Cut a Rug
With the launch of R:DESIGN, Reznick Carpets puts a fresh spin on an ancient craft.
By Eve Thomas
Robyn Waffle loves rugs so much, she wrote an ode to them on the R:DESIGN website. It contains poetic passages like, “Rugs lead you down a corridor… they cushion your baby’s fall ... you can make little fists with your toes in them …” And she reveals her raison d’être: Carpets aren’t just her job, they’re her passion.
“I’m obsessed with them,” says Waffle, who first started working with Reznick Carpets in 2011. She was an artist, creating large-scale drawings and paintings, and owner Jordan Reznick hired her to create bold, experimental designs for his company at the time, Modallion, including woven portraits of Lady Gaga and Frida Kahlo. She was enthralled by this new medium and went on to explore it further, winning awards, working for one of the largest rug companies in Europe and running her own business.
In 2023, when Reznick (who also owns Reznick Event Carpets, supplying major events including the Junos and TIFF) wanted to launch a fresh, forward-looking brand—R:DESIGN—he got back in touch, and Waffle was more than happy to join the company as creative director and lead rug designer.
Last September, in Toronto’s Castlefield Design District, more than 200 buzzing members of the design community were welcomed to the R:DESIGN showroom for cocktails and canapés, as well as a first look at Waffle’s inaugural collection: Neutral Curves, a series of rugs hand-knotted in Nepal and made of wool, silk, mohair and nettle fibres.
The 6,000-square-foot showroom is integral to the vision shared by Reznick and Waffle. The airy space was built from scratch, and Waffle says they wanted it to feel more like a European art gallery than a rug store—welcoming and chic. “There are a lot of rug companies in Toronto that have been here for a long time, and it can be pretty competitive, even secretive, very Old World,” Waffle says. “So, it’s special to come into the showroom and experience this. Clients are always impressed.”
Adds Reznick: “After years in the industry, we felt an undeniable pull to redefine what a rug and carpet showroom could be: an inspiring, design-driven space where artistry meets functionality.”
Customers are currently split between walk-ins looking to buy carpets for their homes, including in-stock rugs and broadloom, and interior designers interested in custom carpeting for their projects. The showroom is also where the company hosts lunch-and-learns, where they can show potential collaborators what they do. It’s a welcome relief from the tradition of visiting offices with a suitcase full of samples.
“After years in the industry, We felt an undeniable pull to redefine what a rug and carpet showroom could be: an inspiring, design-driven space where artistry meets functionality.”
Part of the “learning” is just that—education. About who makes rugs, why they’re special, and, yes, why they can cost a lot. Waffle says a lot of North Americans have some catching up to do. “In many other countries, rugs are royalty—essentially sculptures for your floor, sculpted in silk, hemp; even diamonds and crystals can be woven into them. And they’ll last hundreds of years. There’s a sense of romance and immortality to them.”
Part of that education is one Waffle got herself over the years, thanks to Reznick, who has travelled the globe, sourcing and visiting talented weavers in Nepal, India and beyond. The trusted teams, she says, “do a lot of the heavy lifting.”
“It’s not something you can go to school for,” she adds. “It takes generational connections to have access to those weavers—and Jordan has them. That’s the beauty of our process. We have passion and deep knowledge of the craft and can also create anything for anybody. Either way, we go above and beyond to help clients find the perfect piece for their vision.”