(Photo by Brandon Arant for LA Times)
Every rug has a story to tell. I spend time looking, touching, trying to see and hear each one’s past and wishes. This rug, a mid-19th Century Persian Serapi, didn’t need much coaxing. Despite a long waitlist of interested buyers, I kept it in the shop. Something in the rug, in me, told me it already belonged to a name. That name was Kim Gordon, the Venice Beach based star designer. I knew she was the one to bring this rug to its proper home. So I called her.
“Are you seriously calling me on a Sunday afternoon?” Gulp.
“This is urgent rug business,” I said, and immediately realized not everyone thinks that’s a thing. Kim was busy, of course, but I swallowed my fear and pleaded my case, the rug’s case. “It’s a masterpiece. You need to have it, you need to see it, your name is all over it!”
Not long after that call, I finally got her in a room with the Serapi in Marina Del Rey, CA. She examined it, the primitive but sophisticated patterns, yarn worn to perfection, a rare treasure that was right up her alley. She took it that day! I didn’t need to ask her where it was going. I trust her to always find the right place. And wow, what a place!
That Serapi now lives in a gorgeous Santa Monica retreat, styled by Kim, and featured in all its glory in the LA Times. I couldn’t believe it until I saw it in the paper, but there it is. Perfectly, beautifully at home.