When a carpet creates a hall

One of the things I miss most in my house is a hall. When you open the main door, you arrive directly in the living room. The ground floor was originally thought of as a loft, a big open space which creates the impression of a wider and lighter room, but which lacks a place where you can leave your belongings when you come home. On the photos of home decorating magazines, it doesn’t really matter if that space is missing, but in real life you need to drop the keys, shoes and invoices somewhere, right?

I wanted to try and transform the little corner next to the main entrance into some sort of hall, ensuring at the same time a harmonious transition between that space and the rest of the living room. For example, I wasn’t sure about a shoe cupboard and a coat rack that we would have to look at constantly when sitting at the dining room table.

Since we moved in, that space has been occupied by a Balinese teak cupboard which has been with us for a very long time and that I’m sure to keep no matter how much I love Nordic design. We use it as a shoe cupboard (even if it isn’t one) and as a lacquer table where we leave keys, my bag, etc. It was a good starting point to decorate that space, but it was missing something and I didn’t know what until a few months ago, when I discovered Sukhi. I fell in love of their Beni Ouarain artisanal carpets and the fantastic social work this brand is doing. Instagram had fostered the desire to have one of these carpets a long time ago, but I had no idea how to get an authentic one without going to Morocco and make sur that it had been produced according to decent production criteria.

I liked Sukhi’s philosophy very much, as well as all the work the company is doing in Morocco in order to offer dignified working conditions to the women who manufacture these carpets. I was impressed by the fact that every single order is personalized: you order the model you want and only at that moment is it manufactured (by the way, the carpet was delivered with the name of the person who made it – Sakia was the one who made mine!). In our world of massive manufacturing and disposability, I very much value authenticity and handmade objects which last for a lifetime.

I chose the Aicha model. I believe it fits my house perfectly: it has an ethnic touch but at the same time it’s very modern, which makes it a very good transition between the Balinese cupboard and the rest of the more contemporary living room. It’s a small carpet but its size matches the cupboard size. I wasn’t expecting such a soft comfortable carpet. Actually, when I received it, I hesitated to put it in the kids’ room because the wool is so soft that they love playing on it (yes, another part of the house they’ve conquered).

I’ll leave you with the pictures I took of the « no hall hallway » during one of those rare moments when it was tidy, as well as a very emotive Sukhi video about those women who manufacture the Sukhi Ben Ouarain carpets in Morocco. Be warned: you will be soon dying to have your own!