About Us

Ibrahim Tekin was born and raised in Konya, a central Anatolian town of great rug-weaving fame. What began as a high school summer job helping in an antique rugs shop in the vicinity of the world-renowned 13th century sufi and poet Rumi’s tomb and museum dedicated to his legacy, soon became Ibrahim’s passion. He first thought of his short stint helping at the rug shop as a way to connect with people of different cultures and backgrounds who came from all over the world to visit the tomb and the museum but soon he fell in love with the rugs themselves and when he realized that the beautiful hand-knotted Turkish, Persian, and Caucasian rugs with their glorious colors, textures and designs cast a spell not only on him but on almost all the visitors to the historic quarter, he decided to embark on a lifelong journey to discover more about antique rugs, to focus on their inherent beauty and sophistication made possible by time-honored Turkish, Persian and Caucasian rug-weaving traditions and to continue to see how effortlessly they draw people in and fascinate them.

From a very young age, he immersed himself in the world of antique rugs, travelled far and wide from his central Anatolian hometown to auction houses all over Britain where he studied and lived for a decade, museums, galleries and rug shows in Europe and stately homes and design centers in the US. He met and made friends with everyone in the rug world, from new rug enthusiasts to well-versed collectors from experts and scholars of rugs to interior designers, from rug dealers dedicated to their line of work to skilled weavers keeping the tradition alive. He experienced the addicting thrill of admiring and chasing many precious, magnificent pieces and introducing them to their doting new owners. Over his 25 year- career of dealership in antique and handmade rugs, he cultivated an inherent understanding of what makes an antique rug great and what people look for in handmade rugs accompanied by his deep knowledge of the best materials, designs and processes of weaving that go into the creation of a timeless rug. 

Ibrahim has always followed the changing trends that govern the aesthetics in demand when it comes to handmade rugs, which is why he is also engaged in the production of handmade Moroccan and tulu rugs, antique rug recreations as well as reimagined vintage turkish rugs. He and his team at his company have also been involved in a number of exciting projects that they hope contributed to the culture of handmade rugs around the world. His company has two locations in New York and Istanbul. His workshop is located in Aksaray near Konya, Turkey.

FOUNDER: IBRAHIM TEKİN

Ibrahim Tekin was born and raised in Konya, a central Anatolian town of great rug-weaving fame. What began as a high school summer job helping in an antique rugs shop in the vicinity of the world-renowned 13th century sufi and poet Rumi’s tomb and museum dedicated to his legacy, soon became Ibrahim’s passion. He first thought of his short stint helping at the rug shop as a way to connect with people of different cultures who came from all over the world to visit the tomb and the museum but soon he fell in love with the rugs themselves. He also quickly realized that these beautiful, timeless hand-knotted Turkish, Persian, and Caucasian rugs with their glorious colors, textures and designs cast a spell not only on him but on all the visitors to the historic quarter, and decided to embark on a lifelong journey that would lead him to discover more about antique rugs, to focus on their inherent beauty and sophistication made possible by time-honored rug-weaving traditions and to continue to see how effortlessly these rugs draw people from all over the world in and fascinate them.

From a very young age, he immersed himself in the world of antique rugs, travelled far and wide from his central Anatolian hometown to auction houses all over Britain where he studied and lived for a decade, to museums, galleries and international fairs in Europe and to stately homes and design centers in the US. He met and made friends with everyone in the rug world, from new rug enthusiasts to well-versed collectors from experts and scholars of rugs to interior designers, from rug dealers dedicated to their work to weavers keeping the tradition of rug-making alive through their craftsmanship. He experienced the addicting thrill of picking, admiring and chasing many precious, magnificent pieces and introducing them to their doting new owners. Over his 25 year-career of dealership in antique and handmade rugs, he cultivated an inherent understanding of what makes an antique rug great and what people look for in handmade rugs accompanied by his deep knowledge of the best materials, designs and processes of weaving that go into the creation of a timeless rug. 

Ibrahim has always followed the changing trends that govern the aesthetics in demand when it comes to handmade rugs, which is why he is also engaged in the production of handmade Moroccan and tulu rugs, antique rug recreations as well as reimagined vintage turkish rugs. He has two workshops near his hometown of Konya where his team of skilled weavers and their manager tend to every aspect of rug making with utmost care and create value for their communities and keep their town's time-honored tradition alive. Ibrahim and his team have also been involved in a number of exciting projects that they hope contributed to the culture of handmade rugs around the world. 

RugSpecialist is based in New York and Istanbul. The company workshops are located in Aksaray near Konya, Turkey.

OUR TEAM

We have two workshops in Sultanhani and Güzelyurt, both small towns northeast of Konya, in Aksaray which was once an important stop on one of the main routes of the historical Silk Road. Sultanhani is famous for its magnificent Seljuk-era caravanserai and Güzelyurt is part of the Cappadocia region, a UNESCO heritage site known for its ancient churches carved into rocks, displaying some of the earliest christian iconography and of course the ‘fairy chimneys’. 

Both towns have a rich heritage of ancient rug-making tradition and the towns’ people are still engaged in it. It is a skill, an important aspect of a lifestyle, passed down to them through generations and still seen as an important source of income despite the existence of other blue and white collar jobs in the area. People here are born and raised in families whose roots go back to nomads who kept sheep that grazed in the seemingly endless plains surrounding this area, sheared their sheep’s wool and used it to make rugs for themselves and as gifts for their soon-to-married children. Most aspects of this practice still live on. Historically, some of the most prized and sought-after Turkish rugs come from this area. 

Our employees come from this community of craftspeople. And just like in the old days, our wool is still locally sourced, our looms are still where our weavers gather to weave and share friendships, our colored yarns are still left to saturate under the same scorching sun of central Anatolian plains. 

WHAT WE DO?

We restore antique rugs, re-imagine vintage rugs and make bespoke rugs for our clients, including Moroccan tulu rugs and recreated antique rugs.

Making rugs is a meticulous creative process. We attend to every stage of this process with great care knowing what we create will be cherished, much-loved foundations of our clients’ interiors. A lifetime’s expertise of working with rugs is what we bring to this process. Anything from honing our eye to see the smallest details in the design and texture of a rug to sourcing the best quality materials is part of our job description.