We had the good fortune of connecting with Anayah and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anayah, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?This was actually the determining factor for me to continue by business or not. I started it as a fun side thing because I love designing and decorating and my house was starting to get a little cramped with all the rugs I was hoarding lol. So one day I started staging the rugs to show how to use them with different decor and someone asked to buy it! But after six months I asked myself do I want to invest and make this a full on business?

I realized, no matter how tired I am, I get excited to open a new rug, to see the colors in real life, I love playing matchmaker with rug to new home and most of all I loved connecting with so many new people. So I said yep I’m all in and officially became a rug lady. It’s about finding something that brings more joy than struggle because everything even the good has struggle but you need to feel true joy. That’s how you know not to give up on it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I curate vintage handknotted rugs. I started my online shop because of friends and family asking for advice on where to source affordable beautiful rugs like I had curated for our home. Having grown up in a culture where hand knotted rugs are considered heirloom commodities, we had collected alot of our personal treasures from years of travel. My first rug gifted to me was a Pakistani bokhara that my dad brought back from his travels and is still with me today! As a result, it wasn’t too hard to reach out to the multiple vendors my family and I had spent years purchasing from. Thus KOR was born! My goal is provide true works of art that are available for all budgets so people won’t have to resort to cookie cutter/machine made/big box generic rugs.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is so hard thanks to COVID I haven’t left the house in like a year lol. But I would definitely say when you visit dallas your visiting me and my home! So I’d want you to love spending time in it with me. My guest room is set up with a gorgeous persian, a large queen bed, en suite bathroom with turkish towels. We would have the fire going if it was winter or the pool in the backyard if it’s summer. Id make an elaborate meal most likely with indian cuisine and my famous kale tabbouleh. We would chat, gossip, eat and than have pistachio cake and chai in the backyard with all my english roses in bloom. After a good night’s rest we would probably go for a massage the next day at Vivian’s spa in lower greenville and than grab ramen at wabi house and walk up to botolino for gelato for dessert. I love driving visitors over the bridges across trinity river especially around sunset to catch a city view and sunset view! What I love to share most about Dallas with visitors is really what I enjoy on a day to day.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband hands down! He was the one who pushed me to put myself out there. I would do this for friends and family and myself. After rearranging our living room for the tenth time, he said “hun, put it on instagram” so I did and slowly but surely here we are today! He literally lifts me up (I promise you he’s my ladder too lol) and holds me steady through this very very rocky journey and I could not have done this without him.

Website: Kyorederofrugs.com

Instagram: Kyoreder_of_rugs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyoreder/

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.