Corea. Sotropa. Jacqueline. & Reena. Design Focus CANADIAN DESIGN TEAM STORY BY JAMES VAN MAANEN PHOTOS COURTESY OF COREA SOTROPA AREA 11

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2 CANADIAN DESIGN TEAM Jacqueline Corea & Reena Sotropa My first memory of looking at rugs was when I used to go visit my grandmother who lived in eastern Canada, recalls Jacqueline Corea, who, with her partner Reena Sotropa, are the powers behind the popular Canadian design firm of Corea Sotropa. She had these two antique silk Persian rugs in the dining room and living room which she purchased at an auction. They were so beautiful I just loved them. When my grandmother passed away she left my mom one of these rugs, and it is now at my mother s house. Well over 100 years old, it still looks incredible! With this kind of memory still so fresh in the mind, little wonder the Corea Sotropa team uses rugs in approximately 90 percent of its design projects. If there s a hardwood floor, which there are a lot of here in Calgary, explains Reena Sotropa, we ll most likely use one. We love to put a rug on hardwood. There are so many things that are so consistently appealing about handmade Oriental rugs, notes Jacqueline, that I hardly know where to begin. I have to say that area rugs are just so beautiful they re really pieces of art for LEFT The richest, most colorful piece in this contemporary take on a traditional, Mission-style family room is the 8' by 10' Kashan design carpet, with its burgundy border and black ground, handmade and handknotted, was actually purchased by the client, notes Jacqueline Corea, while on vacation in Turkey. STORY BY JAMES VAN MAANEN PHOTOS COURTESY OF COREA SOTROPA AREA 11

3 ABOVE This hand-knotted garden design Persian carpet, 6' by 9', provides the perfect exchange of color in the elegant but comfortable living room designed by Corea Sotropa. OPPOSITE This combination den/study/library finds an element of perfect peace in the 8' square wool Berber broadloom rug bordered with leather. the floor and I have always been drawn to beautiful patterns and exquisite colors, and there are plenty of both in Oriental rugs. The other important thing for me, Reena pipes up, is the irregularity you can find in handmade rugs. The idea that somebody has made this rug by hand gives [it] a certain timeless quality. Like those two rugs Jacqueline mentioned from her grandmother s home, they simply last for so long and can be passed from generation to generation. If the quality is there, then there s a timelessness that spans many generations. There s such history in a rug! This is really appealing. When these designers go shopping for an Oriental or decorative rug for their clients, for what, specifically, do they look? Surprisingly enough, Corea tells us that the size almost always comes first. So much depends on what size the room is going to be. And it is terrible to fall in love with a beautiful rug and then discover it s not the correct size. I also like to figure out what the furniture arrangement will look like above the rug. If the rug is going, say, in the dining room, under a table, I will tell the clients that it s most important that they like the border of that rug, because that is what will be seen most frequently. For a living room, it might be the center of the rug. Does the designer often use Orientals with a medallion in the center? No, not usually -- because the furniture in the room is not always symmetrical. A center medallion can work sometimes if you are looking for symmetry, but I prefer to use an overall pattern that is not centralized. Of course, it comes down to whatever my clients are most drawn. Colors, of course, are important, as well. 12 Spring 2010

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5 Over the years the designing duo has used almost every kind of Oriental carpet. We ve worked with so many different types, though we probably use fewer Chinese carpets, and not so many Aubussons and Needlepoints, explains Reena. One type that we are using quite a lot of these days are the vegetable dyed rugs. We have many retailers in Calgary who specialize in the vegetable dyed, hand-knotted rugs from Pakistan. I really like my clients to have a say in choosing the rug, and I find that, most often, they will go with an Agra or an Oushak. While many of the designers we ve profiled in recent years will start their design process with the rug in mind, Corea Soptropa does it differently. In theory, I suppose that the rug should start the design process, Jacqueline tells us. Yet, in practice, the rug often ends this process. I like to choose it at the end of the project because it makes for such an incredible transformation and it finishes the room. I find that our clients react much more strongly when they see the rug in the room together with the furniture, drapery and accessories. Sometimes we start with the rugs, but if the client isn t certain which direction the room will take it is better to select a rug after the fabrics have been chosen. With rugs, the designer notes, there are so many options that can be used, so the selection is amazing. Instead of insisting that their clients make their commitment to the rug right away, Corea and Sotropa bring it in for the finale. This makes such a wonderful ending because the rug becomes the crowing jewel of the room. Does the twosome have any particularly decorating style they could call their own? Reena muses silently for a moment, and then offers this: I think that most of our clients are looking for something youthful and family-friendly, but it must have a timeless quality that also looks lived-in. At the same time, we really strive to listen to what our clients want and then give them that look. So our portfolio takes in everything from traditional to contemporary and much that s in between. Probably the common thread would be the choice of quality materials and more color than you often see used in Calgary. Here, although we re living in a taupe world, most of our interiors have a little more color! Like so many of the designers AREA magazine has profiled, Corea and Sotropa don t just use rugs in almost all design projects, they place them in nearly every room, as well. We use them all over, Jacqueline laughs. In the kitchen, we ll use runners or smaller rugs because some people want to protect their floors. We would always use them in living and family rooms, in foyers and entryways, and of course in bedrooms. Nobody wants to step out of bed in the morning onto that cold, hard floor. To the perennial question of using a single rug in a room or going with several small ones, the designer has no doubts: We always prefer going with one large rug in a room. However, there are times when you must connect rugs within one large space or from one space to the other. When this happens, how do our designers handle it? If these are rooms right next to one another living room and foyer, for instance we ll often use different styles of rugs: a Persian in the living room but a Tibetan or looped pile in the foyer, explains Reena. Sometimes we ve been able to find rugs that either have a twin or a smaller version that looks quite similar. If there is more breathing room between rooms, the designers are more apt to choose a different style of rug for each of them. The one particularly tricky spot is when you are working right off the foyer. And yet sometimes the tension between the styles of two very different rugs can be quite interesting. OPPOSITE, top: Comfort and style blend seamlessly in this family room grounded by an antique finish, Persian design Kashan carpet, 8' by 10'. OPPOSITE, bottom: Clean, bright and very contemporary, this apartment living room finds in its Chobi-design, vegetable-dyed Afghani rug (based on the famous Ziegler designs from Egypt) a lovely complement to the elegant but simple, geometrical furnishings. 14 Spring 2010

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7 OPPOSITE Another carpet, provided by the client, is this 4' by 6' Ziegler design (now called Chobi), made from vegetable-dyed, handknotted Ghajhni wool lending dual functionality and beauty to this kitchen. Also intriguing can be the use of fabric patterns against a rug. Neither Ms Corea nor Ms Sotropa has a problem with mix and match depending, of course, on the patterns in question. I like pattern on pattern, notes Jacqueline. While I love rugs that have soft colors, I also like very strongly patterned rugs beautiful Tibetans with geometric, strong patterns. I would definitely put a patterned fabric on an area rug, as long as this is tempered with other things that are more solid. I am sort of fearless when it comes to mixing patterns. I like it when there is lot of different layers and prints going on! Earlier our designers mentioned using rugs on hardwood. What about stone, tile and other floor surfaces? We ll use them all, Reena insists: Woods, hardwood, tiles, stone, beautiful travertine or marble. Where we live, our climate has a long winter. So when you decide on a hard surface stone or hardwood the flooring needs to be warmed up. Area rugs do a great job of adding that extra warmth, and making the climate seem warmer. One thing we will not do, however, is put an area rug atop a larger rug or on wall-to-wall carpet. Never, ever, no! Although our designers are best known for their residential interiors, they have done some commercial over the years, though not heavily. We ve designed offices for which the client wanted more of a residential feel, Jacqueline recalls. Area rugs are perfect for this application! When we ask about the use of reproductions rugs, as opposed to antiques in the design process, Jacqueline says that she and Reena do sometimes recommend reproduction over antiques due to price. Absolutely! If there is no room in the budget for a hand knotted rug, there are good machine-made rugs with respectable designs. It all depends on how tight the budget is. We always prefer to do a hand-knotted rug first, of course. I remember one time we had clients who were building this beautiful luxury condominium unit in downtown Calgary. In this case, we started with some really beautiful and quite expensive carpets, which the clients had decided to use in the temporary home that they were renting while their condo was being built. But the rugs were too big to fit into the temporary space. And then the condo project stalled out, and it was literally three years before they could move in. Do you know that the rug dealer actually hung on to the clients rugs for the entire three years! When they finally were able to move in and the rugs were placed in the new home, the clients were amazed that they were still there and that they still looked as fabulous as they remembered! Rug dealers in our area really have a wonderful reputation about going to such great lengths to serve their clients, Reena notes. One time, we had an appointment to meet our client in the showroom to pick out the rugs. I had been looking through a fabric book and you know, fabric books are really linty, so I had lint literally all over myself from this book. I had to meet with my clients but the rug dealer made such a scene about this lint. He called out to his wife who came out from the back room, and brushed me down from head to toe to remove all the lint. She really cleaned me up! It was embarrassing, but I have to admit that I did look perfect for my appointment. I must say that our rug dealers really do go that extra step! Do Jacqueline and Reena feel that their clients are becoming more educated as to the use and benefits of Oriental and handmade rugs? We find, explains Jacqueline, that first-time clients are usually not that educated about antique versus reproductions, or about the special quality of a handmade rug. 16 Spring 2010

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9 They might bring in a photo that shows us the kind of rug they are looking for, but that is the limit of their education. They really don t know the difference between machine-made and handmade. This may have to do with the demographic of our clients, who tend to be younger, in their 30s or 40s. So it is up to us to educate them about what is available. However, when they come back the next time to work with us, they understand and appreciate the importance of beautiful area rugs in their interiors. So it s nice to have been able to help them make their first rug purchase. They are spending a lot of money and we love being able to help them with their purchase of something that they will have for the rest of their lives! About the Designers Jacqueline Corea s successful interior design career began in commercial design, specializing in restaurant and commercial projects. In 2000 she established her residential interior design firm Jacqueline Corea Design and in 2005, partnered with Reena Sotropa to create Corea Sotropa Interior Design ( ). Frequently sourced as an industry expert by newspapers and magazines, Jacqueline (shown sitting) is seen regularly on Canada s Breakfast Television. Timeless transitional style combining time-honored and contemporary pieces are most commonly requested by our clients, says the designer. Creating inviting, fresh, graceful but stylish interiors by incorporating comfortable textures, a flicker of sparkle and a splash of color are what we are best known for. Jacqueline holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Calgary and is a graduate of Mount Royal College Interior Design Program. Reena Sotropa (shown standing) has long had an interest in creating beautiful interiors. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Art History at the University of Regina, she studied interior design at Mount Royal in Calgary. She credits this art history background as a major influence for her design practice. Upon graduating from design school, her career began in corporate design and for the next five years she juggled her own successful residential design business before relocating to Calgary to form a partnership with Jacqueline, whom she met and first collaborated with in design school. Her designs emphasize clean lines and architectural elements to create spaces that are crisp and sophisticated. She brings a fresh mix of elegance and classic style to her interiors while maintaining the fresh palette and sparkle for which Corea Sotropa Interior Design has come to be so well known. Our sincerest thanks to Rana Mehrotra of Indo Designer Rugs, Calgary, for provinding information used in the photo captions. 18 Spring 2010