from now, they'll keep on doing the same thing.
Overdying such old pieces in neon pink or electric green might seem--on the surface--to be extending their useful life, but in reality, it's only by a few years, because, in a place like mine, full of unrestored antiques, the rugs' combination of aggressive new color overlaid on an ancient form would create the same kind of One-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others vibe as as a sweet old granny showing up at the church supper with double-D implants & a facial tat. Not the look I'm going for.
Of course, people like me aren't the real market for pieces like this, anyway, since we've been perfectly happy to use old rugs in their naturally faded state all along. The problem with that, though, is that ABC Carpet & its imitators--which I predict will be legion, once this fad takes off-- don't make a penny off us, and nobody wants to pay big bucks for merchandise already on its last legs, not us & especially not the trendy crowd, which this seems aimed at.
And here's the problem with that: while trend-followers may rush to grab these while they're still hot, those folks have a notoriously short attention span, and for them, these rugs' tongue-in-cheek, welcome-to-2010 feel (as AJ put it so well) won't be nearly as appealing in, say, 2013. My guess is that these rugs will turn out to be this season's plastic deer heads: HOT today, NOT tomorrow.
So, who really benefits from this little experiment? Not people like me, who aren't interested in tarted-up vintage rugs, and who will find old, unmolested rugs harder than ever to find, and more expensive if we do, since people will see the markup big stores charge for dyed rugs & jack up the prices on the old rugs to match.
It won't be trendy people, who will only have these for a season or two, and then toss them once they're past their freshness date. So much for being green.
It won't be the rugs, whose main value in years to come will probably be to set designers trying to create a room instantly recognizable as being set in 2010/11.
And it won't be the environment, since in a few years, no one--neither trendoids nor old fogeys like me--will want such dated, cartoonish rugs, so they'll end up back in the landfills anyway, just a little easier to spot, with their bright colors, in amidst the debris of broken Formica counters, rusty tin stars, fake Tuscan knick-knacks & Precious Moments figurines.
No the only real benefit will be to ABC, which can pick up worn-out rugs for next-to-nothing, give them a shot of color & sell 'em us at trendy, jacked-up prices. New lamps for old!
And certainly, there's nothing wrong with good old fashioned capitalism & marketing ingenuity. Ya got to give it to ABC, there, in making the best of a down market. But, please, let's not pretend this has anything to do with "preserving the planet". If we really wanted to do that, we'd get those plastic deer heads out of the trash and hang 'em back up on our walls. Isn't a thing of beauty a joy forever?
Great idea. I have a couple "great" carpets that I have felt a little guilty about keeping just folded up. Maybe Its time to get some dye and have some fun. Enjoyed discovering your blog. really good stuff. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDaniel
I LOVE this. I have a few rugs that are just gross now. WAY too formal for my taste. Fantastic solution. Love the post.
ReplyDeleteI do think these dyed antique rugs have a place. Not for everyone, however they are fresh and bright, for today's decor!
ReplyDeleteKarena
Love the blue Roberto Pinto rug. I love many shades of blue to create a monochromatic setting ...great post... Fay
ReplyDeleteThese reform colorfull carpets are wonderfull! So different from the classic ones, they seem traditional but because of the extreme colorful dying, they are lifted up to something sublime!
ReplyDeletelove this. thanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeleteVery Nice and Green concept, but over priced... I found a rug maker in LA, they can do color reform on your current handmade rug, here a link to there blog article about over dyed rugs. http://blog.amararugs.com/BlogHome/?Tag=over+dyed+rugs
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