From Cocoon to Carpet: The Divine Magic of Silk
A childhood memory of silkworms in a Bursa village — and the 25,000 cocoons it takes to weave a single silk carpet.
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By Aydin Eroglu
HOUSE OF RUGS
House of Rugs is a curated home for hand-knotted oriental, vintage, and custom rugs — pieces chosen for the stories woven into them, not just the rooms they'll fill.
Every rug in this house was tied by hand, one knot at a time, long before it ever crossed our threshold.
Rug weaving is one of the oldest art forms in the world, and its designs belong to no single border. The same motifs have traveled across Turkey, Persia, the Caucasus, and beyond for centuries — passed from one weaving culture to the next, repeated and reinterpreted generation after generation. That is what makes a hand-knotted rug timeless: you're not following a trend, you're bringing home a pattern that has already outlasted lifetimes and will outlast many more.
Alongside these traditional pieces, we also offer contemporary modern rugs — cleaner lines, softer palettes, and updated designs for spaces that call for something more current.
House of Rugs was founded in 2017, after Canan — known to many of her clients as Janna — moved to the United States from Turkey, bringing with her a lifelong connection to hand-knotted rugs and the trade routes that carried them for thousands of years.
A professional tour guide specialized in Istanbul tours since 1997, Canan spent years sharing the city's history, bazaars, and craftsmanship with visitors — an expertise she now brings to helping clients discover rugs with the same depth of knowledge.
She personally leads every in-home visit, walking each space herself to understand its light, its furniture, and the family that lives in it before a single rug is ever recommended.
Founder, House of RugsEvery piece we bring into the house is tied knot by knot — a process that can take months per rug.
Each rug we source comes with a certificate of authenticity — documenting where it was made and the materials it's woven from.
Natural fibers and traditional dye methods, chosen so a rug can outlast the furniture around it and be handed down, not replaced.
The Metropolitan Museum, New York 2019, with Aydin Eroglu
The questions we hear most often from people considering a hand-knotted piece for the first time.
Every strand of pile is tied by hand onto the rug's foundation, knot by knot, row by row — a single rug can contain hundreds of thousands of individual knots. It's a different process entirely from hand-tufted or machine-made rugs, and it's what gives a hand-knotted piece its durability and value.
Depending on size, knot density, and pattern complexity, a single rug can take anywhere from a few months to over a year on the loom.
Hand-knotted rugs are tied knot by knot with no backing, which is why they can last generations. Hand-tufted rugs are punched through a stencil and glued to a canvas backing — faster and less expensive to produce, but far less durable over time.
Regular light vacuuming, rotating the rug occasionally for even wear, and professional cleaning every few years is generally all a hand-knotted rug needs. Avoid harsh chemical cleaners, which can damage natural fibers and dyes. For step-by-step guidance on padding, cleaning, shampooing, and treating stains, see our detailed Rug Care guide.
Genuine hand-knotted rugs show slight irregularities in the pattern, a matching (though not identical) design on the front and back, and knots visible on the reverse side. We're always happy to walk you through what to look for.
What people say after living with their rug for a while — not just the day it arrived.
“On a business trip to Istanbul two years ago to tour the cabinet manufacturer, Janna was our hostess. She had previously been a tour guide in Istanbul, so she was the perfect person to travel with. She showed us many interesting places, but the ones that impressed me most were her tours to a couple of rug retailers. Her father, Aydin Eroglu, who showed us around while teaching us, has an amazing knowledge of rugs. We learned so much about rugs, how they’re made, the difference between average and excellent quality, and how my clients can buy top quality rugs at a much more reasonable price directly from Turkey!
While there I bought a light fixture. The vendor saved my information and then made a surprise visit months later to my home to show me some rugs. Amazingly one of the rugs was perfect but I was reluctant to buy it without knowing if the price was a fair one or not. So, I contacted Janna, took a picture of the rug and told her who the salesman was. She reassured me that he’s trustworthy and told me that a good price for the rug would be $7,000 – which was $500 less than what he was asking. This gave me the confidence to go forward with the purchase feeling rest assured that I paid a fair price. I absolutely love that rug every time I look at it.
When it comes to buying excellent quality rugs for a reasonable price, I highly recommend that you work with Janna Mutlu!”
“We had no idea what we were looking for until we sat with a few pieces in our own living room. The rug we chose still stops guests at the door.”
“The in-home visit made all the difference — they understood our space and our light before ever showing us a single rug.”
Every home is different — its light, its furniture, its rhythm. Rather than asking you to guess from a showroom floor, we visit your space in person to understand exactly what it needs before recommending a single rug.
We walk your space, take real measurements, and see the light, furniture, and foot traffic firsthand.
From Turkish & Oriental to vintage and custom sizing, we bring options suited to your home — not a generic catalog.
janna@houseofrugs.us
805-300-2237
Share a few details and we'll be in touch to arrange an in-home visit — no obligation, just a conversation about what your space needs.
Prefer to reach us directly?
janna@houseofrugs.us
805-300-2237
Stories, guides, and a closer look at the craft behind hand-knotted rugs.
A childhood memory of silkworms in a Bursa village — and the 25,000 cocoons it takes to weave a single silk carpet.
Read More →
From a 2,500-year-old carpet frozen in Siberia to the Çintemani pattern's journey from China to the Ottoman court.
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Found frozen in a Siberian burial mound, the 2,500-year-old Pazyryk carpet still survives almost intact.
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