Kilim Resource Catalog

For Designers

Carefree Rug & Kilim in Carefree, Arizona is the import resource for, fine quality, recent & antique, discount area rugs of Turkish, Russian, Persian, Moroccan origins.  Whether antique or contemporary, these handmade area rugs & kilims are the perfect designer accessories for beautiful hardwood or tile floors.  We also offer limited selections of the elusive and highly desirable Kazakh rugs from Kazakhstan and the incomparable Kuba kilims from Kashkadarya, Uzbekistan.

Kilim is a Turkish word for a type of rug that is flat-woven, similar in style to Native American rugs, which are different from the more traditional hand knotted method usually imported from the middle east. Kilims are durable and constructed to last a lifetime on your hardwood flooring or terrazzo floors, saltillo tile or those laid with any other varieties of floor tile. Kilims were originally flat-weave utilitarian pieces for everything from protection from the elements, to wrapping fine rugs for shipping. In the later case, handwoven kilims had slits in the textile to allow the quality knotted rugs they contained, to breathe on across world journeys that would often take more than a year to reach the country that imported the knotted rug. Carefree Rug & Kilim offers more efficient shipping options than our competitors, which consequently results in discount kilim prices.

See our TRY BEFORE YOU BUY policy to find out how easy it is to view these fine weavings in your home.

Kilims were originally flat woven without ornamental designs. In harsher climates, long kilim runners were woven out of thicker and more oily goat wool. These flat weave, runner rugs were also sewn together and fashioned into tents, that could resist wind and shed water.

As time passed, tribal designs began to be woven into the kilims. The pictoral designs on Turkish kilims, Persian kilims and Persian rugs as well as Moroccan kilims, Russian kilims and kilim carpets from many other countries depicted real events, so that stories were told and histories recorded, by the magical turning of the threads. In some cultures, such as the Berbers of Morocco, the symbols on kilims served as the peoples’ only written language. Even today, people living in primitive regions, rely on these flat weave textiles in their daily lives.

Each country's tribal weavings exhibit their own style of kilims, using their own weaving techniques and cultural designs. Flat weave techniques are varied, with different names for each technique. Designs are also exchanged between countries and all of these, even jute rugs, are referred to today, as kilims.

Kilims have earned their prominence as a fine art form, but because most kilims are originals and not typically woven for export, they are difficult to acquire in mass. Rug dealers prefer to deal more in commercially produced floor coverings, whose patterns can be duplicated in various sizes. We have curated beautiful kilim exhibitions in many museums across America and many still have rotating displays of these fine weavings. The Textile Museum, in Washington D.C., has probably the finest kilim collection in the world. Publications on kilims can be found through Amazon.com or any of the major web search engines.

Another, very good way to learn about kilims and collectable rugs, is to peruse Kilims For Sale or call or visit our East Hum Road location in Carefree, Arizona.

Thank you. Alf & Judi Taylor

We Accept

VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER, AMERICAN EXPRESS, DINERS