Messenger Rugs

Ok, so I've been babbling on and on about a rug post.....not just any old rug, but in case you noticed, this beautiful orange and white rug that was peeking out of my bedroom in my post a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, this one....

So here's how this ended up in my bedroom. A friend of mine in LA introduced me to one Kathleen Olsen, the maker, or rather the creator/designer/executor of this gorgeous piece of craftsmanship. Kathleen moved to rainy Seattle from sunny Santa Barbara a year ago and my LA friend thought we'd get along well. She was soooo right. I met up with Kathleen at a Starbucks a couple of weeks ago where we chatted and time just flew by. 

Kathleen founded Messenger Rugs, a company that makes rugs inspired by the traditions of yoga, meditation and prayer. The designs reveal how image and symbol serve as gateways to healing the mind and body. The designs evoke commentary on yoga and meditation as a practices affecting world sustainability.

Kathleen's personal interest in a variety of cultures as well as her deep interest in the study of Yoga, led her to A Masters in Mythology helped her enrich her knowledge of sacred symbols and the world's stories. She is well versed in Indian mythology and I bet could give me a run for my money in that area! 

Following Mother Teresa’s beloved adage, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love,” Kathleen began designing a line of rugs inspired by the practices of meditation and yoga. 

The result is the SERENITY SERIES of six symbolically rich rugs, beautifully crafted and hand-knotted in Nepal and designed by Kathleen. The rugs are intertwined with richly colored images of birds, dragons, phoenix’s and mandalas, offering inspiration from the World’s diverse mythologies. 

Here is a small sampling.....

The CHAKRA RUG depicts a body’s seven chakras; as the birds stand reminder of our spiritual freedom.

The LAW OF OPPOSITES rug depicts the duality of our physical world, the nature of opposites.

The LOTUS MANDALA is all about the beautiful lotus which grows up from the dark watery mire is a traditional symbol of purity and renunciation.

Check out the website to see the rest.......and tell me if Dragon and Phoenix isn't just spectacular!

Yoga, meditation, chakras, sustainability...all words that make my ears perk up....you see now why these rugs hold such incredible appeal to me?

At the end of a very interesting couple of hours with Kathleen, I of course, mentioned how I would love to do a feature on her rugs on my blog and lo and behold - she said she had a couple in the car I could use for my post! 

We went out to her car and sorry to use the phrase again, but LO AND BEHOLD....she had the Law of Opposites rug in orange!!! YES, orange! I mean of all the gazillion colors possible, how come she had an orange one, orange - the color that is all over my house, the color I love!! It was a sign....I was chosen to do a post on her! Laugh all you want, I'm convinced she and I have a deeper connection from some past times....

So armed with my prized possession I came home and laid it out, and yes, it was meant to be. Take a look....

So for the past few days it has been adorning my bedroom and I've been meditating and practicing my yoga on it. The rug is so incredibly soft to touch and the minute I turn my back on it, Lucy, my constant companion, sneaks by to sit on it. I have to keep shooing her away....

Messenger Rugs are made of 100% Tibetan sheep's wool in rug looms in Tibet providing opportunity to the weavers to embark on a new life. The rugs are small in size, but speak volumes by their sheer imagery and patterns! And trust me when I say, my Sirsasana and Kakasana have reached new heights on this magical rug! 

I am so excited to have this breathing, living piece of utter gorgeousness in my bedroom for a few days! Do check out Kathleen's website....just reading about it awakens my inner chakras and brings me peace! 

The rest of the house....contd.

Sorry folks to break up one post on the house into so many small ones....but had to wait for a sunny day to get some good shots. The weather guys were all off....!

Anyway, be prepared for an orange onslaught when you see my bedroom pics. Don't know what it is about orange that appeals to me, but...well.....almost everything in my bedroom is orange and varying shades of orange. No one is complaining yet.......

The pics are pretty self explanatory. Its a large room with 4 large windows so lots of light floods in (on those rare sunny Seattle days).

So this is just as you enter the bedroom.....the door on the left leads to the bath, the one on the right to a walk-in closet.

Do you see my dog Lucy sleeping on the chair? Where I go, Lucy goes.......she never leaves me alone.

Lots of familiar stuff which came from Hyderabad.....

Thats a picture of my mother-in-law when she was vey young....teen years I think.

 More photographs....

 My bangle stand/wall art......

This is the hallway as you come out of the bedroom, The first door to the right leads to a guest bedroom, I have posted 2 pics below. The door farther down leads to another bedroom, which is still as they say "Under Construction". The door straight ahead is the guest bath! 

I'm still working on the third bedroom. Need to add a desk or something there.

Did you all notice that rug in my bedroom, the small orange and white one in front of the bed? Stay tuned for a story on that.......

The rest of the house.....

Every time I start on a new blog post, I have to re-learn blogging!!!! Either Blogger has too many employees with nothing better to do than to keep updating the blogging process or I am waiting too long to post!!! I have a sneaky suspicion its the latter!!!!

For my loyal readers who still haven't abandoned S&S and are reading this, my lack of blogging is because I simply did not have anything to post! Ok that sounds like I am leading a desperately dull life!!! On the contrary....rather. My days are chock full, I don't have a second to spare but you really don't want to read about my yoga routine....or my dog walking routine (though those do get very exciting and adventurous at times when the squirrels are scampering about...)....or my daily meal plan! 

And I refuse to post and re-post the same old pictures of my home in different lights and moods! That's boring and a tad bit presumptuous?

But...wait! I do have more pics of my home that you haven't seen. Maybe you want to see that? Some of you may have missed part I of the tour. That was the living area of the house.....living room, kitchen, dining, family room etc. 

This is a sneak peek of Part II! It took me a while to get the bedrooms figured out...the layout, how and where to hang the pictures.....then changing things around and I think I am finally done. Unfortunately we are in the midst of a wet, rainy Fall season, so I am waiting for a sunny day to get some good shots. But here are a few I managed to capture......

The weather man has promised good sunny weather tomorrow, so if all goes well I should have the full "upstairs house tour" up by the weekend! Yay! 

I also have to tell you about my new friend in Seattle, an amazing lady who makes the most beautiful rugs! You all know about my rug fetish......so you can understand why I am so thrilled. But all that will come later.