Narrative Threads Blog
Scroll through our Narrative Threads blog to enjoy behind-the-scenes insight on special projects for leading interior designers and architects.
Scroll through our Narrative Threads blog to enjoy behind-the-scenes insight on special projects for leading interior designers and architects.
In May 2017, Creative Matters President and Founder Carol Sebert announced the appointment of Ali McMurter and Ana Cunningham as partners. For those who have not had the fortune to work with her, this blog post is an opportunity to get to know Ali in her own words.
Do you feel like exploring the most intriguing pieces that shaped Creative Matters in 2017? Then look no further than this list of some of our designers' favourites which run the gamut from a 36-foot (11-metre) residential runner to a wall hanging for an airport to a corporate rug sprayed with mustard yellow.
Last month, 28 interior design staff from Yabu Pushelberg visited the Creative Matters studio for an interactive day to share each company's parameters for floorcovering projects. Here are the six most asked questions about rug creation.
For every handknotted rug we design in our Toronto studio, we decide whether India or Nepal is best suited to its production. Read about Creative Director Ana Cunningham and Senior Designer Ali McMurter's April visit to our weaving partners in colourful Bhadohi in northern India.
Art Day is not only intrinsic to the Creative Matters process of design, but has also generated a searchable archive of over 2,500 original designs primed for custom contemporary floor and wallcoverings.
The carpet for Bergdorf Goodman's iconic New York City department store is Creative Matters’ biggest handmade carpet ever and everything about it is luxe, shimmering and enduring.
We asked our designers for their favourite rugs - 8 designers, 8 very different choices. Reading though the reasons for their selections, we realize the criteria for a successful rug are endless.
As far as we are concerned, the most important shift for 2015 is our new website. We’ve made it easier and more inspirational for interior designers to browse our custom carpet portfolio as well as our carpet and wallpaper collections. We’ll be updating it constantly with photography of our latest feats in custom interior design but if, in the meantime, you’d like to know what our designers are predicting for the upcoming year, read on …
Remarkably talented artisans handcraft our artistic floor covering designs. They are masters in traditional weaving methods, turning our designs into beautifully crafted rugs and carpets. In December 2023, Managing Partner Ali McMurter and Creative Director Sandra Ciganic-McKinney explored our mill in Nepal. In January 2024, Director of Design Development Anna Panosyan and Logistics Specialist Suhindhar Raveendiran Santhi ventured to our mill in India.
As 2023 draws to a close, our team is reflecting on a momentous year. Filled with groundbreaking achievements, innovative designs, and a transformative shift in leadership, the past 12 months have been enriched with great success and creativity.
After an incredible 35 years at the helm of Creative Matters and on the world stage of floor covering design, it is with mixed emotions we announce that Carol Sebert is moving on to other creative endeavours. While Carol creates more beautiful art in her studio at an old Ontario country house, Managing Partners Ana Cunningham and Ali McMurter are well-prepared to lead the firm into an exciting future. We asked Carol to look back on some key moments that made Creative Matters what it is today.
In 2022 we welcomed the installation of a project started back in 2018 with Gensler Toronto. Four large, perfectly-designed rugs are now gracing a spacious, high-end lounge accessible to tenants of the new CIBC Square two-tower development in Toronto’s financial district. Named The Canopy, this area is designed to elevate…
In 2019, international design firm Yabu Pushelberg (YP) was commissioned with the complete renovation of one of New York’s landmarks, the Park Lane New York hotel. YP is a long time client of Creative Matters and that same year they asked us to work with them on the carpets which were installed in early 2022. Partner Ali McMurter managed the collaboration at our end. “They chose us for the project because …
Although 2021 was particularly challenging, it was remarkable how our clients and suppliers around the world - along with our team in Toronto - came together to create some of the best floor and wall coverings ever. We asked the three Creative Matters Managing Partners to choose 9 favourites.
The Pendry opened its doors in September all aglow with elevated interiors by our friends at Gachot Studios and equally elevated floorcoverings by Creative Matters. This was our third luxury hotel with Gachot - the three of them united by their use of a variety of the production methods we offer.
From the bathroom to the ballroom, it was our pleasure to work with DIALOG on the remodelling of the Four Seasons Resort Whistler. Using four different production methods at mills in three different countries, Creative Matters Vice President Ali McMurter managed a vast array of floorcoverings.
January is usually a busy month for trade shows for those of us who create handknotted rugs with the Domotex show in Germany and Maison+Objet in France. This year however, we participated in our first virtual trade show - an innovative event organized by COVER, the world’s leading magazine for handmade carpets and textiles for interiors.
Erica and Alan McLaughlin undertook the revival of an old home in Winnipeg's River Heights neighbourhood. They spent a good year refinishing and updating the rooms, and once complete, were ready for the final touches.
Rug designer may not sound like a career path that involves a wide variety of international travel but at Creative Matters it surely does. As in many jobs there are trade shows to attend, but what really racks up the passport stamps are the trips we make to supervise production of our rugs.
As a Canadian company we were particularly delighted to be selected to create the carpets for the Senate of Canada’s temporary new home in Ottawa.
Imagine our delight in 2017 when New York’s Gachot Studios invited us to create all the floorcoverings for Detroit’s new 129-room Shinola Hotel, one of the many projects that are creating massive renewal in the city.
In 2018 we were delighted to participate in a project that required 97 handknotted rugs. Until this year, we have assigned handknotted rugs to our trusted fair trade suppliers in Nepal and India. In 2018 however, we had the good fortune to work with a slightly different style of handknotting and create an incredible opportunity for Afghan women.
In November we celebrated 30 years since our President Carol Sebert founded Creative Matters. To honour the occasion the whole team flew from Toronto to New York for three days staying at a big house in the country and taking the train into the city each morning.
As Creative Matters will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November, our management team took the opportunity to look back at our designs - and the process of designing - through the years.