Black Plain Loom-Woven Viscose Rug, Sekoya Series

Sekoya is the Turkish name for the sequoia, among the tallest and longest-lived trees on earth, and the series is an attempt at the same plainness: one color, no pattern, nothing to date. This is the rectangular version — black, loom-woven in Türkiye from viscose over a cotton foundation, edged with a narrow cream woven stripe. Eight sizes are woven: an 80 × 150 cm mat at one end and, at the other, a 300 × 400 cm floor measuring 9'10" by 13'1".

The cream line at the border is the only drawing on it, and it does more than it should: without it the black would go flat and read as a hole in the floor, and with it the rug has an edge and therefore a shape. Viscose gives the surface a low shine, so the black shifts between charcoal and near-jet as you cross the room, and at 250 × 350 cm — 8'2" by 11'6" — that shift is wide enough to notice from a doorway. A plain black floor is the most generous background there is — put anything on it and the thing gets seen. In one corner, small, is the Halıcızade tree of life.

Viscose is worked over a firm cotton skeleton on Turkish looms, hand labor and machine knotting in one piece, and the pile is kept low so the rug lies flat and gives off little lint. Black shows lint and pale hair more than any other color, and that is worth knowing before it goes into a house with a light-coated dog. It slides under a door, takes a dining chair, and asks for nothing except regular vacuuming and a professional wash when it needs one.

• Loom-woven in Türkiye: viscose over a cotton foundation.
• Plain black with a fine cream woven stripe running around the edge.
• Viscose sheen: the black moves between charcoal and near-jet with the angle.
• Low pile — lies flat, clears a door, releases little lint.
• Shows pale lint and light-colored pet hair more than a mid-tone rug would.
• The Halıcızade tree of life is set into one corner.
• Eight sizes: 80 × 150, 90 × 150, 90 × 190, 130 × 190, 170 × 240, 200 × 300, 250 × 350 and 300 × 400 cm.
• Vacuum regularly; professional washing for a deep clean.

Black is the one floor color that makes everything standing on it look like it was chosen on purpose.