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Making Rugs By Hand
LOVE IS THE RUG
A veritable font of rug-based knowledge,
Sam Turner has been a key member of
The Rug Company team for almost as long
as its founders.
With an incredible 24 years at The Rug Company
under his belt, there aren’t many people who
know the business as well as Sam Turner. From
sourcing to selling to rug design and more, he
has been involved in almost every aspect of its
evolution since it was founded in 1997. “I was
working in restaurants in Portobello and Chris
and Suzanne Sharp were customers of mine,” he
recalls. “At the time it was just a little rug shop
at the top of Lots Road selling kilims and vintage
pieces; Chris was buying rugs in Malta and the
Middle East and Suzanne had a flower stall
outside. My mother is a textile restorer, so I
grew up around this kind of thing and I’d worked
for a rug dealer in America for a while. One day
they just offered me a job - and I’ve been here
ever since.”
Exceptional clients, the chance to work in some
of the world’s most extraordinary houses and
outstanding design collaborations are just some
of the reasons he has remained as tightly woven
into the company as the knots used to make its
iconic rugs. “I just love seeing people’s homes,
and we’re lucky to work in some remarkable
properties, both in London and around the
world,” he says. “Clients will pick out designs
and I’ll visit several times, then when the rug’s
made I’ll go back when it is ready. I don’t know
whether it’s because I’m very friendly, but you
do build relationships with customers. It’s never
as simple as here’s your rug – goodbye! These
rugs last forever, and a lot of people come back
who’ve had them for 10 or 15 years. They all say
the same thing - that living with the rug has
been amazing, which is wonderful to hear.”
From those original Lots Road roots, the
company expanded quickly, and they began
to design and make more modern rugs too.
“It was the year 2000 when we did the first
designer collection with people like Paul Smith
and Nina Campbell. At that time there were
no designer rug companies as such, so it was
quite revolutionary,” he continues. “There was
a gap in the market and we were phenomenally
successful - it was like a runaway train.
Traditionally, rug selling was quite mysterious
with negotiating and haggling and lots of cups
of tea. But we changed it into something more
accessible, without the smoke and mirrors.”
As the third ever member of the then tiny
team, his role spanned everything from laying
out advertisements (“I had no idea what I was
doing but they printed them in The World of
Interiors!”) to sourcing trips to Turkey, Morocco,
