Watch: Video Tour of Our Fall River Workshop
For Boston Design Week, we were excited to open our doors for a virtual tour of our workshop and design studio in Fall River. Our guest of honor was acclaimed Boston-area interior designer Jennifer Palumbo, who chose Merida for a high-profile residential project on the South Shore. We invited Jennifer to meet master weaver, John Carvalho, and see the final stages of her rugs being woven and finished.
The tour took place on April 26 and was led by Merida’s Joni Mullen, Business Development Manager for New England, and Barbara Schnegg, Senior Textile Designer. It opened with a design meeting to revisit the project details and Jennifer’s design scheme.
The first stop on the tour was to see our extensive yarn library, organized by year and color. Every year we choose a new color palette for our collections, and we are continually testing new yarns and introducing new textures.
Jennifer saw her rug in progress, being woven on a heritage Jacquard loom. Merida’s master weaver John Carvalho explained that even though the loom automates much of the weaving process, the weaving techniques Merida is introducing in its new collections require significant handwork, from threading the yarn spools to hand-stitching.
At the end of the tour Jennifer met Merida’s in-house design team, and got a sneak preview of some of the rugs in development for our upcoming collection, Portfolio 2021.
We invite you to learn more about what makes a Merida rug like no other. Our team is here to help interior designers bring their projects to life – from inspiration to installation.