An evening stroll in the souqs through oriental carpet patterns

27/07/2021
Category: Mood boards

Visiting Cario’s local street markets is a must-do for anyone exploring Egypt’s capital. They are full of life and soul, authenticity, and mystical allure. Several markets – or souqs as they are known to locals – can be found within the city. From the famous Khan El Khalili in the historic part of Cairo to the El Azbakeya Wall and Wekalet El Balah, there’s plenty to explore. Each bazaar has an undeniably chaotic feel, with stalls selling mismatched second-hand items, antiques, and hand-crafted pieces. The markets are bursting with different colors, textures, and oriental carpet patterns. A truly invigorating sight.

While on our travels, we took an evening stroll through Cairo’s local markets. As the sun went down, we found the bazaars became even more alive. Our eyes became lost between the eclectic mix of goods for sale. Our noses were met by the aromas of spices and burning incense. And stained glass lamps and Egyptian lanterns lined the streets, illuminating our way. This lively experience and authentic glimpse into Egyptian life offered us inspiration for our latest mood board.

To start, we selected the Doha Recolored carpet by Ege Carpets. The design is rhythmic and repetitive, and oriental carpet patterns like this seemed to fit with the authenticity of the souqs. When recoloring the carpet we selected a sandy tone reminiscent of the sandstone buildings lining Cario’s streets. Just as these buildings serve as the backdrop for the local markets, this carpet makes the perfect backdrop for our mood board.

On top, we have placed several bright and mismatched materials, including Amulet by Sonnhild Kestler and Arabesque by Alexander Girard. Both textiles feature repetitive patterning to tie in with the oriental carpet patterns. However, this time the patterns are much more intricate, colorful, and playful. They add life and movement to our mood board, drawing on the constant ebb and flow of people walking the streets. Their varied shapes and colors resemble the diversity of the antiques and crafts for sale. Combined with several other textures – including Zellige Tiles and Like No Udder – we incorporated all the materials seen at the market as one.

Having visited the markets in the evening, light also plays into our mood board. We included two Egyptian lanterns in the design, and an incredible material by Cascade Architectural called Fabricoil Aluminum. This coiled wire fabric provides texture while reacting beautifully to light. Other materials used include Sainte Croix by Haussmann Natural Stone, Triad by Carnegie, and Osmosis by Wolf-Gordon. Each brings its own unique and busy patterns, colors, and textures for a chaotic twist.

If you want to create a personalized carpet easily, try our Talk Carpet easy recolor program. It allows you to select different colors for our oriental carpet patterns or any of our other designs. You have the choice out of nine different carpet substrates to make the product suit your budget and durability requirements. Instantly visualize your creation using our handy online recolor tool and order samples shipped to you within 5 business days. Your carpet will then be shipped out to you within three weeks. Contact our team for help or more information today.

PRODUCTS USED:

Doha RECOLORED by ege carpets

Fabricoil Aluminum by Cascade Architectural

Zellige by Riad Tile

Amulet by Sonnhild Kestler by Maharam

Arabesque by Alexander Girard, 1954 by Maharam

Sainte Croix by Haussmann Natural Stone

Like No Udder by Jerry Pair Leather

Triad by Carnegie

Osmosis by Wolf-Gordon

oriental carpet patterns, An evening stroll in the souqs through oriental carpet patterns

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Sitting right next to Pompidou in Paris is Atelier Brancusi. This place is a reconstruction of the studio of renowned Romanian-born artist Constantin Brancusi. In the atelier, there are 137 sculptures, 87 bases, 41 drawings, two paintings, and more than 1600 grass photographic plates and prints by the artist.

Brancusi died in 1957, leaving behind a lot of his work in his studio, which consisted of 11 joined studios. The Romanian artist would break down walls to adjoin studios and create various environments to exhibit his work. He considered the relationship between sculptures and the space they occupied to be of crucial importance.

In 1997, the Atelier Brancusi as we know it today opened its doors on the esplanade of the Center Pompidou. So much of Brancusi’s work is on display at the atelier, giving you an idea of how much the artist put into the world. There are wood and plaster sculptures, bronze colonnades, animal shapes, and photographic studies. It is a beautiful and inspiring place to visit.

Inspired by the stone and natural textures of Brancusi’s work, we recolored the Stone Surface carpet. This is part of the nature collection by ege carpets, which takes inspiration from forests, deserts, and oceans. This light recolor of the carpet allows you to bring a textured palette to your next interior design project.

We created a material board that focuses on a textured palette with the atelier colors and the recolored carpet in mind. We included dark woods like Texas Mesquite 83000 and Artisanal Hardwoods. Keeping the dark brown theme, we also included different textured textiles like Artisan Textured Finishes by CopperSmith, Basketcase by Cortina Leathers, Lafayette Velvet by Opuzen, and Chesney by Valley Forge Fabrics. Additionally, we decided to bring some lighter tones of cream and white by adding Cove, True Terrazzo, Concrete Look Porcelain Paver, and Passion. To tie in the soft colors with the dark ones, we included mid-toned neutral paints like Crewel Tan by Sherwin-Williams and Mesa Tan by Dunn-Edwards Paints.

If you like our textured palette, you might be interested in our Easy Recolor Program. We used this to recolor our Stone Surface carpet, enabling us to source the perfect backdrop for our textured palette. Using our online tool, you can do the same. Choose from any of our collections and recolor them to match any interior. You can then visualize the carpet before ordering physical carpet samples. You’ll receive your samples within three business days at an affordable price. Contact us if you want to learn more.