In The Studio With Rannisa Soraya of Rag Home

The trend of colored and textured rugs with graphic modernist designs, all made using hand-knotting techniques have become a trend worldwide. We visited Rannisa Soraya, a renowned and emerging rug artisan of RAG Home, at her studio located in her home in South Jakarta. RAG is a custom handmade rug company that celebrates art in rugs, blurring the line between traditional and artistic disciplines. Read below to learn more about our Q&A with Rannisa and to explore her studio and work!

Tell us a bit about yourself and RAG Home.

To describe the least about Rag Home, I would say that Rag Home is magical. I’m not saying that the products themselves are the ones that are only magical but the whole entire process of it. I’ve never thought of getting into the rugs industry in the beginning but Rag Home first started from the first carpet that I made for my room and I had many people commenting raving about the rug. “Your carpet looks so beautiful! Are you the designer?” and it made me incredibly happy. And later on, people started asking me about selling rugs and there it was, I was selling my first rug.

We do mostly customized rugs and before producing the rugs, we will first do a quick Q&A with the clients. For instance, we’d ask them to take a picture of the room where they’d like the rug to be placed and ask about the size of the room. Additionally, we’d ask about what they like and what they dislike and we’ll get some inspiration during the meeting as we brainstorm together. I’ll first sketch the rugs and ask for approval and when approved, we’ll produce it based on the sketch. It makes me very happy to see clients that are satisfied with my work and what I get the most from my job is to see the happy faces when clients see the finished rugs.

How long does it take to create a rug? And what is the process like?

It takes approximately 6 weeks for me to create a rug as I will need some time first to brainstorm the clients. For production, I have skilled craftsmen to do it. For smaller rugs and teaching people, I can still handle it. I learned how to make carpets from my craftsmen, in 2020. It is a lot like embroidery, but you use a machine to create the rugs. 

One of the first carpets that I sold was called “Le Block” and the person who ordered it was the owner of a brand. He had one product which really inspired me that has this checkered pattern and I decided to draw some box patterns.

How about yourself? Is there anything that makes you artistic?

My father is an interior designer. I’ve watched him work since I was little. Besides that, I have always liked watching my mother make a knitted carpet. Talk about being artistic, I am very far from design in terms of my education and background. I took Law at the University of Indonesia for my bachelor’s degree and became a flight attendant at Garuda Indonesia. These experiences were far from what I expected but I guess the artistic roots came along from my parents that cultivated my love of playful and artistic pieces. 

What was the first rug that you created? What inspired you?

If I’m alone here, I have one song that I like that I like to listen to. It’s an old song but the cover of the song is what intrigued me and inspired me on creating my first ever rug. The song is called Whiter Shades of Pale by Rhye, it is a remastered song of Bach’s. If you look closely, the cover looks like a silhouette of a female body from behind. 

Modern, eclectic or contemporary – what is your personal style?

At first glance, people who see my Instagram page or see me might think that I am a lover of pop and eclectic colors, but guess what? I like many dark colors too! If I have to choose 5 colors for my own carpet, these are the colors I would choose. 

Can you share some tips on what a person should consider when ordering a rug?

There are certainly many considerations when a client decides to order a rug at Rag. First, I would ask for the picture of the room where the client would like to place the rug. From the picture, I get to see the setting and pretty much the style and personality of the client. Then, I would ask if they have children or not? This is important because if they do, we would always suggest for them to choose darker colors to maintain the rug due to fears of spills, dirt, etc. Next, I will check the flooring, whether it will match with the colors I have chosen, e.g. solid wood flooring or stones. I would also ask the client for the size suggestions they’d like and also check their furniture, to really see if my design will match the setting. 

 What if the design does not align with you?

I can always revise it if the client is not fully happy with the proposed design that I have created. I don’t want Rag to be a business that resonates, “If the design does not match with me then don’t buy it.” I am far from the kind of designer.  I am not an artist. So, it will be something that is close to what I want in my head.

What is your funnest project up to date?

The mural project. It was for my customer’s daughter. It is something new and not a carpet project! It was quirky, colorful and fun, just how I like it!

So, Rag Home is not only selling carpets?

Yes. But I am not an expert in making murals and drawing. I am not brave enough to make mural drawing as my main business, but I hope to expand more of my scope of work whenever I can. 

What would you advise to new local makers?

My first suggestion is to find out what your passion is first and grab that spirit first. What is it that you like? What drives you? And what is the activity that you have done that makes you feel refreshed and not sign when you wake up in the morning. 

Yes, making a business is not as easy as that, you will meet clients along the way that make complaints or dislike your work in the end. But the key here too is to not give up and keep building relations with the customers and your work colleagues. I believe that energy creates impact, if we do and mean well and meet the right people, the correlations and collaborations outcome will be strong.